[similar arms appear in Kings' work
atributed to Litlar (Littler - Ar, a chev. sa. betw. three
squirrels sejant gu.)
but I have yet to find a blood connection]
Despite having
Arms recorded in The Vale Royal of England,
Goostrey appears to have avoided or
ignored the Herald’s Visitations of 1663/4
completely. At the visitation of Cheshire, a pedigree of six
generations was recorded using these Arms.
It is headed by Philip Kinsey father of
Edward Kinsey of Blackden, co: Cheshire. It descends to the
children of John Kinsey, who was aged 52 in
1663, and of Anne his wife, daughter of
George Birch of Birch, co: Lancashire. The Arms of Kinsey
are given as Argent a Chevron between three
squirrels sejant erect Gules. No mention is
made here of Goostrey or variants.
Strangely, of the 520 Cheshire gentlemen recorded by
King in his book, the only names associated
with these arms are that of Goostrey and
Blackenden (Blackden).
Printed
Sources
An authoritative source for early heraldic
usage is the Dictionary of British Arms:
Medieval Ordinary (Woodcock, Grant and
Graham 1996). There is no mention of
Goostrey or variants in this works but the
following entry can be found: The Arms
Argent a Chevron between
three Squirrels Gules is ascribed
to Kinsey by Creswick’s
Roll of circa 1510.
Burke’s General Armoury (1884)
ascribes the following to Goosetrey or
Goosetree of co: Bucks:
Argent a Chevron between three Squirrels
sejant Gules. The Crest being On a Wreath of
the Colours A Stags head erased Or.
It ascribes the
Arms of Eaton (Blackden co: Chester)as being: Quarterly,
Argent and Gules a cross patonce
counterchanged in the first quarter a mullet
of the second. Later Arms (after their
marriage with the GOOSETREYS) - Argent
a Chevron between three Squirrels sejant
Gules.
The Arms of
Kinsey are recorded in Burke’s as: Kinsey
(Blackden Hall co: Chester; allowed at Visit co.
Chester) Argent a
Chevron between three Squirrels sejant
Gules.
And Burke’s
records the Arms of Twemlow as: Twemlow co:
Chester : Ancient Arms -
Argent a Chevron Or between three Squirrels
sejant Gules, Modern Arms: Az. two bars eng.
or, charged with three boars heads, two and
one, erect couped sa. Crest - on the stump
of a tree erect a parrot all ppr.
Fairburn’s Book
of Crests (1906) agrees that the crest of
Goostrey of Buckinghamshire is On a Wreath
of the Colours A Stags head erased Or.
Authority
Verses Use
It is widely accepted that Burke’s and
Fairburn’s have no authority and are useful
largely as a guide to usage rather than
right. It must also be accepted that the
work of Daniel King The Vale Royal of
England is likewise more a record of
contemporary usage than of right. I must
presume therefore that although there
is no authority, for a long period of time a
family bearing the name of Goostrey has used
Arms. Let us therefore look at some of the
genealogy to try to establish if such an
armigerous family existed before the records
of the College of Arms and, if it did, how
the Arms in question come to be recorded as
being used by so many different families.
From the
genealogist and historian Ormorod (8), we learn that
Goostrey was known as Gostrel
in the Doomsday Book, probably comprising
the two manors of Bernulfshawe
and Gostre,
property of the founder of the Barony of Monalt – Hugo de
Mara also known as Hugh Fitznorman. He gave
his share of “Gostrey”
along with Lawton to the Abbey of St Werburgh. Ormorod’s
translation of the Doomsday entry records:
“The families of Croxton,
Twemlowe, Gostre, Bonetable, Bernulschaw, and
Aston passed the manor and lands of Barnshaw and
Goostrey to the Abbey of St Werburgh”.
Particulars of the grants are in the charter
of the Abbey (9).
A charter was
granted to the convent by Michel de Gostre by which the
abbey was empowered to embank a lake for the
use of the mill, and also to serve them as a
vivary or fish
pond. [There is no date for this, but it is
linked to another reference given a date of
1249-65].
Ormorod suggests
that a mansion house must have existed at an
early period in Goostrey and that Goostry gave name to
a family, originally most probably seized of
the manor. The following brief and
interesting pedigree (10) shows the descent of
their estate here from about the reign
Edward III [1327-1377] to the temp.
Henry VII [1485-1509] and connects them with
the Kinsey of Blackden of whom little is
known.
