NationStates Jolt Archive

does anyone know any good, free sites which have family shields? i am looking up a few for my family, and am just wondering

does anyone know any good, free sites which have family shields? i am looking up a few for my family, and am just wondering
How about Googling "<Your Surname> Coat of Arms"

For example: "Chesterton Coat of Arms"

A good site to review some (they will sell you repro-quality) is http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp/sId./qx/default.htm

Of course, if your name is !Xumbu that might be problamatic, but then I don't think you would be lloking for a coat of arms either.

i have tried googleing it, and going to house of names, just that, yeah, some of the names are odd, and dont come up :/

I don't know of any "free" sites for Coats of Arms, but there are several which offer them at very reasonable prices. :)

i have tried googleing it, and going to house of names, just that, yeah, some of the names are odd, and dont come up :/
try alternate spellings...vowel shifts were common among immigrant families, as were flat out name changes at times

kewl, thanx. i was just wanting graphics, thats all. i actually have one of the shields in question on my wall.

Here's my families coat of arms, if you're interested:

http://www.houseofnames.com/i/family-crest/coas/zoom/3285-family-crest-English.gif

The motto is "Virtutis Stemmata"

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Whoa.... that is FREAKISHLY close to mine.... and I mean close!

I just checked mine up on the web page- its US orientated so I doubt it veracity for my purposes though :(

Well, if your surname is "Nablookaronganoogarug", then you might have a problem. Me, I'm lucky. I am an "Alexander."

I couldn't find my coat of arms..but I found other interesting stuff!

http://www.maschwitz.de/maschwitz-1257.htm
Theodoricus de Weltewiz....from 1257!

And this...
http://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche/content_ergebnis_detail.asp?id=3747559&sec_id=EF9B09A722B025CB9228693E2A715865FBCE8894
My grandmother's brother...buried in Origny-Ste.-Benoite in Block 18 Grave 57

EDIT: Correction, it is my grandmother's uncle.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Whoa.... that is FREAKISHLY close to mine.... and I mean close!

I just checked mine up on the web page- its US orientated so I doubt it veracity for my purposes though :(
What's your surname (if you don't mind me asking)?

Here's my old family coat of arms, we changed it sometime in the 70s.
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/yyy/DU_AG6_Bitch3%5B1%5D.jpg

WARNING - CRESTS ARE NOT NESSESARILY ALIGNED WITH NAMES

For example, suppose John Smith was a guy. He had two sons, Joe and Bob. Bob got a patent of nobility, or whatever, and got a coat of arms. Joe Smiths line DOES NOT HAVE the crest as well.

What's your surname (if you don't mind me asking)?

Meh... wouldn't make a difference. Its French historically, not Irish- Hugenout emigrees in the 17th C came and settled in Dublin.

Its Page. ;)

WARNING - CRESTS ARE NOT NESSESARILY ALIGNED WITH NAMES

For example, suppose John Smith was a guy. He had two sons, Joe and Bob. Bob got a patent of nobility, or whatever, and got a coat of arms. Joe Smiths line DOES NOT HAVE the crest as well.
Yea, I'm alright with that. I can trace myself back to various English kings and stuff, and a hell of a lot of Earls and Lords. I even know where my families ancestral home is in Dublin. It's definitely my coat of arms. My granny even has a copy of it on a plaque. And I have a not exactly common surname. I know my coat of arms.

Others may not, though.

Meh... wouldn't make a difference. Its French historically, not Irish- Hugenout emigrees in the 17th C came and settled in Dublin.

Its Page. ;)

Not the same as mine, then. Mine's Cobbe. Not Irish-Hugenot, but Norman-English from way back in the 12th C. As far as we know anyway, might go further than that.

Not the same as mine, then. Mine's Cobbe. Not Irish-Hugenot, but Norman-English from way back in the 12th C. As far as we know anyway, might go further than that.

Nice :) 12th C is a good distance, I doubt you could get back much further even on the French/Norman side.

Tis a b*tch getting records down here though, because of the bloody GPO burning in 1920- thereby taking nearly everyone's historical records with it :mad:

Its harder when you find out the different branches of the same family then went and set up their own coat of arms way back when... to be accurate, you've really got to narrow the buggers down :p

Nice :) 12th C is a good distance, I doubt you could get back much further even on the French/Norman side.
Yea, would be nice, but you gotta live with what you have :)

I know my ancestry down several lines right back to about 700 AD, just not the actual family name, or where it comes from

Tis a b*tch getting records down here though, because of the bloody GPO burning in 1920- thereby taking nearly everyone's historical records with it :mad:
Aye, well my family owed a 'big house' in Dublin (Newbridge House, if you've ever heard of it) so most of the records stayed there. Some younger son moved to Belfast in the late 1800s, but we've been easily able to link ourselves in with the Newbridge records

Its harder when you find out the different branches of the same family then went and set up their own coat of arms way back when... to be accurate, you've really got to narrow the buggers down :p
Yeam I'm sure there are several intermingling coats of arms in my family, but that's the one with my surname attached :)

Yea, would be nice, but you gotta live with what you have :)

I know my ancestry down several lines right back to about 700 AD, just not the actual family name, or where it comes from


:eek: Kudos!

