Unidentified Stamps

None of the names associated with the motto match the crest (Cocks, Lord Somers; Chamberlayne; Cookesey; Cox; Grote; Leigh) Fairbairn’s Crests provide 2 examples of the crest: plate 44/6 Walcott; and plate 273/6 Hayter

Probably either James Graham (1682-1742), 4th Marquess of Montrose, created 1st Duke of Montrose in 1707; or Sir Thomas Lyttelton (1686-1751) of Frankley, Worcestershire.

It is suggested that the arms are those of John Davies of Vine-hall in Sussex Gent whose arms were Argent a chevron sable between three mullets gules pieced or argent. The arms Or a chevron between three mullets pierced sable were the arms of Sir Thomas Davies, Lord Mayor of London in 1677. Either would be possible though Papworth offers a wilderness of other possibilities. The style of the stamp suggests the beginning rather than the end of the seventeenth century. Other possibilities suggested are: Henry Mordaunt, 4th Baron Mordaunt (ca. 1568-1609) John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborough (b. 1599)

It is suggested that the arms are those of John Davies of Vine-hall in Sussex Gent whose arms were Argent a chevron sable between three mullets gules pieced or argent. The arms Or a chevron between three mullets pierced sable were the arms of Sir Thomas Davies, Lord Mayor of London in 1677. Either would be possible though Papworth offers a wilderness of other possibilities.

According to Guillim (6th ed. p. 193) the arms of Thomas Flood of Millgate, Kent are Vert a chevron between 3 wolves heads erased argent; the arms were granted in 1572. Burke’s General armory gives Gower, of Woodhall, Droitwich, Worcesterhire; also Gower, of Earl’s Court, Worcestershire, both of which match the stamp.

According to Guillim (6th ed. p. 193) the arms of Thomas Flood of Millgate, Kent are Vert a chevron between 3 wolves heads erased argent; the arms were granted in 1572. Burke’s General armory claims Gower, of Woodhall, Droitwich, Worcesterhire; also Gower, of Earl’s Court, Worcestershire match the stamp.

Neither stamp nor motto are in Fairbairn’s Crests, Burke’s General armory, nor Papworth.

Neither stamp nor motto are in Fairbairn’s Crests, Burke’s General armory, nor Papworth.

Motto not in Burke's General armory, nor in Fairbairn's Crests. Arms not in Papworth. Crest not in Fairbairn.

Possibly William Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton (1811-1863), who before 1819 was styled Earl of Angus. However, his dates cast doubt on this supposition.

One of several similar crests that could be possible. Cf. Ducarel.

Unlikely to be Cressy, whose name is inscribed on the titlepage of one of the books cited. Fairbairn’s Crests, plate 91/2 lists 143 families who used this crest.

Fairbairn’s Crests, plate 91/4 gives the following possibilities: Churchman; Cocksey [Cookesey, Cooksey]; Coventry; Gerney; Jopp; Justice; Wyman.

Fairbairn’s Crests gives the following families as bearers of this crest: Baillie of Scotland, Benger of Kent; Cooke; Hewett; Hunloke; Hutchinson; Prendergast of Ireland; Trevor; and Twisden or Twysden. For the last he gives various English Baronets of the name. None of the above were viscounts. Burke’s General Armory identifies the family of Cooke who used the crest as having the arms Sable three bends or, Mark Trevor, Viscount Trevor had the crest A wyvern wings elevated and tail nowed sable ducally gorged, but he died and with him the line in 1706. The later peers of that name bore the cockatrice on a chapeau, the family of Twysden produced two baronets but no peers. Parker, James. A glossary of terms used in heraldry adds: Dancye, Lancaster; Langley, Lancaster; Ashenhurst, Derby, none of whom were viscounts

The stamp would appear to be a peafowl, though without its tail feathers raised (“in pride”), and holding in its beak an ear of wheat and a horseshoe. It is not listed in Fairbairn’s Crests, nor in Papworth.

Arms not in Papworth; crest not in Fairbairns.

No reference in the sources to the motto or crest could be traced.

