Monday 29 February 2016

Coat of Arms heraldry database

I've been asked to give a mention to a heraldry website which may be of interest to some readers. It is called the Coat of Arms Database, and is located at www.coadb.com. Site founder John Lehman describes its properties as follows:

a) Whereas other websites depict only the shield, we depict the crest and supporters (if present)
b) Whereas other websites only have one arms per surname, we list multiple arms per surname (ex. we have 54 arms for Allen)
c) We include the blazon for the arms and the source of the blazon.
d) We try not to use the erroneous term "family crest" which implies arms belong to a family as opposed to individuals

NB: Note the last point in particular, for which the site also states "Purchasing products featuring these arms does not entitle you to claim the arms as your own". There are just under 8200 coats of arms depicted on the site just now, though Mr Lehman states that the intention is to expand further from this.

Note also that there are many authoritative guides available on heraldry and heraldic records for genealogical purposes, not least of which is the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings from 1672-1913, for Scottish heraldic records, as regulated by the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh (www.lyon-court.com). This is available on the ScotlandsPeople website (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk).

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. My Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.

No comments:

Post a Comment