A Snelson DataBase and Index
Includes the Snelson Coat of Arms & Armory
Transcript
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Adrian John SNELSON
The College of Arms
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The Heralds College or College of Arms was formed in 1484 by Richard III incorporating the heralds attached to the Royal Household. Philip and Mary reincorporated it in 1555. There are 3 Kings of Arms, 6 Heralds and 4 Pursuivants who specialise in genealogical and heraldic work. The College establishes the right to bear Arms, and the Kings of Arms grant Arms by letters patent.
The College of Arms in London records that Arms were granted to "Sneston", probably a derivation of Snelston, in 1633 - being a black scythe on an argent background. There is no doubt that the name of the descendants of this family became 'Snelson'.
Visitation of London 1633/34
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The arms were recorded in the Heralds Visitation of London in 1633-34 and are registered in the name of Roger Snelson under a reference 2C24,354. Although he signs his name Snelson, the pedigree has the surname of the other people spelt Snelston with the letter 'l' crossed out .... leaving the letters Sneston unadulterated, if you will. There is a dotted line between Roger Snelson's father, Richard Sneston of Foxbanck and supposed grandfather, as shown on the enclosed copy I have from the College of Arms, and this dotted line appears on the original.
The dotted line either indicates missing generations or that the descent is uncertain. My view is that the name Snelston in the visitation document is right, and that the L has been crossed out in error. I don't believe it was crossed out instead of the T. I think it was just crossed out in error. The Heralds Visitation system began in 1530 and lasted until 1689. Under this system, commissions were issued by the sovereign to the Kings of Arms to visit the counties of England and Wales approximately every 30 years or so to record the arms and pedigrees of families and gentry resident in each county.
Arms that were recorded where there were no previous records of a grant might be allowed on the basis that they had been used continually since before 1415 when King Henry V issued a writ to the sheriffs of various counties stating that in future men might not assume arms and that a right to any new arms could only be acquired by receiving a grant from a competent authority ..... presumably himself or his delegates, the Heralds or Kings of Arms.
The arms referred to were allowed under the provision of long use. There is no crest.
Records show that the arms might be blazoned
_______________________ARGENT _____________________________A SCYTHE _________________________THE BLADE IN CHIEF __________________AND THE HANDLE IN BEND SINISTER SABLE
This means a black scythe on a white or silver background .... normally in English heraldry, white, because silver tarnishes. It's all the rain they get you know; the scythe has a curved black handle, with the blade on top; sorry about my colloquial interpretation, but that's the way I see it.
The Sneyd Coat of Arms ----------------------
The same coat in the same tinctures but with a black fleur de lis beneath the blade of the scythe appears for the Sneyd family of Staffordshire on the Strangways Roll of circa 1450 where shield number 24 shows this coat for Sneyd. It has been suggested therefore ( by the Somerset Herald ) that perhaps the Snelson coat was allowed in error .... it already being attributed to the Sneyd family earlier. Nevertheless, error or not, the deed is done. It is too late. The fleur-de-lis does make the Sneyd coat different. The fleur-de-lis could be a mark of differencing or a mark of cadency. It could also reflect a French influence resulting from action in the Wars against France in the time of Edward and his son the Black Prince.
There is a photograph of the High House in Stafford in Henry Thorold's book and Shell Guide to Stafford which shows on the front of the building two shields, one bearing the fleur-de-lys coat of Sneyd and the other a date of 1555 - we don't know the connection here yet.
Rights to the Snelson Coat of Arms
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If it were possible to prove descent back in a straight male line to Roger Snelson or I guess even to his brother Richard, then it would be possible to establish a right to the coat.
The Mystery of The Macclesfield St. Michael's Chalices
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There is a chalice bearing combined arms of Snelson. This information was originally researched and supplied to me in 1989 by Marjorie Ward ( nee Snelson ) of Middleton, Lancashire when she was on a visit to Australia. She has made a fine artform out of translating Ormerod into comprehensible Anglo-Saxon, and I am very grateful to her for this valuable story.
A book called Old Cheshire Churches by Raymond Richards published in 1947, page 210, refers to two chalices, one given by Roger Snelson and the other by Phillip Higginbothom - both dyers. It mentions the arms of the Higginbothome family. These arms may be on the other side of the chalice. Boyd's Marriage Index Miscellaneous Series 1601 S - Z Volume 88 has Catherine Snelson married Philip Higginbothom 1605. John and Mary Higginbottom are beneficiaries under Roger Snelson's will.
The chalice and its lid each sport a Snelson quadrant coat and were given by Roger de Snelson to St. Michael's in Macclesfield in 1642 A.D. The inscription on the chalice reads "The gift of Roger Snelson dier". The coat is quartered as follows ....top left is the Snelson coat, as is the right bottom quadrant. The scythe is shown with blade at the top ! Top right hand corner is the Moreton coat - - this is a billet fesswise and in chief a mullet which might alternatively be blazoned as a mullet and in base a billet fesswise. A photograph of the chalice shows hatching running diagonally from upper right to lower left suggesting a purpure field. Bottom left hand corner is the Bagulay coat - three lozenges. Charles has had the Somerset Herald do some sleuthing here, and I am grateful to him for passing it on.
The inscription on the lid encircles the arms and also reads "The gift of Roger Snelson". The same Roger also made a donation to the church of 30 pounds in 1647 A.D. That was a lot of brass in those days.