Michel de Gostre was
grandfather of Thomas de Gostre to
whose name is appended a curious note. He
married a daughter of … Hamond of Bancroft
‘against his fader’s will and his own worshippe, and
through evil councell
he did such things for quiche he was done to
death for yt
was shame and greefe
to his fader and his frendes’
(10)
1. Michel de Gostre [third son of
Lidulph de Twemlow to whom his father gave
the half of Goostrey]
1.1 His son Thomas married Alianore, daughter
of William Mainwaringe
They had three
children: (11)
1.1.1. Thomas, married Hamond
of Bancroft (temp Richard II [1377-1399]),
had four daughters [not named]
William, married Alice daughter of Richard
Hadley.
Roger [for whom no marriage or descendants
are shown]
William had 3
children:
1.1.2.1 Thomlyn
(Thomas), married the daughter [no first
name given] of Jenken
Rowley and had one daughter, Anne (Agnes)
who married William Vernon and had issue
which died s.p.
(which William was living 7 Hen. 5 a
widower) .William “held Goostrey in right of
his wife”.
1.1.2.2 Wilkin or William, married [not
given], had land in Blackden.
Jenken (John),
who had land in Blackden of gift of father.
1.1.2.2 Wilkin
had two children:
1.1.2.2.1Agnes, wife of Robert Kinsey (from
whom Kinsey of Blackden), who had a son
William
Robertson Kinsey, coheir with his aunt to
the Gostre
Estate (1498).
1.1.2.2.2Alice, coheir to Anne Vernon, who
married firstly Thomas de Eaton (from whom
Eaton of Blackden) and secondly Jack
de Snelsone in
or about 1498.
A survey of Goostrey Church taken in 1569 (12) notices the arms of
Kinsey, and a tablet “Anne, wife of
John Kinsey of Blackden died 18 Feb 1665”.
Ormorod then goes
on:
There is also reference to the family of Barnshaw – Roger de
Berneshagh, a
commissioner. The rarity of this name may in
some measure be accounted for by supposing
the family borne the alias of Gostre, or of Grene. The Grenes presumably
the ancestors of the Grenes
of Congleton.
There is
information under the township of Croxton. There is a reference
to Lidulph de Croxton,
or Tremlowe,
who one genealogist had made the son of Wulfric, but Ormorod
thinks it more likely he was the grandson.
He also goes by the names of Walthew, Orme, and William.
Ormorod goes on:
If however it can
be proved that Lidulph de Croxton and Tremlowe were two
successive proprietors, and not one
generation as the genealogists have
uniformly made them, Wulfric,
the grandfather of the first, will be thrown
back to the Conquest or to the time of the
Confessor, and there will then be no
difficulty in point of time in crediting the
interpolation before mentioned which,
after calling the second generation Walthew, makes Wulfric the
grandfather of “Margeria
filia Walthei, filia Wulfrici”, which Margeria
undoubtedly brought Marton
in marriage to the grandson of the Norman
Baron of Kinderton.
(13)
Ormorod
continues:
This last Lidulp, sheriff of Cheshire in the reigns of
Richard I [1189- 99] and John [1199-1216],
the surviving temp. Henry III [1216-1272]
lord of Tremlowe,
Croxton,
Goostrey, Cranage
and half of Winnington,
had a second brother, Randle, to whom he
gave the fourth of Cranage,
and from whom the families of Granage, Ermitage, Tremlowe and Le Brun descended.
Lidulph had issue Richard, Robert and
Michael. From the last two sons named
descended severally the families of Winnington and
Goostrey.
Richard settled his lands in Gorestree on his son
Michael.
Richard de Croxton, son and
heir of Lidulph, had a grant from his father
of all his lands in Cheshire, except a moiety of
his land in Gorestree
settled on his son Michael.
There is a family
tree (14): The Croxton and
Mainwaring of Croxton,
with Arms of Croxton
– sable, a lion rampant Argent, debruised by a bend
compare Or and Gules. The tree reads as
follows:
Wulfric, lord of Croxton under Ornus de Tuchett, living in
the time of Edward the Confessor and
William I
Two sons are
shown:
1. William and sometimes called Orme (called Wultheus filius Wulfrici in an
interpolation in Booth’s pedigree, ibid
p156, b, which interpolation is probably
correct. Ormus
filius Wulfrie (possibly).
Willam had a son and a
daughter:
1.1 Ledulf de
Crocstun, witness to a deed of William Fitz-Nigell, temp Henry I (15)
Margery filia Walthei filii Wulfrici, wife of
Gilbert Venables, Baron of Kinderton.
Ledulph is shown with two
sons and a daughter:
Lidulph de Tremlow (and de Croxton), Lord of
Tremlow, Croxton,
Cranage, half of
Winnington,
Goosetrey. Sheriff of Cheshire temp Richard
I and John and living temp Henry III.
Confounded in the Cheshire pedigrees with the
preceding Ledolf of whom he was a son
or grandson.
Randle, ancestor of Cranach
of Cranach
Ellen
1.1.1 Lidulph is
shown to have three sons:
Richard, son an
heir.
