Unidentified Tipstaff Coat of Arms

[ScouseBoy]

Ruskie, Thank you for your PM



I  wonder whether the Crown  and device  on the top  give any clues?

[ScouseBoy]

Hi,

I have a very nice tipstaff but no one seems to recognise the coat of Arms. Can you help?

It may have been the symbol of office  held by the Town Clerk  of the City of Oxford.

Visit a City museum   and look   for  Mace and other  symbols of office.

[Treetotal]

Hi and welcome to Rootschat.

What a lovely thing to have and even more so as it is a family heirloom. In common with others, I failed to find a match even using Google image recognition....which only brought up your image as a match 

Maybe this person will able to shed some light on it... hopefully:

http://www.truncheon.org.uk/

Carol

[Ruskie]

Ruskie, Thank you for your PM

ScouseBoy. I think you are mistaken. I did not send you a PM.

ScouseBoy, you said that you did some research which led you to Oxford University. I asked you to elaborate. Could you do that please?

Now you say:

It may have been the symbol of office  held by the Town Clerk  of the City of Oxford.

Visit a City museum   and look   for  Mace and other  symbols of office.

Which is it then? Oxford University or Town Clerk?

Do you really think that suggesting that Laurence visits a city museum to look at their mace will help him discover the meaning of his Coat of Arms?

Added: Carol, that link looks like it might be very useful.

[KGarrad]

It can't be from the City of Oxford, as the arms are wrong.

Webster's College Dictionary says:
tip•staff (ˈtɪpˌstæf, -ˌstɑf)

n., pl. -staves (-ˌsteɪvz)
-staffs.
1. an attendant or crier in a court of law.
2. a staff tipped with metal, formerly carried as a badge of office, as by a constable.
3. any official who carried such a staff.

Other dictionaries say much the same.
That was why I suggested the Oxford City Police?
The addition of the anchors makes me think it might have been the River Authority, or River Police?
The coronets (NB not crowns!) look to me like civic coronets? But as they are a charge on the field, rather than a crest, they could mean almost anything?!

I tried all the colleges at Oxford University, but none of their Arms are even close.

In summary, I would say it's a civic office, connected to Oxford City.

[ScouseBoy]

Anchors   do not necessarily signify  water associations.   They  can be symbolic  of other things  in heraldry.

[Treetotal]

There are no anchor chains around the anchors...not sure that is relevant though....I have also seen that the anchor can represent salvation:

http://www.familytreesandcrests.com/heraldry-symbols.htm

Carol

[Swainys Boy]

Hi,

I have a very nice tipstaff but no one seems to recognise the coat of Arms. Can you help?

It may have been the symbol of office  held by the Town Clerk  of the City of Oxford.

Visit a City museum   and look   for  Mace and other  symbols of office.

Thanks Scouseboy, this is a good suggestion being a symbol of office held by the town clerk and this is exactly what these items represents, it got me thinking because in relation to the many other truncheons and tipstaffs that I have, this one is very light in its weight. I remember thinking that it would not have lasted very long in its work and use as a constables tipstaff knowing the rough and tumbles of such duties. Quite possibly this may well have been placed on a stand on a desktop, who knows? Perhaps even a University Principals office? 

As far as visiting a museum or any archives, I have done just that and makes a great day out. I was only in the London Metropolitan Archives last Saturday researching another tipstaff for ChristChurch Surrey which is now Southwark.

Carol... It is not exactly a family heirloom although I did inherit it from Dad, where he got it from goodness knows. The owner of the website http://www.truncheon.org.uk/ would possibly know where it came from but he also does not know the coat of Arms, he and my Father were very best of friends. Thanks for your input though. As a matter of further interest regarding heraldry etc the websites owner has writtern a book with many fine illustrations, very well worth a read!

Cheers All.
Laurence

[ScouseBoy]

There is an Association of Town Clerks.    See if their web site gives any  historical information.