Under the English law of arms, a right to quarter arms is acquired by the marriage of an ancestor in the direct male line to a woman who was an heraldic heiress, that is someone who either had no brothers or whose brothers died without issue. This means that the arms in the second quarter are those of the mother, grandmother, or a more remote ancestress in the direct male line of Roger Snelson. The arms in the third quarter were either a quartering which this ancestress was entitled to herself because her own mother or a more remote ancestress in her male line was an heraldic heiress, or they are the arms of a more recent heraldic heiress married by a Snelson.
Theoretically, therefore, the second quarter might relate to Roger Snelson's grandmother's family and the third quarter to his mother's family. I find that the only way to get my pickled brain around this gobbledegook is to draw a diagram.
The College of Arms does not have a record of a billet and a mullet together unless it is the coat used unofficially by a family named Broadhurst as the Visitation of London shows that Roger Snelson's mother was a coheir of her father and named Broadhurst.
A number of families are registered with arms of three lozenges.
Under the English law of arms, a right to quarter arms can also be acquired by descent; you cannot be granted quartered arms. There is therefore no record of a grant or confirmation of quartered arms to Roger Snelson.
Just before we leave the chalice, the book by Raymond Richards entitled Old English Churches talks about two chalices at St. Michael's, the second being given by Phillip Higginbottom, dyer. There must be a connection here.
Going back to the original record of the Visitation of London 1633-34, the pedigree written on the back of the Snelson pedigree is one of a family called Dugdale. This is under the same reference number C24,354 ......BUT, 354 IS A FOLIO NUMBER NOT A PAGE NUMBER! I think this means, but I have not had this confirmed, that the two entries are not only adjacent, but indeed the same entry. The Somerset Herald thinks that this is a coincidence. I don't agree.
The pedigree shows that Robert Dugdale of London, a cloth worker in 1634, married Alice, daughter of John Snelston of Foxbank in Cheshire. As you can see, our old mate Roger Snelson who was awarded the arms was the son of Richard Snelson described as of Foxbanck ....... so what's the relationship here one might ask?
The printed will index of wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury mentions that the will of Roger Snelson of the Parish of All Hallows, Thames Street, London, citizen and dyer, was proved on the 4th of January 1648/9. Why did this will go to the PCC for probate ? Was it because Roger held property in different dioceses or jurisdictions - probably.
The Praers Coat of Arms
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The earliest reference to arms of a scythe are those of GULES A SCYTHE ARGENT that is, a red shield with a white scythe, which are the arms of the Cheshire family of Praers. Their pedigree is shown in pages 161-162 of volume III of Ormerod's History of Cheshire, 1819. There is a window ( the South Window ) in Nantwich Church which shows the Praers coat - white or silver scythe on a red background - at least it was there in 1633 ! A picture appears in the " History of the Town and Parish of Nantwich ".
Scythe Armourials
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Scythes were very commonly used in Polish wars by the peasants and on that account may be seen as weapons of war rather than tools of agriculture. In Poland, the Counts Jezierski bore " Gules, two scythe blades in oval, the points crossing each other argent, and the ends in base tied together or, the whole surmounted in chief by a cross-patriarchal-patee, of which the lower arm on the sinister side is wanting ".
I haven't seen any other reference to scythes being used in any other country apart from Germany. But then, my research has not been exhaustive. The description above talks about scythe BLADES, not the handles but I think that might be semantic and in any case is irrelevant.
Joseph Foster's book on feudal armorials identifies Richard de Tunstall de Sneyd adapting the coat of the Praers family, adding a black fleur-de-lis at the Battle of Poitiers :-
" Sneyd, Richard de - bore, gules a scythe argent, the coat of his mother Rosia de Praers; his descendant Richard de Tunstall de Sneyd had the fleur- de-lys sable for Poictiers 1356 - Shirley. ".
A fleur-de-lis may be a REBUS or may signify " flower of Louis " ( VII of France ) 1137-80 and may be borne in general heraldry as the SOLE charge in arms ! This means that, as Sneyd has a scythe AND a fleur-de-lis, that the fleur-de-lis MUST be representative of cadency although the fleur-de-lis is frequently borne in groups of three and conjunction with ordinaries and other charges. So, this must be how the Sneyds got the scythe coat - from the Praers. This was at the time when the war with France had resumed with the Black Prince ( the son of the English King Edward III ) raiding and pillaging through France as far as the Mediterranean. In 1356, King John of France trapped the Black Prince at Poitiers ( sic ). With such a huge array before him, the Prince offered in return for the freedom of his men and himself ( he wasn't THAT stupid ) to surrender his accumulated spoils and not to fight on French soil again for at least 7 years. This offer was refused.
Unfortunately for the French King, the defeat of John's Army was as spectacular as his army itself; the French fighting machine was not built for fast moving battle; at Poitiers, the French had to fight uphill in heavy but resplendent armour; they were no match for the English who were on their way home from the seaside, laden with souvenirs !
So, London soon saw the captured King John being paraded through the streets.
Here we have a family of three generations .....
