Coat of Arms

Before we start, let me say that I do not claim any right to the Snelson Coat of Arms.

As far as I know, there is no-one alive today who has any right to display the Snelson Coat of Arms. That right can only exist if you have been personally and formally granted permission to do so by the College of Arms. Rights are granted to individuals not families. Yes, you can display the arms for fun, information and in pursuit of history as I do here, but you cannot claim them for yourself or your family.

COAT OF ARMS

Roger Snelston was born around June 1576 and died in October 1647.

He submitted a claim to the Heralds seeking recognition of his claim to bear Arms. He signed his name as "Snelston" but the "l" letter has been crossed out. The weakness in the claim is possibly the dotted line between Roger Snelson's father and his grandfather and this appears in the original. I call him either “Roger the Dodger” or “The Great Pretender” as "pretend" originally meant to "claim".

The Somerset Herald, Thomas Woodcock, described the Coat of Arms in his letter to me, dated 22nd February 1988. Woodcock refers to the Snelson Coat of Arms shown here :

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This was recorded in the Visitation of London by the College of Heralds in 1633-1634. The Somerset Herald canvasses the possibilities of connections with John Parker of Fallowes Hall in Alderley and co-heirs of John Snelson of Asle {sic} and Robert Dugdale a London cloth worker and Alice Snelson daughter of John Snelson of Foxbanck.

The arms displayed in the pedigree were registered probably on the basis of long usage, and you can see some of the related documents by following the link here to Roger Snelston, the great pretender.

I am indebted to Sue Reid of the Ministry Team in Macclesfield for these photographs.

Yes, despite all stories to the contrary, the Snelson Chalice is still in the vault at St. Michaels as at May 2019 – yes, I have seen it myself in 2019.

   

ARMIGEROUS SNELSON CONNECTIONS

Here we look at some coats of arms that have real association with the Snelson Family - and some that don't !

The truth about the Snelson Coat of arms can be read here in the Mystery of the Macclesfield Chalice.

Based on original papers, written by John Snelson, and first published by the Cheshire Family History Society in two parts, June 1993 and March 1994

The images of the Coats of Arms below are the results of my best attempt at illustrating them in 1988 using a software package called “BLAZONS”. This software builds and processes and displays fairly crude images and may not be entirely accurate, as who really knows what they looked like 400 or 500 years ago ... but they are as close as I can get them based on descriptions in Ormerod, Earwaker, Richards, the Visitations and Bourke's General Armoury and the software tools at my disposal. You can click on them and bring them up to fullsize, and even download them to your hard drive with just a right click of the rat. I hope you enjoy them and the whole story about these coats of arms and the Mystery of the Macclesfield Chalice. 

Some Armigerous Families Named Here

Baguley Blunderville (Randle)  Bostock of Moulton

Calveley (Davenport) Cotton Higginbotham

Hancky Holt Kingsley

Mainwaring Malbank Praers

RandolphSidenton Snelson

Troutbeck Vernon Wettenhall

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Other Coats of Arms that appear marshalled with those of Snelson ...

   

... any help to identify these would be much appreciated.

I wish to thank Tony Bostock who has provided the following information and corrections as follows
"The first one is a mistaken emblazonment of the arms of Strange which frequently occurs in Cheshire heraldry. The arms ought to have the lions passant in pale, not in fess as shown. The second is an incorrect emblazonment of the arms of Hargreave – Argent, a griffin sergeant per fess Gules and Azure. My picture shows the red griffin on top of a blue fess whereas as the griffin ought to be party coloured red and blue. Number three is Lea (or Lee). Number four is Standish (i.e. three plates or dishes). Number five is Crewe, though the crest is incorrect and ought to be a lion’s paw. All of these appear in the quarters of the arms of Bostock of Holt.

Some additional points. The Troutbeck arms shown ought to have the three fish either entwined or else with their heads meeting in the centre, in ‘Y’ fashion. The arms of Siddington are incorrectly drawn as are those of Malbank.
How is it that so many families have the same bird as a crest? They should all be different."

 

Web Page Conceptual Design and Armourial Depiction and Construction by John Snelson.

Please do NOT copy or download these images without my permission which will not ordinarily be denied. However, there are so many errors in them … and I only leave them here so you can appreciate how far we have come when you see some of the images created this century. PLEASE ASK.

© Copyright Adrian John Snelson
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