Coats of Arms in Virginia; William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 3 Transcribed by Kathy Merrill for the USGenWeb Archives Special Collections Project ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** Coats of Arms in Virginia William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 3. (Jan., 1895), pp. 165-169. COATS OF ARMS IN VIRGINIA. LEWIS, HOWELL, BRUCE-PRYCE, COURTENAY, WARNER, BOWLES, DAINGERFIELD, WASHINGTON, JONES, LEWIS of Van, GOLYDOBUN, &c. A comparison of the plate of Warner Lewis with the emblazoning described by Moncure D. Conway, in his Barson, &c., pp. 152-171, shows that the former has seven shields, the latter thirteen. I cannot speak for the authenticity of the latter; but I have seen and examined the old silver plate(2). The tinctures are represented, but not always correctly. Thus the plate represents - 1. Lewis: Ar. a dragon's head and neck erased vert. 2. Howell: Gu. three towers triple towered ar., holding in the mouth a red hand. 3. Ar. three chevronels or [Bruce-Pryce, as described by Conway has Gu. three chevronels ar, a crescent for difference]. The representation, which appears on the silver, must be incorrect, for it places arg. (argent, silver) - a metal - on or (gold) - a metal. 4. Ar. three torteaus. This, after the analogy of the Conway emblazoning, stands for Courtenay; but it should be, according to Burke, or three torteaus. 5. Ar., in chief az. three lozenges or, for Fielding. 6. Or a cross engrailed vert, for Warner; but Burke has vert a cross engrailed or. 7. In the centre is placed by way of pretence: Az _______________________________________________________________ (2) See Vol. II., p. 156. Pieces of this plate are held by Mrs. Courtenay Selden, and Mrs. Fielding Lewis Taylor, of Gloucester county. Page 166. three standing bowls ar., out of each a boar's head or, for Bowles. Col. Warner Lewis married Eleanor Bowles, widow of William Gooch, son of Governor Gooch. The crest on the silver is Ar. a dragon's head, and neck erasted vert, holding in the mouth a bloody hand, for Lewis. The motto is, Omne solum forti patria est: "Every land is a brave man's country". The Lewis silver differs from the engraving in the Barons, &c., in lacking the shields of Daingerfield, Washington, Jones, Golydobun Lord of Caerleon, Fielding, Butler, &c. It would be interesting to know the origin, age, etc., of the emblazoning described by Mr. Conway. CORBIN, PARKE, FARLEY. In an old book in my possession ("Letters from a Citizen of the World to his Friends in the East", Baltimore, 1816), there is a plate indicating tinctures, quarterly 1 and 4, Corbin: Ar. on a chief or three ravens sa.; 2 and 3, azure impaling gules. There is also an escutcheon of pretence, bearing quarterly 1 and 4, azure three pales sa. (Burke has or three pales sa., for Farley); 2 and 3, gu. on a pale ar. three buck's heads cabossed of the first, for Parke. On the plate underneath is printed R. R. Corbin. From Richmond Critic, November 26, 1888, Major Richard Corbin, born 1771, member of House of Delegates from King and Queen in 1799, and in the artillery during the war if 1812, married Rebecca, daughter of James Parke Farley and Elizabeth Hill Byrd, daughter of William and Elizabeth Carter Byrd. Mr. Farley was of Antigua, but removed to Virginia to manage a valuable tract of land purchased by his father in 1762 of William Byrd, and located on the Roanoke, in North Carolina (Smythe's Travels). What do the azure impaling gules of the 2d and 3d quarters in the first shield above imply? MANNING. In the numbers of the British Theatre, London, 1791, once belonging to the Library of St. George Tucker, the younger, there are bookplates of one William Manning: Quarterly az. and gu. a cross flory ar. between four trefoils slipped. Crest - Out of a ducal coronet or, an eagle's head sa. beaked or, between two feathers sa. ppr. Was William Manning a Virginian? HAY. In the Works of M. Boileau Despreaux, Glasgow, 1759 (French), bearing autograph of J. Page, is a book plate having the arms of Hay: Arg. three escutcheons gu. Crest: A demi- countryman, holding over his shoulder an ox yoke. Motto above the crest, Renovate Animos; below the arms, Gulielmus. Dr. Peter Page 167. Hay, of Virginia, who died in 1769, had a considerable library. Was the book his originally? LUDWELL. In an old book entitled The Motion of Fluids, &c., London, 1737, purchased as the fly leaf states, "by John Blair jun. at the sale of Col. Ludwell's Esta" is a book plate: Gu: between two towers on a bend argent three eagles displayed sable. Motto: I. Pensieri stretti Edil Viso Sciolto. Underneath is printed, "Philip Ludwell of Green Spring in Virginia Esqr." In the same collection I have seen book-pates, without armorial devices, of Rev. James Henderson, who married Miss Blair and Hugh Orr, both of Williamsburg. ADVERTISEMENTS. - "Lost, about