(1) Rosia de Praers arms - gules, a scythe argent, the blade in chief; a descendant of the Praers family;
(2) Her son, Richard de Sneyd presumably was the son of Rosia de Praers and a male Sneyd;
(3) Rosia's grandson was named Richard de Tunstall de Sneyd; the young Richard decided to differentiate the Praers arms by a change in colour; Richard de Tunstall de Praers bore these differentiated arms according to Shirley in France with the Black Prince. I am not sure whether it was only a black fleur-de-lis that differentiated the coat at the Battle of Poitiers, or whether Richard de Tunstall de Praers changed the sned { handle } to black and the background to white as well as adding the fleur-de-lis. In the colour picture that I have, the whole scythe is black, the fleur-de-lis is black and the background white.
The Black Prince
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The Black Prince was so named because of the colour of his armour. I thought at one time that this might have extended to the colour of arms but the Black Prince paraded in front of his troops before the battle resplendent in his gold and red colours - which no doubt cut a bit of a rug on top of his black armour. He was revered as a great leader of his men, giving them a bit of a rev up before the battle and leading them forward.
I am focusing on the Black Prince for clues because he has such a strong connection with Cheshire and took from there his best warriors being his contingent of bowmen ( without whom the Battle of Poitiers would have been lost and to whom he later paid œ8-12s-6d in booty; a lot of brass in those days ); also, because we know that Richard de Tunstall de Praers was there with his Black Scythe. Many of the army leaders were drawn from Chester and its environs. I'm becoming an expert on the Black Prince - gosh, what a man he was. I have been reading a book called The Black Prince by Barbara Emerson; I can't put it down.
The Black Prince was of course the Prince of Wales i.e. Edward III's first son and heir to the throne, Duke of Cornwall and more importantly, Earl of Chester. He spent a lot of time in Cheshire and assisted Cheshire people with the maintenance of the important salt wiches - Northwich, Nantwich and Middlewich - where the Snellestons acquired a settlement with, as we now know, Hugh Snelleston being created a burgess in 1525 with a licence to boil and sell salt; and in 1527, Edward Snelleston of Middlewich and Elizabeth his wife were both created burgesses and had a similar licence. The salt was wanted as a preservative rather than as any form of chemical industry.
The Middlewich Chartulary
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Now, let me refer to what I think may become a pivotal source in unravelling all of this. The Book in several volumes is called " A Middlewich Chartulary ", published by the Chetham Society and the Liverpool School of Local History and Records, 1944 .
There are many, many entries in this valuable book relating to a whole series of transactions involving the early Snelsons. One entry is of particular interest as it records a grant by Charles Mainwaring of CROXTON to Randolph Mainwaring all his lands in Lower Kinnerton and Gorsty Lowe in Dodleston in the year 1540 - this is a fair stride from Chelford and Senelstune. There is a Snelson connection here. I wonder whether any of the Snelsons went to Dodleston for or with the Mainwarings ? Dodleston is right on the Welsh border - my gang ? I wonder ........ ?
There is a record here of a Hugh Snelson who married Elizabeth before 1525 and an Eleanor Snelson paying salthouse dues.
The Bostock Coat of Arms
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From, the Visitation of Cheshire 1580 we can see that Alice Snelston, daughter of Robert Snelston and Margaret Shoklach ( daughter of Thomas Shoklach ) married Robert BOSTOCK of Churton. This Bostock line is well documented and goes back to the Conqueror over a further 13 generations. The arms of Bostock of Churton are quartered in eight with 7 being Snelston " argent a scythe sinister sable ". So this Alice must be part of the Roger Snelston connection ! But how does she fit ? Which Alice is this ?
This really does mean that the Bostock of Churton genealogy RECOGNISES the ancestors of Robert Snelston Esq who married Margarett Shocklach as the rightful bearer of the scythe arms mentioned, to the extent that it became incorporated as a valuable and intricate component of their arms. Churton of course is just half a mile from Pulford on Dee - my territory !
My interpretation of the Bostock of Churton arms above is based on the general principles of marshalling and quartering.
The Stanley and Handford Coats of Arms
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In the Handforth Chapel, at the east end of the south aisle of Cheadle Church, in the east window, was a shield representing the arms of STANLEY base line being Or, three eagles legs erased Gules, on a Chief indented Azure three bucks heads caboshed Or, impaling (1) and (4) Sable an estoile Argent - HONDFORD, (2) and (3) Gules a scythe Argent - PRAERS. There is another illustration in Earwaker page 252 showing another marshalling, but I don't know what it is.
Marshalling and Quartering of Arms
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After a marriage with an heiress, necessitating for the children the combination of two coats, the shield is divided into 4 quarters, numbered from top left ( dexter ) corner across towards the sinister ( no. 2 ) side of the shield, then the next row is numbered in the same way ( numbers 3 and 4 ). In a simple case this places the arms of the father in the first and fourth quarters, and mother's in the second and third.
If a male child marries another heiress, also possessing a simple un-quartered coat, then their children would put that latter coat in the third quarter, creating a coat which is 1 and 4, the pronominal coat ; 2 the first heiress; 3 the second heiress. If another single quartering is introduced in a later generation then that takes its place in 4.
Now the difficult bit ! Another single quartering makes five to be displayed on one shield. The practice is to repeat the first quartering, to give six in two rows of three.
A general principle is to take all the quarterings inherited from the father arranged in a proper sequence followed in the same sequence by mothers arms and quarterings. Placing the arms in a correct pedigree ( not date ) sequence is called "marshalling".
