I noticed the other day that opinion from the recently formed Cheshire East Council’s legal department (as recorded in Minute 7:11 of the Cabinet Meeting dated 24th March 2009) advised that “The Council Seal will include the official name Cheshire East Borough Council, but for the time being it be plain and just include those words. Usually councils have armorial bearings that are used on the seal. It would not be appropriate to adopt the logo for these purposes. This can be updated when a grant of arms is secured when armorial bearings can feature on the seal”.
Given that this minute lends the reader to a positive opinion that a grant of armorial bearings for the Borough will be sought, I wrote to the Council asking what progress, if any, has been made towards this end?
I am pleased to report that the Borough’s Democratic Services Officer, Brian Reed, has informed me that the papers are currently with the College of Heralds and that the Borough awaits the preparation of the formal Petition for signature and submission, following which they expect to receive the formal Grant of Arms.
Well, we now know what it looks like. Those whose heraldic horizons extend beyond the bounds of Cheshire may be familiar with the fact that in Scotland, following the abolition of feudal tenure, Lyon Blair stated that he would not be allowing any more baronial additaments to new barons but subsequently the new Lyon, David Sellar, stated that he would allow a baronial helm; we’ve all been waiting to see what it might look like.
If you find yourself anywhere near to Cheshire on Saturday (17th October), why not join me and spend an afternoon with the armorial bearings of the Gunpowder conspirators.
Details of all the Cheshire Heraldry Society lectures can be found on the Society’s web page.
In the 2004 Autumn/Winter edition of The Coat of Arms (N.S. Volume XV Nos. 207 & 208) I wrote on the arms of Goostrey and their descent. I stated that my thoughts were 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 and I asked how then can we explain the continued appearance of the arms of Goostrey of Goostrey, co Bucks as recorded by Burke?
I stated, at that time, that there is reference to a Thomas Goostrey of Westminster gent. in Buckinghamshire at around 1749/50 (citing references from land transactions) but I could not conclusively prove that this gentleman was he who used the arms. I conjectured that perhaps someone had a fondness of history and adopted and continued to use those arms which were historically associated with the surname.
I have continued to look for proof, in some form or other, of who it might have been who used, quite without authority, the arms of Goostrey in more recent times; I now think that I have solved the puzzle.
Whilst idly browsing through the volumes of Franks bequest : catalogue of British and American book plates bequested to the Trustees of the British Museum by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks (1903), my heart leaped when I found an entry for Charles Western catalogued as:
# 31362 Western, Charles (Arms Western, quartering Le Gros,impaling Goostrey). The Revd. Charles Western, rector of Kingham, co Oxford, married 1784 Mary Peniston, daughter of Coptain [sic] William Goostrey, R.N.; died 1835.
I have requested a copy of the Bookplate from the British Museum but so far, they are playing hard to get so, in the mean time, I have emblazoned the arms.
The armorial bearings illustrated on the bookplate of: The Revd Charles Western rector of Kingham.
Western: Quarterly - 1st & 4th Sable, a chevron between two crescents in chief and a trefoil slipped in base Or [Western]; 2nd & 3rd quarterly Argent and Azure on a bend Sable three martlets Or [Le Gros].
Impaling: Argent a Chevron between three Squirrels sejant Gules [Goostrey] Crest: A demi-lion rampant Or, holding in the dexter paw a trefoil slipped Vert.
William Goostrey R.N. was the brother of the earlier mentioned Thomas Goostrey and they both have quite a story to tell. HMS Cambridge formed part of Sir George Pocock’s fleet at the taking of Havana from the Spanish in 1762. During that action she, HMS Dragon and HMS Marlborough were ordered on 1 July to bombard and capture the Moro Fort. Cambridge’s captain, William Goostrey, was killed by rifle fire from the fort and John Lindsay - then captain of HMS Trent - took over command whilst the battle was still in progress. Cambridge’s eventual casualties were 24 killed, including her captain, and 95 wounded.
Captain William Goostrey’s daughter, Mary Peniston (Pennystone) Goostrey married Charles Western and it is he who impaled the Goostrey arms with those of his own. Did he do so because her father used those arms, or did he do so because he wished to give the impression that his father in law was armigerous by “borrowing” the Goostrey arms? Perhaps, unless I can find other examples of William or Thomas actually using the arms, it will remain something of a mystery but it is interesting to note before we close that William’s brother Thomas is well documented too.
