Who Appeared in Visitations? *COMPLETED*

[supermoussi]

Would I be correct in saying that the only people that appeared in the County Visitations were:-

 1) People who had been awarded a coat of arms themselves
 2) The senior male line of families that had been previously awarded heridatary arms (i.e., junior lines would not be eligible unless they had actually applied successfully to the College of Arms)

??

[Skoosh]

How about poltergeists?   

Skoosh.

[GrahamSimons]

This might help as a starting point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraldic_visitation

[cathyaus]

God - I have seen quite a few inquests where the verdict has been delivered as "Visitation from God".

    

Sorry - couldn't resist 

Cathy

[supermoussi]

This might help as a starting point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraldic_visitation

Thanks. Any idea of what "proof of entitlement" consisted of?

[GrahamSimons]

This might help, too, and there are links back to the home page of the College. The College will do research for you (but at a price); my father was in correspondence with Bluemantle Pursuivant back in the 1970s, but that line of research drew a blank. Looks like my g-g-g-grandfather was using a crest and arms he wasn't entitled to: good thing that this was in England rather than Scotland, where the penalties can be surprising.
http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/resources/the-law-of-arms

[KGarrad]

Thanks. Any idea of what "proof of entitlement" consisted of?

I think it means a genealogical tree showing the male line from whoever was granted the Arms, down to the claimant.
They will probably also require proof that no other claimants exist?

But it must meet the exacting requirements of the College of Arms, and they will probably want to draw it up themselves. That will cost a few thousand pounds!
And I don't think think DNA tests are suitable proof!

[GrahamSimons]

And I don't think think DNA tests are suitable proof!

DNA could help to indicate a legitimate male line, I suppose, but its power would be that it could certainly disprove a legitimate male line. I have no idea whether the Heralds would use this today.

But to be fair to the Heralds in the Visitations, that technology wasn't even a dream at the time! I loved teaching about DNA, sequencing, profiling and all the rest: it's absolutely fascinating and sheds so much light on the facts and principles that had already been elucidated before the discovery of its structure and workings.

[Guy Etchells]

There has never been a requirement that arms were granted in English heraldry.

In the first instance arms were simply by prescription or assumption.
The heralds during their visitations would view the arms and ensure they were not the same as those belonging to someone else. They would also check to see how long the arms had been in use by the family line. (All arms shown to have been in use prior to the battle of Agincourt were accepted as the existing by right without question.)
Heralds recognised arms upon strength of usage for a certain period, though no time scale was set for the period of usage.

There is a useful article on this topic in the magazine The Ancestor which was published between 1902 & 1905. It is contained in Volume VIII pages 113-144, published January 1904; Volume IX pages 214-224 published April 1904 ; and Volume X pages 51-69 published July 1904.
Cheers
Guy