Now, another gem ..... I have found in my computerised hordes that there was a Richard Snelson who married Catherine Mustyan ( Katherin Mustian sometimes ) in 1596 in London ..... AND THAT HE WAS A DYER . Kate was a widow whose husband, James Mustyan, was a MERCHANT TAILOR ! I am reasonably sure that this Richard may be Roger's brother; the dates seem okay; this is the same Richard I think who appears in the London IGI as Richard Snellson whose children were being baptised at London St. James ..... Richard Snellson ( bapt 20 Nov 1597 ) and Henrie Snellsonne ( bapt 30 Sep 1599 ). If this is indeed Roger's brother, then these children and their offspring if they can be traced and the chances are that we could do this, would be entitled to the coat.
Roger and Richard's father was Richard Snelston who lived at Foxbank as did Roger's wife's father John Broadhurst; Alice Snelston daughter of John Snelson of Foxbank married Robert Dugdale the CLOTHWORKER.
I think that Roger may have had several brothers and sisters - Richard ( the dyer ), Ellinor wife of Thomas Hilton, and John; maybe too, Edward ( bapt 26 Mar 1581 at Macclesfield St. Michael ) and Mary ( baptised 29 Sep 1594 same place ? ). This Alice cannot be Roger's sister as her father was a John of Foxbank.
Incidentally, St. James Garlickhithe was burnt down in the Great Fire of London and rebuilt by Christopher Wren in 1670-83. Fascinating trivia for your collection, but I digress.
I have seen another scythe shield - this time for a double barreled name .... Sneyd-Kynnersley ......., but this one has the fleur-de-lis right at the fess point, plum in the middle of the shield and right next to and touching the sned. This is quite unlike the copy from Joseph Foster's excellent book on " Feudal Coats of Arms and Pedigrees " where the fleur-de-lis is shown to be very large - more like an ordinary than a cadency mark.
In the medieval period, allied families or branches of the same family sometimes used the same arms in different tinctures and the fact that the earliest references to coats of arms with a scythe appear for another Cheshire family raises the question as to whether the family who took their surname from residence at Snelson were in fact descended from a younger brother of the Praers family of Barthomley. ? Again this conjecture comes from the Somerset Herald. The Praers arms are mentioned and drawn in the " History of the Town and Parish of Nantwich " by James Hall - this includes the account of how the Black Prince took away the lands of Thomas de Praers of Barthomley in 1349 as he was bonkers !
The Mainwaring Connection
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Photographs taken in old Mainwaring House in Peover, Cheshire, and in St. Lawrence's Church in Peover, show visual arms and family tree proof that a William Mainwaring married a Joan Praers of Baddely. A quartered shield shows a white scythe on a red field in quarters 1 and 4. Presumably the latter are Mainwaring arms. In the church, over a Mainwaring effigy, there is a white scythe on a red shield ( Praers ). It is possible that a Snelson could have unofficially assumed the Praer scythe with different tinctures with the knowledge and permission of both Praers and Mainwaring overlords.
The Visitation of Chester 1580 records arms for Meinilwarin, Manwaringe of Peever, Harl 1424 Fo 105b, Harl 1505 Fo 1096 Quarterly 1 and 4, Argent two bars Gules ( Mainwaring ), 2 and 3 Gules, a scythe Argent ( PRAERS ). These arms appear(ed) In the Chancell window in Warmincham Church.
Also from the Visitation of Chester 1580 the Arms of Bromley Harl. 1424 Fo 29b Harl 1505 Fo 27b Quarterly 7 coats 1 to 7 and at 4 Gules a scythe erect argent between the blade and the handle three fleur-de-lis of the second ( PRAERS ).
According to Boutell...there was a natural tendency for men allied by blood or feudal ties to bear similar arms, though with SUFFICIENT DIFFERENCE to prevent confusion between them.
Scythe Ordinaries
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Papworth's Ordinary of Arms lists the scythe ordinaries as :-
(b) Argent a scythe handled sable the blade upward - LEE V.
(c) Gules a scythe in pale argent PARTRIDGE, co. Stafford.
(d) Sable, a scythe in bend between two wings expanded or. Roger de SKERWYNG or SKERNING, Bishop of Norwich, 1266-78.
(e) Gules two scythes in saltire argent. PRAYERS.
(f) Gules a scythe argent handle in pale blade in chief. BOGHEY.
(g) Vert three scythes argent on a chief of the second a bull pass gules. RIDLER, Stroud Edgworth, etc. In Hemsted Church, co. Gloucester;
quartered by Lysons; Bigland, Gloucester, 1792 ii, 68.
(h) Gules a scythe in fess the blade upwards argent PRAYES, V.
(i) Gules a scythe handled argent PRAYERS, V. BOGHEY, Whitmore, co. Stafford.
(j) Gules two scythe blades in saltire points upwards argent. William VAN
MILDERT, Bishop of Llandaff, 1819-26.
(k) Gules a scythe argent. MANWARINGE. KEMSEY, Harl. MS. 6110, fo. 22b. PRAERS, Barthomly and Baddeley, co. Chester.
(l) Argent a scythe sable the blade upwards - Sir James LEE, Aston, co. Stafford, W. Roger SNELYTONE, London, 1633; Harl. MS. 1358 fo.45. (m)
Argent a scythe the blade in chief the sned or handle in bend sinister sable in the fess point a fleur-de-lis of the second. SNEYD, Keel, co, Stafford;
descended from Henry SNEID, alias Tunstall, living 6 Edward III. SNEYD, Bishton nd Ashcomb; and Byrkley, co. Stafford.