Aye, well my family owed a 'big house' in Dublin (Newbridge House, if you've ever heard of it) so most of the records stayed there. Some younger son moved to Belfast in the late 1800s, but we've been easily able to link ourselves in with the Newbridge records



This be the place your talkin' about? ;)

Newbridge House is a very fine example of a true Georgian mansion within Newbridge Demesne Regional Park. It was built by Archbishop Charles Cobbe in 1736 and remained the family home of the Cobbe family until 1985 when it was acquired by the County Council.
Thanks to an unique agreement with the Cobbe Family, they have generously provided on loan the original furniture, pictures and other works of art on display in the main apartments. The family continues to reside there on a part time basis.

http://www.ireland.ie/images/TouristInformation/848.jpg

That'll be the one.

Unfortunately when it says "The family continues to reside there on a part time basis." it doesn't mean randomers with the same surname who split from the current inheritence (if you know what I mean) line about 130 years ago.

Although I do get 'VIP' style tours if we ever go.

Go me :rolleyes:


Back to about 700 AD goes right back through a couple of Kings of England and a couple of Dukes of Normandy and then following the line of Rollo, the first Duke, back to Earls in Scandinavia. It's a straight line of descent, it just loses my family name about 400 years ago, where it becomes Beresford for a generation, then Earl Tyone, and that's where my memory fails me and the copy of the family tree we have somewhere comes to the rescue.

My Coat of Arms is a Tactical Vest...
http://www.tacticalshop.com/graphics/00000001/tac7-model-a.jpg
:D

God damn I'm jealous of you guys. My family history gets very fuzzy (on both sides) at the immigration to America. I've managed to trace back to a whole bunch of the original immigrants, but only a few have gone much past that.

Aye, the Gordon Clan Coat of Arms is mine, laddy. Behold yer eyes upon this:

http://www.houseofnames.com/i/family-crest/coas/zoom/5973-family-crest-Scottish.gif

http://store1.yimg.com/I/4crests_1870_13366228

Here's mine. I don't know if I'm entitled to one, but I'm Irish, so I stole it anyway.

I love family crests. :) I found mine through a foundation made up of people from my family over in Holland. My last name means "The Archer" so it's appropriate that the crest has crossbows on it. :)

http://www.toxopeus.org/Afbeeldingen/zegel-2.jpg

Is NS general psychic or something? I just got an email from my brother about this. The crest I posted above doesn't apply to me as it was for the Northern based Kellys. (Quick history: Wealthy and successful family until entire estate was squandered in a series of disastrous wars)

I'm a Wicklow based Kelly, which has no coat of arms. Although it did have a kick-ass wolf tattoo that was got on the right shoulder. (Quick history: Clan used to raid Dublin and Britain for wealth. Eventually became some form of wandering mercenaries. Also some tenuous connection with a king of Leicester, which I intend to fully pursue.)

My last name was chnged to Steeves when my family came over to America. It was probably a mistake or something. It used to be Steif and we came over from Germany in the 1760's. There was a one family with Seven Sons. Now, there are quite a few Steeves especially on the East Coast. Mostly, in Canada though.

EDIT: After doing a little research I discovered I am the 9th Generation in North America.

My coat-of-arms is two fish on a sheild. My last name is a fish in German. I don't know whether to be proud, or disgraced. Oh yeah, and I'm the 8th generation! Wait...ya you won.

Right... I found more than one:

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/3766/williams0oe.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=williams0oe.jpg) http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/1230/williams8bl.th.gif (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=williams8bl.gif) http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/8504/williams29ig.th.gif (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=williams29ig.gif) http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/9224/williamscrest5yk.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=williamscrest5yk.jpg) http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/3226/willilamscrest0sk.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=willilamscrest0sk.jpg)

As far as I've ascertained, the motto that goes along with the winged sword is "God feedeth the Ravens." There seems to be another German Williams coat of arms out there, with a silver shield and a couple roses on it, but the site didn't have any pictures (just prices :p).