Robert, lord of a moiety of Winnington, married
(1)Margery, daughter of Robert de Wynynton, from whom
Winnington of Winnington; (2)Mathilda, daughter
of Richard de Wilbraham (from whom Leftwich of Leftwich).
Michael, lord of a moiety of Goosetrey (from
whom Goosetrey of Goosetrey).
There is a separate reference, not part of
the family tree, to Gilbert, who had issue
Warin de Clyve
(16).
There is a later
reference:
Cicely, daughter of William de Goostree married
1339 Roger de Swetenham.
Said to have will
dated 1366, and to be living in 1382.
Relationship
of Arms
From the information gathered by Ormorod and
the contemporary records of King and Burke
we can begin to see the relationships
between those who use the Arms. It is my view that the Arms were
first used by early Goostreys,
possibly even Michael De Gostre, and were
seen as being important, feudal and
territorial. This could explain why upon the
marriage of Alice De Gostre,
daughter and co-heir of William, Thomas de
Eaton (according to Burke) seems to have
abandoned earlier Arms in favour of those of
Goostrey. Strictly speaking, if Alice was an heraldic heiress,
the Arms should have been quartered with
those of Eaton but if they were seen as
being of territorial importance they may
have been used in preference. Similarly, we
know that the descendants of Robert Kinsey
the husband of Agnes, the other co-heir of
William, used the same Arms. A second
indication of the status of the Goostrey
inheritance is that of the territorial
designation “of Blackden” which the families
of both Eaton and Kinsey began to use after
their marriages to Goostrey heiresses.
History appears to be silent as to the
fecundity of Roger de Gostre
(Living 1313) and his nephew John who had
lands in Blackden of the gift of his father.
The family tree seems to indicate that the
females were heirs and co-heirs so it is
assumed that Roger and John died without
offspring. There is a further strong
indication that the Arms originate from the
family of Goostrey, pre-dating their
adoption or inheritance by the Kinseys who today
are seen to hold them with the authority of
the College of Arms, that of the
similarity with the “Ancient” Arms of Twemelow, the only
difference being the colour of the chevron.
Michael de Gostre
you will remember is the third son of
Lidulph de Twemlow.
One explanation
as to why King recorded the Arms as those of
Goostrey when they were in fact borne by
Kinsey (as recorded but a few years later by
the Heralds) could be that they were well recognised locally
as being the important “territorial” and
feudal Arms of Goostrey, so much so that no
matter who bore them, they were known as
Goostrey. The Heralds of course were more
thorough in their examination of who
actually used them and correctly recorded
them as the Arms of Kinsey. It is my view
that the Kinsey’s of Blackden held the Arms
in right of their Goostrey ancestors.
All of the above
is based upon the Arms passing through
heraldic heiresses which
relies on an assumption that the Goostrey
male line died out in the 14th or 15th
century. How then can we explain the
continued appearance of the Arms of Goostrey
or Goosetree co: Bucks as recorded by Burke
?
There is
reference to a Thomas Goostrey of Westminster gent. in
Buckinghamshire at around 1749/50 (17). Was this the
gentleman using the Arms of Goostrey as
recorded by Burke ? I have been unable
to find out, but there can be little doubt
that someone named Goostrey must have
continued to use the Arms in Buckinghamshire
if we are to believe that the General Armoury was a
contemporary record (especially as by then
the Arms had gained a crest). If however we
maintain our belief that the original male
line died out and the Arms descended through
female co-heirs, then whoever was using the
Arms in more recent times was perhaps
someone who had a fondness of history and
“adopted” and continued to use those Arms
which were historically associated with the
surname. I have found no proof that a male
line of the descendants of Michael De Gostre, third son of
Liddulph de
Twemlow, continued and the fact that all the
lands originally associated with the name
devolved through female co-heirs strongly
indicates that the true Goostrey of Goostrey
line died out long ago.
Conclusion
We know that extensive searches in the
records and collections of the College of Arms have revealed no
reference to the surname of Goostrey, or its
variants. It would seem that from the Tudor
period to the present day, no family with
the surname, Goostrey, Gostre
or De Gostre
has been recorded as being entitled to bear
Arms. I have attempted to show
that such an armigerous family did in
fact exist before the records of the College of Arms, and that their
estates and Arms were of such importance
that they passed from Goostrey to Kinsey. A
descent of Arms which, although on the face
of it would be a breach of the law of Arms
as we know it today, in fact pre-dates such
conventions. There seems little doubt that
these Arms have long been associated with
the name of Goostrey.
M.S.J. Goldstraw
2002
Notes and
References
1. Daniel King the
author of The Vale Royal of England was born
in Chester and in 1630 was
apprenticed as heraldic painter
to Randle Holmes sometime deputy to a King
of Arms.