Thomas was by profession an attorney at law and he briefly acted as agent for Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, who was the last member of the House of Lords to be hanged!
Ferrers stood trial by his peers for the murder of his steward, Johnson, and conducted his own defence based upon a plea of insanity. During the trial Thomas Goostrey was called, by the earl, to give evidence of this insanity and the whole account is set down in great detail in the book “A complete collection of state trials and proceedings for high treason and other crimes and misdemeanors” .
I love books, especially heraldry books and doubly so if they relate to areas of particular interest such as Cheshire. Like many heraldry enthusiast, I have a limited budget and so many books, long out of print, are way beyond my purse. Take the very hard to obtain book published by Daniel King in 1656, The Vale Royal of England, or The County Palatine of Chester Illustrated; it doesn’t contain too much heraldry, just a few pages of an armorial of the Cheshire gentry, but it was that which formed the foundation of the Cheshire Heraldry web site some years ago. I have searched long and hard for a copy of this book and the few that have come onto the market have been prohibitively expensive. On the 20th April 2005, Christies sold a copy at their South Kensington auction rooms when it fell under the hammer at a massive £780 ($1′495) including buyer’s premium.
Described thus in their catalogue: “KING, Daniel (d.1664). The Vale-Royall of England or, the County Palatine of Chester Illustrated, London: John Streater, 1656. Small 2° (271 x 175mm). Additional engraved title, double page engraved map of Cheshire, double-page engraved bird’s-eye view of Chester, 11 plates of coats-of-arms, double-page map of the Isle of Man, plates, one folding, illustrations (both titles torn and neatly repaired, final 2 leaves torn and neatly repaired, a few repaired tears, occasional light spotting and staining). 19th-century panelled tan morocco gilt by Riviere, gilt edges (spine and extremities rubbed). Provenance: Philip Shirley (modern armorial bookplate). Wing K488; Upcott I, 61-63. ”
Beyond my purse …. so I have come up with my own solution.
The other day, to my great joy, I discovered that the book has been digitally scanned and uploaded onto the internet’s digital archives ; what a superb resource this provides to us “academic heralds” (a term I have borrowed from David Appleton). Now, pleased as I am to have found this book online, it doesn’t exactly satisfy that comfortable feeling of having something tangible to hold and read and my eyesight doesn’t improve with age so trying to read a complete book online is anything but the pleasure it ought to be; you just can’t beat a good book. I’ve made a decision! I have found a company who will, for a fee, make me a facsimile. The company estimates that for this book to be printed, the cost will be around £50 + £10 guillotining, + £40 to bind in cloth + £1 per word for gold leaf titling on the cover. I have asked for it to be printed off on a 135gsm cream cartridge paper but I could have had it printed on some handmade old looking paper at an increased cost. The book is for my own personal use and because of its age, there are no copyright issues.
I’ll report back with some images when the project is complete. I look forward to some bedtime reading.
Not strictly speaking heraldry although I do know that there was a great deal of heraldry in evidence, especially in the parade. Today witnessed the great clan gathering in Edinburgh and a great many of my friends were in attendance and participated in the parade with their banners flying; I look forward to seeing their photographs.
My meagre endeavors to bring the heraldry of Cheshire to the web really started with an introduction to the book published by Daniel King in 1656 (King’s Vale Royal of England). I reproduce for you here a scaled down photo of (part of) the frontispiece which, I think, is worthy of note from an armorial view:
It’s always very pleasant to receive a letter from a friend and especially so when the content discusses ones hobby.
My thanks to Harold Storey, Chairman of The Cheshire Heraldry Society, for assisting in the identification of (most of) the quarters in the armorial bearings of Booth which are displayed as a monument to Langham and Henry Booth seen in the Dunham (or Booth) Chapel at Bowdon Parish Church. Harold wrote me a very pleasant letter (received today) informing me that he had already done this work some years ago when he completed a report for the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts; he was kind enough to share his research with me.
Marbury of Marbury Arms: Quarterly-
1 & 6 Sable, a cross engrailed between four nails Argent
2 Or, on a fess engrailed Azure three garbs of the field [Marbury ancient or Vernon]
3 Argent, a lion rampant Gules, collared Or [Vernon]
4 Vert, a cross patonce Or [Boydell]
5 Argent, on a fess Sable three mullets of the first pierced of the second [Boydell?]
Crest: On a chapeau Gules, charged with three bezants, and turned up Argent, a sarecen’s head in profile, couped proper, crined Sable, wreathed about the temples Or and Azure.
