The Vale Royal of England was a book first published by Daniel King in 1656. Daniel was born in Chester and was a well known engraver. At one time, he was apprenticed as an heraldic painter to Randle Holmes, sometime deputy for a King of Arms. Daniel King is not accepted as an heraldic authority but in his book, The Vale Royal of England, he was fortunate enough thanks to the generosity of his patron, Peter Venables Baron of Kinderton, to have been able to include the armorial bearings of some 520 Cheshire Gentlemen. It is thought that the arms were recorded as being in use c1630. King's illustrations are in black and white and "tricked". This means that he has made simple sketches of the arms and indicated the colours by simple initials. I have attempted to "verify" the blazons from other sources and in some instances have been unable to do so. In some of the sketches it has proved difficult to read the trick and in the absence of further data, I have interpreted the blazon from the black and white drawing. Although King is not an authority, he must be accepted as being the recorder of contemporary usage. To give an example which is close to my heart, the arms recorded by King as belonging to Goostrey seem to have no formal authority for their use but are recorded by King as being in use at the time. King records these same arms against a number of names, all of which are linked by blood.

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