Thanks to the generosity of his patron
Peter Venables, King was able to include the
armorial
bearings of some 520 Cheshire
Gentlemen in his Vale Royal of England.
2.
Burke’s General Armory (1884) ascribes the
following to Goosetrey or Goosetree of co:
Bucks: Argent a Chevron between three
Squirrels sejant Gules. The Crest being On a
Wreath of the Colours A Stags head
erased Or.
3. Fairburn’s
Book
of Crests (1906) agrees that the crest of
Goostrey of Buckinghamshire is On
a Wreath of the Colours A Stags head
erased Or.
4. Mr.
Hunt,
Windsor Herald searched the following on my
behalf: The Heralds’ Visitations,
Other recorded pedigrees, Founder’s
Kin, Benefactors’ Pedigrees, Bath Books,
Funeral
Certificates, Grants of Arms, Royal Licences, Irish Records,
College Collections, Scottish
Records and Printed Works.
5. The
Arms of Kinsey are recorded in Burke’s as:
Kinsey (Blackden Hall co: Chester; allowed
at Visit co. Chester) Argent a
Chevron between three Squirrels sejant
Gules.
6. Burke’s
ascribes
the Arms of Eaton (Blackden co: Chester)as being: Quarterly,
Argent and
Gules a cross patonce counterchanged
in the first quarter a mullet of the second.
Later Arms
(after their marriage with the
GOOSETREYS) - Argent a Chevron between
three
Squirrels sejant Gules.
7.
Burke’s records the Arms of Twemlow as:
Twemlow co: Chester : Ancient Arms -
Argent a Chevron Or between three
Squirrels sejant Gules, Modern Arms: Az. two
bars
eng. or, charged with three boars
heads, two and one, erect couped sa. Crest -
on the stump of
a tree erect a parrot all ppr.
8. Ormorod’s
“The
History of the County Palatine and City of
Cheshire, evidence in public
offices, the Harleian and Cottonian
MSS, Parochial Register, and various private
collections”
(date 1882)
9. Harl
MSS 1965.35 and 35(b)
10. Harl.MSS.2059.245
and
2011.94b
11. [Note that some of these
names appear in the IGI: Thomas Goostrey and
Alinora (formerly
Manwaring) had a son Thomas born about
1307; William born about 1310; Roger about
1313 (all recorded at Sandbach)]
12. Harl
MSS
2151.66
13. [A footnote says that the
male ancestor of the Croxtons was
undoubtedly one of the “five
brethren” who came in at the Conquest.
These can be assumed to be brothers of the
first
Baron of Halton. There is then a
reference to Ledolf de Crocstun, sheriff to
the end of the
reign of King John, who witnesses the
assignment of the 2nd Baron of Halton.
Ormorod
concludes that there must have been
two or three Lidulfs successively in the
period previously
thought to have been one.]
14. Harl
MSS
2119.143
15. There
is
a reference to “see Val 1 page 690” ?
16. Ormorod
says:
About the time of King John and Henry III,
Warin de Clive said to be a
younger son of Lidulph de Tremlow,
assumed his local appellation from the
township. From
him the noble and distinguished family
of Clive traces its origin.
17. Helmdon
History
Resources (Astwell with Falcutt Records 1601
- 1800 )
821 22 Jan. 1749/50
Attested copy of lease for a year from
Laurence Earl Ferrers to Thomas Goostrey of
Westminster, gent., in consideration
of 5s, of the manors of Astwell and Falcutt
with all
messuages, lands, etc., in Astwell,
Falcutt, Wappenham and Syresham.
822 23 Jan.
1749/50
Attested copy of a deed to lead the
uses of a recovery whereby Laurence Earl
Ferrers grants to
Thomas Goostrey of Westminster, gent.,
the manors of Astwell and Falcutt, with all
lands,
messuages, etc., to the intent that
they may be recovered to Richard Balshaw of
Westminster
to the use of the said Earl.
823 12 Feb.
1749/50
Attested copy of an exemplification of
a common recovery by which the manors of
Astwell
and Falcutt with 30 messuages, 10
tofts, 2 mills, 60 gardens, 850 acres of
land, 200 acres of
meadow, 850 acres of pasture, 200
acres of wood and 100 acres of heath, and
common of
pasture in Astwell, Falcutt, Wappenham
and Syresham were conveyed from Thomas
Goostrey to Richard Balshaw.
My
thanks are due to Mr. W.G. Hunt, Windsor
Herald, for his extensive searches of the College of Arms archives on my behalf
and Joan Bell for allowing me to use her
extracts from Ormorod’s works.
When quoting the contents of documents,
contemporary spellings have been used.