Hello
Can anyone help me trace our ancestor's coat of arms.
We have a hand drawing in black and white of the crest. The colours are hand written to the sides.
At the bottom are 3 gold ships on royal blue water. Above that the background is red and there is a single arch bridge in gold/yellow that stretches right across the shield. Above that in the left corner is a white rose, centre is a fleur de leis, right a red rose. Surrounding the shield are 2 branches with leaves on. There is something at the centre top but I cannot make it out - maybe a helmet.
On the back of the drawing is written:
"Read up on the War of the Roses
Serjeant was knighted and given the land from Cambridge University to Halton this is where our
grandparents stay.
The lands have been gradually sold by each family till Halton was the only one left, that was sold and money divided among living children of Alfred Serjeant. Last one to own some of the land."
The family member said that our family originally came from France. Apparently our Serjeant name was pronounced Sir John. So it is possible that his name could be a variation of Serjeant or something along the lines of Surgon - pronounced with a French accent
On the other hand, maybe the surname was something completely different!
Our family can be traced back to 1670, John Serjeant born Haslingfield Cambs. The family always lived in Haslingfield/Harlton until the 20th century. Is Halton an old name for Harlton. The only other Halton I can find is in Manchester!
Are the images in the coat of arms a clue to the deeds of our ancestor
I am very new to this so be gentle