This crest appears on English books. The heraldry of crests. London, 1829 shows it for Backhouse (Plate 66 no 21). Fairbairn's Crests (Edinburgh, 1860) has an entry for Backhouse of Durham, Cumberland and Kent, but gives the motto as Confido in Deo. Burke's General Armory 1884 gives the eagle as wings close. Fairbairn (1860) in its illustration gives the eagle, wings elevated not displayed (Plate 75 Crest 11), but Backhouse is not mentioned in the descriptions to the plate. The motto is from Ovid Metamorphoses

There are no traces of the arms, crest, or motto of this stamp in the various reference sources.

Fairbairn’s Crests gives a host of names for which the stamp suggests a possible owner (Plate 83/1): Andlaw; Armory; Banks; Baxter; Bruce; Challenge; Dallender; Davie; Delawar; Divie; Divvie; Dobell; Dykes; Elfe; Elingham; Elphe; Golofer; Golston; Gorrey; Gorrie; Graham; Greenwell; Haffenden; Hammond; Keene; Kynn; Locke; M’Leod; Murray; Ouchton; Peple; Rawlinson; Redhead; Richards; Roberts; Rollaston; Rosher; Ross; St Clair; Sideserf; Smithers; Sydserf; Syme; Vaulx; Vaus; Wall; Westhorpe; Whishawe; Weston; Westropp; Wright.

This is one of a number of sets of stamps that are usually only found at Christ Church, Oxford. Paul Morgan identified this stamp as that of Sir John Tash, Sheriff of London in 1719, knighted the same year, who died in 1735 at the age of 62. This seems unlikely from the dates of the books on which they are found. As far as I have been able to discover, there is no family that uses both these crests, and at the beginning of the seventeenth century, to which the books and the bindings surely belong, it was unusual, though not quite unknown, for a family to use two crests. It is possible that what we have here are two members of Christ Church coming together to present books to their college. In which case the falcon ducally gorged probably represents a member of the St John family, of whom it is the historic crest. The greyhound courant is more widely used and I cannot offer a probable identification though Constable of Scotland does have it for a crest without the collar. [JM]

This is one of a number of sets of stamps that are usually only found at Christ Church, Oxford. Paul Morgan identified this stamp as that of Sir John Tash, Sheriff of London in 1719, knighted the same year, who died in 1735 at the age of 62. This seems unlikely from the dates of the books on which they are found. As far as I have been able to discover, there is no family that uses both these crests, and at the beginning of the seventeenth century, to which the books and the bindings surely belong, it was unusual, though not quite unknown, for a family to use two crests. It is possible that what we have here are two members of Christ Church coming together to present books to their college. In which case the falcon ducally gorged probably represents a member of the St John family, of whom it is the historic crest. The greyhound courant is more widely used and I cannot offer a probable identification though Constable of Scotland does have it for a crest without the collar. [JM}

The only likely candidate from the various sources consulted is Sir Hanson Berney, 8th Baronet, of Parkehall, Norfolk (1780–1870); from Fairbairn’s Crests, plate 251/6.

Not in Burke's General armory. The cartouche is the same as that used in the third of Matthew Parker’s stamps.

This is very similar to the crest of Beckford Bevan, though there is no supporting evidence to substantiate this claim. Other possibilities are: Fairbairn’s Crests, plate 61/14: Cleve; Cliffe; Clive; Evelyn; Finch; Finche; Watson.

Fairbairn’s Crests (plate 67/11) lists the following possible owners: Daubuz; Dingdale; Dugdale; Eliot [Elliott, &c]; Gill; Goodwin; Grandeville; Montagu[e]; Murrell; Prestwood; Scott; Slaney; Tinney. Without further information, this stamp remains unidentified.

Fairbairn’s Crests (plate 65/11): Bastable; Beauvoir; Buckley; Coleridge; Cookman; Corie [Cory] Cowbrugh; Crawford; De Montacute; Gardiner; Garnier; Gidley; Glastenbury; Gorham; Goslike; Gostwick; Gott; Harokins; Hayes; Henvill; Hobson; I’Anson; Inkersall; Know; Lampson; Letham; McCall; Mansham; Marsham; Masham; Monthermer; Parnall; Peckwell; Price; Selenger; Shirt; Short; Slocombe; Wigott; Wolmer.

