Dear Lisa
The Deputy Chief Herald is correct.
Not all families would have a coat of arms or
shield recorded. Others would have a shield but not a Crest (the item on top of
a helmet) or Motto. But then sometimes a Crest would be recorded to the family a
few hundred years after the Arms were recorded.
It all gets fairly complex but there are a number
of books that record the Arms for families. The most well known is the series by
Sir Bernard Burke, ie Burkes Peerage, Burkes General Armory. He covers most
of the British and Irish families in his books. There are other books recording
the Arms for European families and American families. But in the case of the
American families most could trace their ancestry back to a European family of
the same name.
In truth it is only the DIRECT MALE LINE that may
bear the arms that were recorded to an ancestor, but most people are happy to
have a coat of arms upon the wall that were recorded to a family of the same
name. It is almost impossible to do a complete family trace unless the Arms were
recorded in the last couple of hundred years as written record become scarce and
confused before that.
It is still possible to design your own arms and
have it officially recorded by either the College of Arms in England or the
Herald Office in Dublin.
I hope this may clarify a few things but should you
have any further queries please do not hesitate in contacting me.
Yours
Andrew Fox
(A&S Heraldics)
PS If you let me know the surname you were
interested in I can let you know what information I have recorded on
it.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2002 1:58
PM
Subject: herald
I am confused, I was just informed by the Deputy
Chief Herald of Ireland that not all families have shields or coat of arms. DO
you 'make them up'... what is the procedure to see if their truly is a shield
and if it is authentic?