(n) Gules three scythes in pale argent KEMPLEY or KEMSEY, co. Salop; Add. MS 21025 fo.85.
(o) Gules three scytheblades in pale barways or. KEMPLEY.
(p) Per fess gules and or in chief three scythes argent. SETHINGTON.
(q) Per chev sable and or in base a moorcock of the first in chief four scythes cojoined two and two argent the handles of the
second. HUCKMORE. or Hugmore, Buckland Baron, co. Devon; the heiress m. Gould.
The College of Arms
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The Heralds College or College of Arms was formed in 1484 by Richard III incorporating the heralds attached to the Royal Household. Philip and Mary reincorporated it in 1555. There are 3 Kings of Arms, 6 Heralds and 4 Pursuivants who specialise in genealogical and heraldic work. The College establishes the right to bear Arms, and the Kings of Arms grant Arms by letters patent.
The College of Arms in London records that Arms were granted to "Sneston", probably a derivation of Snelston, in 1633 - being a black scythe on an argent background. There is no doubt that the name of the descendants of this family became 'Snelson'.
Visitation of London 1633/34
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The arms were recorded in the Heralds Visitation of London in 1633-34 and are registered in the name of Roger Snelson under a reference 2C24,354. Although he signs his name Snelson, the pedigree has the surname of the other people spelt Snelston with the letter 'l' crossed out .... leaving the letters Sneston unadulterated, if you will. There is a dotted line between Roger Snelson's father, Richard Sneston of Foxbanck and supposed grandfather, as shown on the enclosed copy I have from the College of Arms, and this dotted line appears on the original.
The dotted line either indicates missing generations or that the descent is uncertain. My view is that the name Snelston in the visitation document is right, and that the L has been crossed out in error. I don't believe it was crossed out instead of the T. I think it was just crossed out in error. The Heralds Visitation system began in 1530 and lasted until 1689. Under this system, commissions were issued by the sovereign to the Kings of Arms to visit the counties of England and Wales approximately every 30 years or so to record the arms and pedigrees of families and gentry resident in each county.
Arms that were recorded where there were no previous records of a grant might be allowed on the basis that they had been used continually since before 1415 when King Henry V issued a writ to the sheriffs of various counties stating that in future men might not assume arms and that a right to any new arms could only be acquired by receiving a grant from a competent authority ..... presumably himself or his delegates, the Heralds or Kings of Arms.
The arms referred to were allowed under the provision of long use. There is no crest.
Records show that the arms might be blazoned
_______________________ARGENT _____________________________A SCYTHE _________________________THE BLADE IN CHIEF __________________AND THE HANDLE IN BEND SINISTER SABLE
This means a black scythe on a white or silver background .... normally in English heraldry, white, because silver tarnishes. It's all the rain they get you know; the scythe has a curved black handle, with the blade on top; sorry about my colloquial interpretation, but that's the way I see it.
The Sneyd Coat of Arms ----------------------
The same coat in the same tinctures but with a black fleur de lis beneath the blade of the scythe appears for the Sneyd family of Staffordshire on the Strangways Roll of circa 1450 where shield number 24 shows this coat for Sneyd. It has been suggested therefore ( by the Somerset Herald ) that perhaps the Snelson coat was allowed in error .... it already being attributed to the Sneyd family earlier. Nevertheless, error or not, the deed is done. It is too late. The fleur-de-lis does make the Sneyd coat different. The fleur-de-lis could be a mark of differencing or a mark of cadency. It could also reflect a French influence resulting from action in the Wars against France in the time of Edward and his son the Black Prince.
There is a photograph of the High House in Stafford in Henry Thorold's book and Shell Guide to Stafford which shows on the front of the building two shields, one bearing the fleur-de-lys coat of Sneyd and the other a date of 1555 - we don't know the connection here yet.
Rights to the Snelson Coat of Arms
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If it were possible to prove descent back in a straight male line to Roger Snelson or I guess even to his brother Richard, then it would be possible to establish a right to the coat.
The Mystery of The Macclesfield St. Michael's Chalices
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There is a chalice bearing combined arms of Snelson. This information was originally researched and supplied to me in 1989 by Marjorie Ward ( nee Snelson ) of Middleton, Lancashire when she was on a visit to Australia. She has made a fine artform out of translating Ormerod into comprehensible Anglo-Saxon, and I am very grateful to her for this valuable story.
A book called Old Cheshire Churches by Raymond Richards published in 1947, page 210, refers to two chalices, one given by Roger Snelson and the other by Phillip Higginbothom - both dyers. It mentions the arms of the Higginbothome family. These arms may be on the other side of the chalice. Boyd's Marriage Index Miscellaneous Series 1601 S - Z Volume 88 has Catherine Snelson married Philip Higginbothom 1605. John and Mary Higginbottom are beneficiaries under Roger Snelson's will.
The chalice and its lid each sport a Snelson quadrant coat and were given by Roger de Snelson to St. Michael's in Macclesfield in 1642 A.D. The inscription on the chalice reads "The gift of Roger Snelson dier". The coat is quartered as follows ....top left is the Snelson coat, as is the right bottom quadrant. The scythe is shown with blade at the top ! Top right hand corner is the Moreton coat - - this is a billet fesswise and in chief a mullet which might alternatively be blazoned as a mullet and in base a billet fesswise. A photograph of the chalice shows hatching running diagonally from upper right to lower left suggesting a purpure field. Bottom left hand corner is the Bagulay coat - three lozenges. Charles has had the Somerset Herald do some sleuthing here, and I am grateful to him for passing it on.
