As many of you know, I am working on developing arms for fiances father (Wilson). Yesterday I was handed a tile that my, soon to be, mother-in-law found in her basement that contained an image of arms for the Wilson family.
She said that they have had it for years, but don’t remember exactly where it came from. I’m assuming that it’s from a bucket shop based on the fact that the Wilson line can only be traced back to the mid-1800s.
Anyone be able to shed some history to these arms?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/snydergroove/2012-10-16_14-12-56_405.jpg
Bucket shops usually will take the oldest arms they can find listed for a certain surname. And these are quite old.
From Burke’s General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales:
Wilson (Penrith, co. Cumberland, and Welborne, co. Lincoln; granted 24 March, 1586). Per pale ar. and az. three lions’ gambs erased fessways in pale counterchanged. Crest—A lion’s head ar. guttée de sang.
Awesome. Thank you Ken, I appreciate it.
I’m downloading Burke’s right now so I can answer these myself 
Michael,
Another charge that is associated with families by the name of Wilson is a wolf salient/rampant. This might well give you an idea or two when designing your fiance’s father. The wolf was at one time a native to the British Isles, especially in its wild and remote regions.
With every good wish
John
The design that I posted in another thread has been approved by her father. The Wilson line hails from deep within West Virgina and because of the isolation there is a lack of evidence to verify lineage. Within the family there are conflicting reports of where the hails from orginally depending on which story you want to believe.
After discussing the matter with my fiance and her father, it was decided that the orignal arms would be granted to her grandfather and then passed down from there. My fiance is officially the last Wilson in the line, so we wanted to create the arms to keep the line alive in its own way.
The way things are working out, arms are being created for both her mother and fathers side and my mothers side, so our daughter is going to have some intricate arms 
