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I am very confused about coats of arms and crests. I know that people commonly think they have a claim to a coat of arms or crest through a surname, but actually don't as they need to be issued to them and generally only continue along the male line.

Last year I discovered that one of my ancestors was awarded this coat of arms in the 17th Century for defending the beach of Gwithian from a French ship. He was later awarded it by Queen Anne and I remembered reading that this was exempt from the primogeniture classification of other coats of arms and for this reason and can be used by descendants through female lines as well.

My first question is - does this count as a crest or a coat of arms? I am very unclear on the differences. Also - would I have a legitimate claim to this coat of arms as it is a direct ancestor and awarded by the crown?

Any clarity on this matter would be much appreciated!

Henning

Hi,

I came across this photograph about five years ago and I know for a fact that the three people at the back are my 3xGreat-Aunt and my 3xGreat-Grandparents. The woman on the left of the middle row is also my 3xGreat-Aunt and I suspect that the children either side are another two of their siblings as they more or less match the approximate ages and gender.

I suspect this photograph to have been taken in about 1905 and either in Camborne or Helston, but I recently become intrigued as to the possible occasion and who the other two people on the middle row are? Based on his collar, I am under the impression that the gentleman in the middle must be a vicar and given the closeness of the woman next to him, most likely his wife. I am however interested to know what possible occasion this could have been and whether anyone with further information about the local churches might be able to offer some more help on who they might be?

It seems that they are all wearing dark clothes - could this be because it was fashionable at the time, or were they in mourning and that is why the vicar is there?

Any further help would be greatly appreciated. My interest piqued this week as I discovered that we were related to the Reverend John Hockin of Okehampton through my 3xGreat-Grandmother who is at the back of the picture. On the basis that several of her uncles were given the middle name Hockin (presumably to commemorate this line), I wondered, as tenuous as it might be, whether there could be any link for this reason? I am also as yet unsure where this was taken i.e. at home or in a studio.

Many thanks in advance!

Henning

I recently took an Ancestry DNA test and I was surprised to find an ethnicity estimate which included a range of 23-43% Europe East. As expected, I am around half English and the remaining quarter, German. This has been an interesting discovery as the only possible explanation is that my paternal grandfather for whom I have barely any information, was in fact Eastern European! Given that my Grandmother was German and lived in Hamburg when my father was born in 1948, this prompted me in to thinking that my Grandfather may have emigrated from Poland to Germany following the war.

I have several matches with cousins from Poland and despite spending hours searching locations and surnames and trawling through public trees, I am struggling to find anything that may help me to find out who he really is... Is there anything more that I can be doing with the information on Ancestry to pinpoint a more accurate match between cousins who are shared matches?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Henning

I recently recovered a small collection of old family photographs which my cousin had at the bottom of a cupboard for several years and in amongst these was one showing these two unknown people. She said that it was a picture which her dad (my Great-Great Uncle) had valued and therefore I am trying to work out who they could possibly be based on the approximate date and age of the people.

For the purposes of adding all the information as stated in the forum rules, I think it is either my 3xGreat Grandparents (Charles Walker and Sarah Armstrong) who lived in Sheffield in the 19th century, or my Great-Great Grandfather (George Thomas Walker)'s first wife's parents - William and Mary Thompson (who were from Leeds).

Any help with this photo would be much appreciated!

Henning Walker