The inscription on the lid encircles the arms and also reads "The gift of Roger Snelson". The same Roger also made a donation to the church of 30 pounds in 1647 A.D. That was a lot of brass in those days.
Under the English law of arms, a right to quarter arms is acquired by the marriage of an ancestor in the direct male line to a woman who was an heraldic heiress, that is someone who either had no brothers or whose brothers died without issue. This means that the arms in the second quarter are those of the mother, grandmother, or a more remote ancestress in the direct male line of Roger Snelson. The arms in the third quarter were either a quartering which this ancestress was entitled to herself because her own mother or a more remote ancestress in her male line was an heraldic heiress, or they are the arms of a more recent heraldic heiress married by a Snelson.
Theoretically, therefore, the second quarter might relate to Roger Snelson's grandmother's family and the third quarter to his mother's family. I find that the only way to get my pickled brain around this gobbledegook is to draw a diagram.
The College of Arms does not have a record of a billet and a mullet together unless it is the coat used unofficially by a family named Broadhurst as the Visitation of London shows that Roger Snelson's mother was a coheir of her father and named Broadhurst.
A number of families are registered with arms of three lozenges.
Under the English law of arms, a right to quarter arms can also be acquired by descent; you cannot be granted quartered arms. There is therefore no record of a grant or confirmation of quartered arms to Roger Snelson.
Just before we leave the chalice, the book by Raymond Richards entitled Old English Churches talks about two chalices at St. Michael's, the second being given by Phillip Higginbottom, dyer. There must be a connection here.
Going back to the original record of the Visitation of London 1633-34, the pedigree written on the back of the Snelson pedigree is one of a family called Dugdale. This is under the same reference number C24,354 ......BUT, 354 IS A FOLIO NUMBER NOT A PAGE NUMBER! I think this means, but I have not had this confirmed, that the two entries are not only adjacent, but indeed the same entry. The Somerset Herald thinks that this is a coincidence. I don't agree.
The pedigree shows that Robert Dugdale of London, a cloth worker in 1634, married Alice, daughter of John Snelston of Foxbank in Cheshire. As you can see, our old mate Roger Snelson who was awarded the arms was the son of Richard Snelson described as of Foxbanck ....... so what's the relationship here one might ask?
The printed will index of wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury mentions that the will of Roger Snelson of the Parish of All Hallows, Thames Street, London, citizen and dyer, was proved on the 4th of January 1648/9. Why did this will go to the PCC for probate ? Was it because Roger held property in different dioceses or jurisdictions - probably.
The Praers Coat of Arms
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The earliest reference to arms of a scythe are those of GULES A SCYTHE ARGENT that is, a red shield with a white scythe, which are the arms of the Cheshire family of Praers. Their pedigree is shown in pages 161-162 of volume III of Ormerod's History of Cheshire, 1819. There is a window ( the South Window ) in Nantwich Church which shows the Praers coat - white or silver scythe on a red background - at least it was there in 1633 ! A picture appears in the " History of the Town and Parish of Nantwich ".
Scythe Armourials
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Scythes were very commonly used in Polish wars by the peasants and on that account may be seen as weapons of war rather than tools of agriculture. In Poland, the Counts Jezierski bore " Gules, two scythe blades in oval, the points crossing each other argent, and the ends in base tied together or, the whole surmounted in chief by a cross-patriarchal-patee, of which the lower arm on the sinister side is wanting ".
I haven't seen any other reference to scythes being used in any other country apart from Germany. But then, my research has not been exhaustive. The description above talks about scythe BLADES, not the handles but I think that might be semantic and in any case is irrelevant.
Joseph Foster's book on feudal armorials identifies Richard de Tunstall de Sneyd adapting the coat of the Praers family, adding a black fleur-de-lis at the Battle of Poitiers :-
" Sneyd, Richard de - bore, gules a scythe argent, the coat of his mother Rosia de Praers; his descendant Richard de Tunstall de Sneyd had the fleur- de-lys sable for Poictiers 1356 - Shirley. ".
A fleur-de-lis may be a REBUS or may signify " flower of Louis " ( VII of France ) 1137-80 and may be borne in general heraldry as the SOLE charge in arms ! This means that, as Sneyd has a scythe AND a fleur-de-lis, that the fleur-de-lis MUST be representative of cadency although the fleur-de-lis is frequently borne in groups of three and conjunction with ordinaries and other charges. So, this must be how the Sneyds got the scythe coat - from the Praers. This was at the time when the war with France had resumed with the Black Prince ( the son of the English King Edward III ) raiding and pillaging through France as far as the Mediterranean. In 1356, King John of France trapped the Black Prince at Poitiers ( sic ). With such a huge array before him, the Prince offered in return for the freedom of his men and himself ( he wasn't THAT stupid ) to surrender his accumulated spoils and not to fight on French soil again for at least 7 years. This offer was refused.
Unfortunately for the French King, the defeat of John's Army was as spectacular as his army itself; the French fighting machine was not built for fast moving battle; at Poitiers, the French had to fight uphill in heavy but resplendent armour; they were no match for the English who were on their way home from the seaside, laden with souvenirs !
