How to identify the original armiger?

[Toban]

Hello all,

I'm currently researching the Beatty family and have come across an almanac from the early 1900s that contains an image of a shield and states that it is the arms of the family, having been passed down the generations. The shield in question would be blazoned: or, on a pale vert three plates, each charged with an ermine spot sable. A crest of two crossed anchors is also present.

Now, these are the arms of Betagh, according to Robson's The British Herald. The only information he gives is that they originate in Ireland. No year or original grantee is mentioned.

I was wondering whether it is possible to track down the original owner of these arms to see whether I can connect him to the later Beatty family and if the arms genuinely belong to them.

Cheers,

Toban

[davidbappleton]

One possibility is that the spelling of the name got changed somewhere/some time, while the arms remained unchanged.  (I've an instance of this sort of spelling change in my own family, where over the course of three generations Forbes became Forbush.)

The other possibility is that someone, not finding arms for Beatty, substituted the arms of a similar-sounding family, Betagh, for them.  (I've seen instances of this before, in one 18th century case where the arms of Scholar were attributed to a family named Scolly.)

Whichever the case, Burke's General Armory gives no more information about the original bearer of the arms than Robson does.  It being an Irish coat, you might try emailing the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland to inquire further about the Betagh arms.

David