Fairbairn’s Crests (plate 64/4):- Besney [or Bestney of Hertfordshire]; Connocke of Cornwall; Coppin of Norfolk; Griffin of London; Lane of County Roscommon in Ireland; Page; Powell of Hinton in Herefordshire, of St Alban’s, of London and of Herefordshire; Rowles of Surrey; Royden of Devon; Vidler.

Possibly the crest of a member of the Cotton family, though the evidence is slight. Fairbairn’s Crests, plate 85/2 lists Cotton as a book owner who used this crest. Also one of the books cited has a bookplate of Cotton.

Fairbairn’s Crests (plate 124/12) has the crest of a hind trippant, but it lacks the chapeau.

This may be a Continental stamp, although the book on which it was found was published in England.

Probably not a British stamp.

None of the crests illustrated in Fairbairn’s Crests match this stamp.

None of the crests illustrated in Fairbairn’s Crests match this stamp.

Similar to Fairbairn’s Crests plate 15/4, the but without the coronet.

Not in Fairbairn’s Crests.

Fairbairn’s Crests gives the following names for this crest: Allerton; Archbold or Archebold of Staffordshire; Auchterlony; Barr or Barry; Betenson, Bettenson or Betterson of Kent; Bettinson of Seven Oaks in Kent; Bettison of Warwickshire; Burr; Craig; Danncey and Dauncey of Herefordshire; Dansey of Easton Court, Herefordshire; De Placetes; Dunk; Glynn of Ireland, Gowans of Scotland; Gregory of Ireland: Gunthorpe of Norfolk; Home of Scotland; Hume of Crossrigs in Scotland; Huninges of Cheshire and of Carsam in Suffolk; Hunt of Scotland: Egleton-Kent Baronet of Suffolk; Lobb; Merrington; Penrose of Ireland and Barkshire; Pentland of Ireland; Peters; Placetis; Posynworth; Repley; Rokwood; Skottow of London; Starling; Veldon of Rafin County Meath in Ireland; Wallace; and Yorks. The illustration in Fairbairn shows the collar without a ring. The entries in the list have been edited by comparison with the entries in the alphabetical section of the book. Extra detail has been added and those which differ in detail from the stamp have been deleted. Of these only Veldon of Rafin County Meath in Ireland is described as ringed. Unfortunately this is not very helpful as there is a vagueness about some of the entries: in a number of cases it is not stated whether the lion’s head was couped or erased. Until further evidence emerges this crest will remain unidentified. It is of course possible that the two stamps represent different provenances.

Fairbairn’s Crests gives the following names for this crest: Allerton; Archbold or Archebold of Staffordshire; Auchterlony; Barr or Barry; Betenson, Bettenson or Betterson of Kent; Bettinson of Seven Oaks in Kent; Bettison of Warwickshire; Burr; Craig; Danncey and Dauncey of Herefordshire; Dansey of Easton Court, Herefordshire; De Placetes; Dunk; Glynn of Ireland, Gowans of Scotland; Gregory of Ireland: Gunthorpe of Norfolk; Home of Scotland; Hume of Crossrigs in Scotland; Huninges of Cheshire and of Carsam in Suffolk; Hunt of Scotland: Egleton-Kent Baronet of Suffolk; Lobb; Merrington; Penrose of Ireland and Barkshire; Pentland of Ireland; Peters; Placetis; Posynworth; Repley; Rokwood; Skottow of London; Starling; Veldon of Rafin County Meath in Ireland; Wallace; and Yorks. The illustration in Fairbairn shows the collar without a ring. The entries in the list have been edited by comparison with the entries in the alphabetical section of the book. Extra detail has been added and those which differ in detail from the stamp have been deleted. Of these only Veldon of Rafin County Meath in Ireland is described as ringed. Unfortunately this is not very helpful as there is a vagueness about some of the entries: in a number of cases it is not stated whether the lion’s head was couped or erased. Until further evidence emerges this crest will remain unidentified. It is of course possible that the two stamps represent different provenances.

Burke's General armory gives several possibilities; Horne (Argent a leopard rampant gules); Lincolne (Or a leopard rampant sable armed argent); Etheresset (Azure a leopard rampant or); and Marney, Essex (Gules a leopard rampant argent). Papworth adds Walton; Hun; Astley; and Lancaster. The most likely of these is Lincolne as the tincture of the leopard is sable.