three weeks ago, within three miles of Col. Griffin's, a triangular seal, set in gold, with a coat-of-arms engraved on one side, a crest on the other side, and the letters W.G. on a cypher on the third - half a postole reward." - Virginia Gazette, August 26, 1737. "Lost, some time in August last, a silver snuff box, gilt on the inside, and a coat of arms being engraved on the lid, three tygers' Heads, and the crest of a Lyon Rampant. Whoever brings it to Mr. Thomas Hall in Prince George Co. or to the printer of this paper shall have a pistole Reward". - Ibid., January 7, 1739. [Thomas Hall, clerk of New Kent county, was executed by Berkeley in 1676, as a supporter of Bacon, he "being more useful to the Rebells than forty armed men." Thomas Hall, of Prince George, was, I think, his grandson, and married Molly, daughter of Major Henry Power - QUARTERLY, January, 1893.] DAY. - Captain James Day's will was proved in Isle of Wight court, Virginia, January 9, 1700-'1: L300 sterling to each of his children, Elizabeth, James, Thomas and William Day; and for their education he directs that certain property lying in Broad street, within or near the precincts and circuit of the late dissolved house, priory, or monastery, commonly called the Augustine Fryars, in the parish of St. Peter's-the-Poor, in London, be sold; to his son James he leaves his watch, silver cane, "seal & coate of armes & my Rapier"; mentions Aunt Silvestra Hill, Brother and Sister Chapman, and Sister Swan wife Mary Day; to his "ever honored mother, Mrs. Mary Copley", L10 sterling. [John Day, of Bristol, made a power of attorney to Humphra Marshall in 1697. Mrs. Silvestra Hill (will proved January 9, 1706-'7) gave 360 ares to the poor of the up- Page 168. per parish of Isle of Wight; was the widow of Nicholas Hill, J.P. (will proved October 20, 1675), who mentions the legacy left her by Major-General Richard Bennett. - Isle of Wight Co. Records. Richard Bennett, in his will, proved August 3, 1676, bequeathed 12,000 pounds of tobacco to his cousin Silvestra Hill, the wife of Major Nicholas Hill; and the same amount to James Day. - N.E. H. & G.R., January, 1894, page 115. WILLIS, RICH, RICHARDS, FOX. - I obtained permission this summer from the vestry of Ware Church, Gloucester county, to take up the chancel, which hid from sight some handsome slabs. The slabs, through the liberality of Dr. Francis T. Willis, have not been placed where they can be seen. The first is the tombstone of Mrs. Anne Willis, who died in 1727, and was wife of Col. Francis Willis. It bears: Three griffins pass. in pale for Willis, impaling a chevron between three crosses botonnee for Rich. From an old Willis Bible, Colonel Francis Willis married Lady Anne Rich. The second stone is that of Amy Richards, the wife of John Richards, minister, and it bears no armorial devices. The third is that of Rev. John Richards: A chev. between three fleurs-de-lis. Ricahrds of Rowley, county Kent, England, bears as arms: Sa. a chev. betw. three fleurs-de-lis or. The fourth tomb is that of Isabella Fox, wife of Rev. John fox, and has the Fox arms: A chevron between three cocks; on a chief a fox courant, - which corresponds in Burke to Fox of Missenden, County Bucks. The tombstone of Mrs. Willis has a crest which I am not entirely certain about. WALLACE. - The tombstone of Rev. James Wallace, at his home, called "Erroll", on the Back River, in Elizabeth City County, bears arms: A lion rampant; crest, an ostrich's head and neck, holding in its beak a horseshoe. As his tomb states, Mr. Wallace was from Erroll, in Perthshire, North Britain, and he was minister of Elizabeth City county for twenty-one years. He died November 3, A.D. 1712, and in the forty-fifth year of his age. DANDRIDGE. - The tombstone of Mrs. Euphan Dandridge, lying near that of Rev. James Wallace, has arms: A lion's head erased between three mascles, corresponding to Dandridge of county Worcester, England. Mrs. Dandridge died 22d April, 1717. RAMSAY. - I have seen a wax seal attached to the original will of Dr. George Ramsay, in Norfolk county clerk's office: An eagle displayed, beaked and membered; crest, a unicorn's head couped. These arms correspond to those in Burke of the Earl of Dalhousie and the Ramsays of Croughton House, Brackley, Southampton. Page 169. Dr. Ramsay, in his will, dated June 22, 1756, devised his property to his wife, Sarah, and to his sons, John and James Ramsay. THRUSTON. - The original will of Edward Thruston, dated 25th September, 1761, is in the Norfolk county clerk's office, and bears a wax seal with the impression: three bugle-horns stringed. He mentions son, John; daughters, Mary and Elizabeth; grandsons, Charles Mine Trhuston, John Smith, of Norfolk, Moses Robertson; granddaughters, Frances Robertson, Sarah Hutchings, wife to Joseph Hutchings; legacy to daughter, Elizabeth Thruston.