In the past ancestors attached copies of their coat of arms in the form of a seal to their original Wills if they had the right to bear arms, or perceived themselves as having this right. The use of arms is no guarantee of the right to hold them.

The researcher needs to prove a direct legitimate male line descent from someone who held arms which are recorded in the College of Arms records.

Although some arms date from the 12th Century, grants date from 1389 and Heralds were appointed from the 15th Century. It is also about this time that the Quartering of heiresses arms began. Crests were not automatically included.

The 16th Century saw minimum property requirements for applicants to be granted arms, that is goods of £360 or land of £100 per annum. It was realised in the same Century that it was required that some check took place on peoples right to bear arms so a series of Visitations took place, beginning in 1530 and ending about 1686.

The Herald would examine the records of the families to prove that they had the right to use the arms. The HARLEIAN SOCIETY has published many of these volumes (with many volumes about Yorkshire families). The same society has published a list of people who were granted arms between 1687 to 1898. Many record offices and libraries have lists of pedigrees (sometimes manuscripts) and there is a collection in Burkes Peerage, Burkes Landed Gentry, and the British Library Manuscript department.

To identify arms see the list of Blazons in the Ordinary of British Armorials by J. W. Papworth and A. W. Morant.

For Crests see Fairburns book of Crests 1905.

For Mottoes see Elvin's Handbook of Mottoes, 1860.

For further information see:

A. C. Fox-Davies, Complete Guide to Heraldry,

Thomas Woodcock and John Martin Robinson, The Oxford Guide to Heraldry.

The reading list with more Bibliographical Information is at: Family History Reading List

CADENCYAs heraldic families can produce several sons a way had to be found to give the individual son his own coat of arms, so a system of Cadency was introduced. Small 'charges' or brisures were introduced which had this effect. These small marks were generally placed in the centre top. The marks for the first son (before his succession as head of the family) were a three pointed label, second son a crescent, third son a star (mullet), fourth son a martlet (bird), fifth son an annulet, sixth son a fleur-de-lis, seventh son a rose, eighth son a cross moline, ninth son a double quatrefoil. A cadet branch descending from a second son would all use the crescent, but with a second mark on top. So for example the third son of a second son would have a mullet on a crescent.