*takes out notepad, writes: "Stalk and Kill Mr. Laerod Williams" and stuffs pad back into the left-back pocket of my jeans*

http://www.houseofnames.com/i/family-crest/coas/zoom/11593-family-crest-German.gif

That's not what our family shield is, hanging in my grandmother's family room, but whatever. That, and we're from Saxony. So, meh, this site sucks. Oh, and here's the fish I'm named after:

http://www.planetposter.de/meeresfische/euromeer-scholle-d.jpg

Cute isn't it?

Looks like my foot. But, without the hobbit hair. My foot is really, really wide when I stand on it. And its supposed to be two of these, only slimmer, and like the picese things. Apparently, my last name is a nickname, while there is a fish that is the same as my last name...hmm...I think its BS. I know my family history, and where my roots come from. Germany and Poland, with a little mix of Irish and Norweigan/Swedish and Native American. Yeah, I got a lot of history. :)

I'm not sure I have one.

I'm not sure I have one.
Keep digging! And if it turns out you actually don't have one, just make one up!

What's the rule on Coats of Arms?
Since my family doesn't really have one - can I start one? And in 200 years, my children's children will remember me for it?

Awesome!

What's the rule on Coats of Arms?
Since my family doesn't really have one - can I start one? And in 200 years, my children's children will remember me for it?

Awesome!
Exact same time, exact same idea. Geniuses think alike. :p

*takes out notepad, writes: "Stalk and Kill Mr. Laerod Williams" and stuffs pad back into the left-back pocket of my jeans*You don't honestly think I'd have given you people my last name if it weren't the third most common name in the English speaking world, would you? (And my parents weren't evil enough to name me something as bizarre as "Laerod"... :p)

You don't honestly think I'd have given you people my last name if it weren't the third most common name in the English speaking world, would you? (And my parents weren't evil enough to name me something as bizarre as "Laerod"... :p)
Joking, joking. :p I though my last name wasn't common, then I did a search on it, and there's all of these folks called, well, look. I think I'm safe, and if anyone does stalk me, I can always change my name. :p

Keep digging! And if it turns out you actually don't have one, just make one up!

Well, I might...it'll be difficult to track down, though. Lithuanian background. :)

Well, I might...it'll be difficult to track down, though. Lithuanian background. :)
After digging around some more, I think our family lore is quite correct! I hope you have the same luck, and for some links, you might have to check into Polish or Russian things, not just Lithuanian. We had to look into Austrian immigration papers to figure out we were from Poland!

Apparently, my mothers previous surname is a Germanization of a Polish name, but its the exact same, and we didn't immigrate to Germany. And all of our first names are either Scandinavian or German, this is fun!

My family did at one point hold a title in England sometime ago, hence two small villages with the same name, but i wouldnt be confident in any coat of arms that i could find.

Well, I might...it'll be difficult to track down, though. Lithuanian background. :)

Lithuanian? I wouldn't at all be surprised if you have some sort of nobility in your blood- the great Polsh-Lithuanian Commonwealth(?) or Union at least would have been a great force in the early middle ages.

Probably start on the Polish side of things. Now THAT could be an interesting search.

After digging around some more, I think our family lore is quite correct! I hope you have the same luck, and for some links, you might have to check into Polish or Russian things, not just Lithuanian. We had to look into Austrian immigration papers to figure out we were from Poland!

Apparently, my mothers previous surname is a Germanization of a Polish name, but its the exact same, and we didn't immigrate to Germany. And all of our first names are either Scandinavian or German, this is fun!

Yeah, I might do. More likely any records have been lost though. My grandfather emigrated here after world war two, 'cause his area was pretty much obliterated (and he'd been shuffled back and forth as forced labour between all sides.) He's the only one that would be able to track that sort of thing down, and he doesn't know.

Lithuanian? I wouldn't at all be surprised if you have some sort of nobility in your blood- the great Polsh-Lithuanian Commonwealth(?) or Union at least would have been a great force in the early middle ages.

Probably start on the Polish side of things. Now THAT could be an interesting search.

Yeah, I know about the history of the two nations. I think more likely, though, i'm descended from your average serf rather than any kind of nobility. :p

try alternate spellings...vowel shifts were common among immigrant families, as were flat out name changes at times

Yep, even long time immigrants [my ancestors settled in Lousiana in the 1750's].... Present spellings of surname "DuPuy", original spelling "DuPuis"; pronounced the same...

http://www.houseofnames.com/i/family-crest/coas/zoom/4484-family-crest-French.gif

After a little Research I discovered my Family history is pretty much non-existant before we immigrated to North America. I am therefore forced to assume that we were peasants of some kind.