So, London soon saw the captured King John being paraded through the streets.
Here we have a family of three generations .....
(1) Rosia de Praers arms - gules, a scythe argent, the blade in chief; a descendant of the Praers family;
(2) Her son, Richard de Sneyd presumably was the son of Rosia de Praers and a male Sneyd;
(3) Rosia's grandson was named Richard de Tunstall de Sneyd; the young Richard decided to differentiate the Praers arms by a change in colour; Richard de Tunstall de Praers bore these differentiated arms according to Shirley in France with the Black Prince. I am not sure whether it was only a black fleur-de-lis that differentiated the coat at the Battle of Poitiers, or whether Richard de Tunstall de Praers changed the sned { handle } to black and the background to white as well as adding the fleur-de-lis. In the colour picture that I have, the whole scythe is black, the fleur-de-lis is black and the background white.
The Black Prince
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The Black Prince was so named because of the colour of his armour. I thought at one time that this might have extended to the colour of arms but the Black Prince paraded in front of his troops before the battle resplendent in his gold and red colours - which no doubt cut a bit of a rug on top of his black armour. He was revered as a great leader of his men, giving them a bit of a rev up before the battle and leading them forward.
I am focusing on the Black Prince for clues because he has such a strong connection with Cheshire and took from there his best warriors being his contingent of bowmen ( without whom the Battle of Poitiers would have been lost and to whom he later paid œ8-12s-6d in booty; a lot of brass in those days ); also, because we know that Richard de Tunstall de Praers was there with his Black Scythe. Many of the army leaders were drawn from Chester and its environs. I'm becoming an expert on the Black Prince - gosh, what a man he was. I have been reading a book called The Black Prince by Barbara Emerson; I can't put it down.
The Black Prince was of course the Prince of Wales i.e. Edward III's first son and heir to the throne, Duke of Cornwall and more importantly, Earl of Chester. He spent a lot of time in Cheshire and assisted Cheshire people with the maintenance of the important salt wiches - Northwich, Nantwich and Middlewich - where the Snellestons acquired a settlement with, as we now know, Hugh Snelleston being created a burgess in 1525 with a licence to boil and sell salt; and in 1527, Edward Snelleston of Middlewich and Elizabeth his wife were both created burgesses and had a similar licence. The salt was wanted as a preservative rather than as any form of chemical industry.
The Middlewich Chartulary
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Now, let me refer to what I think may become a pivotal source in unravelling all of this. The Book in several volumes is called " A Middlewich Chartulary ", published by the Chetham Society and the Liverpool School of Local History and Records, 1944 .
There are many, many entries in this valuable book relating to a whole series of transactions involving the early Snelsons. One entry is of particular interest as it records a grant by Charles Mainwaring of CROXTON to Randolph Mainwaring all his lands in Lower Kinnerton and Gorsty Lowe in Dodleston in the year 1540 - this is a fair stride from Chelford and Senelstune. There is a Snelson connection here. I wonder whether any of the Snelsons went to Dodleston for or with the Mainwarings ? Dodleston is right on the Welsh border - my gang ? I wonder ........ ?
There is a record here of a Hugh Snelson who married Elizabeth before 1525 and an Eleanor Snelson paying salthouse dues.
The Bostock Coat of Arms
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From, the Visitation of Cheshire 1580 we can see that Alice Snelston, daughter of Robert Snelston and Margaret Shoklach ( daughter of Thomas Shoklach ) married Robert BOSTOCK of Churton. This Bostock line is well documented and goes back to the Conqueror over a further 13 generations. The arms of Bostock of Churton are quartered in eight with 7 being Snelston " argent a scythe sinister sable ". So this Alice must be part of the Roger Snelston connection ! But how does she fit ? Which Alice is this ?
This really does mean that the Bostock of Churton genealogy RECOGNISES the ancestors of Robert Snelston Esq who married Margarett Shocklach as the rightful bearer of the scythe arms mentioned, to the extent that it became incorporated as a valuable and intricate component of their arms. Churton of course is just half a mile from Pulford on Dee - my territory !
My interpretation of the Bostock of Churton arms above is based on the general principles of marshalling and quartering.
The Stanley and Handford Coats of Arms
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In the Handforth Chapel, at the east end of the south aisle of Cheadle Church, in the east window, was a shield representing the arms of STANLEY base line being Or, three eagles legs erased Gules, on a Chief indented Azure three bucks heads caboshed Or, impaling (1) and (4) Sable an estoile Argent - HONDFORD, (2) and (3) Gules a scythe Argent - PRAERS. There is another illustration in Earwaker page 252 showing another marshalling, but I don't know what it is.
Marshalling and Quartering of Arms
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After a marriage with an heiress, necessitating for the children the combination of two coats, the shield is divided into 4 quarters, numbered from top left ( dexter ) corner across towards the sinister ( no. 2 ) side of the shield, then the next row is numbered in the same way ( numbers 3 and 4 ). In a simple case this places the arms of the father in the first and fourth quarters, and mother's in the second and third.
If a male child marries another heiress, also possessing a simple un-quartered coat, then their children would put that latter coat in the third quarter, creating a coat which is 1 and 4, the pronominal coat ; 2 the first heiress; 3 the second heiress. If another single quartering is introduced in a later generation then that takes its place in 4.