Burke's General armory gives several possibilities; Horne (Argent a leopard rampant gules); Lincolne (Or a leopard rampant sable armed argent); Etheresset (Azure a leopard rampant or); and Marney, Essex (Gules a leopard rampant argent). Papworth adds Walton; Hun; Astley; and Lancaster. The most likely of these is Lincolne as the tincture of the leopard is sable.

Of the 39 crests listed by Fairbairn, only one fits the bill: Parkyns. It is either Thomas Boothby Parkyns, 1st Baron Rancliffe (1755–1800); or George Augustus Henry Anne Parkyns, 2nd Baron Rancliffe (1785–1850).

There is no trace of this stamp in the various reference sources. It remains a mystery.

This crest is associated with the full achievement of IZZZ137_stamp 1.

This crest is associated with the full achievement of IZZZ137_stamp 1.

In Burke’s General armory there is no Young with these arms. The design appears to be a German stamp

No trace of the stamp in the reference sources.

The arms of Glasbrook as given by Burke's General armory are: Or a lion passant sable on a chief gules three fleurs-de-lys. The crest, however, is: A demi lion gules ducally crowned or. The motto is that of Blayney. The arms of Blayney are Sable three nags heads erased argent, and the crest is A horse's head couped bridled gules on the forehead a piece of armour with a projecting spike proper. These coincidences are surely not accidental.

Perhaps foreign. If the three bars are vairy, the arms in the second and third quarters could be one of a number of British families including Beaumont and Bruce.

For the 2nd and 3rd quarters Papworth gives the following possible identification: Burrell, Woodland, Devon (Azure six barrulets argent on a chief gules threes leopard’s heads or); Hickling, Greens’ Norton, Northamptonshire (Azure threes bars or in chief as many lion’s heads erased or); and Love, of Hampshire (Argent three bars gules in chief as many lion’s heads erased gules)

Davenport identifies these arms as Trewarthen, the second quartering as Blackborne, the third as Butts, and the fourth as Coleshill, but admits to having failed to identify the member of the family of Trewarthen who used the stamp. The identification of the quarterings is probably a random selection from the possibilities offered by Papworth. Without putting too much faith in the hypothesis, and still only working from Papworth, it is possible to offer a more likely interpretation prima facie. The only one of the quarterings which can be certainly identified is the third, and this is the family of Butts of Norfolk. Davenport's Bend for Blackborne is presumably Papworth's `Argent a bend sable' for which no location is given. It is not in Burke's General armory, which lists different arms for Blackborne of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Sussex. Trewarthen is a Cornish name and Coleshill with a chief goutty de sang, as in Davenport's description of the stamp, but not in the illustration, where it is ermine, is also of Cornwall. If, however we assume for the moment that all four quarters are from Norfolk, this would give Randolfe for the first quarter, the second quarter is too common a charge to be identified, Butts is in the third quarter, and assuming the illustration is right and Davenport's description is wrong, Tattershall in the last. This is of course speculation, and the stamp should be treated as Unidentified.

Numerous families bear a cross moline, especially Miller. Identification will depend on finding the arms with these quarterings and a name attached. Perhaps a random search through the Herald's Visitations might give the answer.

Many families used this crest. See Fairbairn’s Crests, plate 115/7: Agmondisham; Anderson; Balberney; Beetham; Blair; Brocket; Brun; Buck; Cocks; Coggeshall; Crickman; Den [ne]; Denholm; Dickson; Dingwall-Fordyce; Downes; Fordyce-Blair; Galland; Gordon; Graeme; Graham; Gullan; Hollingworth [Holyngeworthe]; Hopson; Howell; Karbyll; Macartney; McMin[n] [McMyne]; Maxwell; Medford; Millman; Park; Perkin; Robarts; Scott; Simmer; Skae; Symmer; Towers; Van; Webb; Wroughton. Plate 302/7: Hollingworth

Fairbairn’s Crest, plate 117/8, lists 122 names who used this crest.

Fairbairn’s Crest, plate 119/2 lists 40 families who used this crest, but no trace of the motto could be found.