Now the difficult bit ! Another single quartering makes five to be displayed on one shield. The practice is to repeat the first quartering, to give six in two rows of three.
A general principle is to take all the quarterings inherited from the father arranged in a proper sequence followed in the same sequence by mothers arms and quarterings. Placing the arms in a correct pedigree ( not date ) sequence is called "marshalling".
Now, another gem ..... I have found in my computerised hordes that there was a Richard Snelson who married Catherine Mustyan ( Katherin Mustian sometimes ) in 1596 in London ..... AND THAT HE WAS A DYER . Kate was a widow whose husband, James Mustyan, was a MERCHANT TAILOR ! I am reasonably sure that this Richard may be Roger's brother; the dates seem okay; this is the same Richard I think who appears in the London IGI as Richard Snellson whose children were being baptised at London St. James ..... Richard Snellson ( bapt 20 Nov 1597 ) and Henrie Snellsonne ( bapt 30 Sep 1599 ). If this is indeed Roger's brother, then these children and their offspring if they can be traced and the chances are that we could do this, would be entitled to the coat.
Roger and Richard's father was Richard Snelston who lived at Foxbank as did Roger's wife's father John Broadhurst; Alice Snelston daughter of John Snelson of Foxbank married Robert Dugdale the CLOTHWORKER.
I think that Roger may have had several brothers and sisters - Richard ( the dyer ), Ellinor wife of Thomas Hilton, and John; maybe too, Edward ( bapt 26 Mar 1581 at Macclesfield St. Michael ) and Mary ( baptised 29 Sep 1594 same place ? ). This Alice cannot be Roger's sister as her father was a John of Foxbank.
Incidentally, St. James Garlickhithe was burnt down in the Great Fire of London and rebuilt by Christopher Wren in 1670-83. Fascinating trivia for your collection, but I digress.
I have seen another scythe shield - this time for a double barreled name .... Sneyd-Kynnersley ......., but this one has the fleur-de-lis right at the fess point, plum in the middle of the shield and right next to and touching the sned. This is quite unlike the copy from Joseph Foster's excellent book on " Feudal Coats of Arms and Pedigrees " where the fleur-de-lis is shown to be very large - more like an ordinary than a cadency mark.
In the medieval period, allied families or branches of the same family sometimes used the same arms in different tinctures and the fact that the earliest references to coats of arms with a scythe appear for another Cheshire family raises the question as to whether the family who took their surname from residence at Snelson were in fact descended from a younger brother of the Praers family of Barthomley. ? Again this conjecture comes from the Somerset Herald. The Praers arms are mentioned and drawn in the " History of the Town and Parish of Nantwich " by James Hall - this includes the account of how the Black Prince took away the lands of Thomas de Praers of Barthomley in 1349 as he was bonkers !
The Mainwaring Connection
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Photographs taken in old Mainwaring House in Peover, Cheshire, and in St. Lawrence's Church in Peover, show visual arms and family tree proof that a William Mainwaring married a Joan Praers of Baddely. A quartered shield shows a white scythe on a red field in quarters 1 and 4. Presumably the latter are Mainwaring arms. In the church, over a Mainwaring effigy, there is a white scythe on a red shield ( Praers ). It is possible that a Snelson could have unofficially assumed the Praer scythe with different tinctures with the knowledge and permission of both Praers and Mainwaring overlords.
The Visitation of Chester 1580 records arms for Meinilwarin, Manwaringe of Peever, Harl 1424 Fo 105b, Harl 1505 Fo 1096 Quarterly 1 and 4, Argent two bars Gules ( Mainwaring ), 2 and 3 Gules, a scythe Argent ( PRAERS ). These arms appear(ed) In the Chancell window in Warmincham Church.
Also from the Visitation of Chester 1580 the Arms of Bromley Harl. 1424 Fo 29b Harl 1505 Fo 27b Quarterly 7 coats 1 to 7 and at 4 Gules a scythe erect argent between the blade and the handle three fleur-de-lis of the second ( PRAERS ).
According to Boutell...there was a natural tendency for men allied by blood or feudal ties to bear similar arms, though with SUFFICIENT DIFFERENCE to prevent confusion between them.
Scythe Ordinaries
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Papworth's Ordinary of Arms lists the scythe ordinaries as :-
(b) Argent a scythe handled sable the blade upward - LEE V.
(c) Gules a scythe in pale argent PARTRIDGE, co. Stafford.
(d) Sable, a scythe in bend between two wings expanded or. Roger de SKERWYNG or SKERNING, Bishop of Norwich, 1266-78.
(e) Gules two scythes in saltire argent. PRAYERS.
(f) Gules a scythe argent handle in pale blade in chief. BOGHEY.
(g) Vert three scythes argent on a chief of the second a bull pass gules. RIDLER, Stroud Edgworth, etc. In Hemsted Church, co. Gloucester;
quartered by Lysons; Bigland, Gloucester, 1792 ii, 68.
(h) Gules a scythe in fess the blade upwards argent PRAYES, V.
(i) Gules a scythe handled argent PRAYERS, V. BOGHEY, Whitmore, co. Stafford.
(j) Gules two scythe blades in saltire points upwards argent. William VAN
MILDERT, Bishop of Llandaff, 1819-26.
(k) Gules a scythe argent. MANWARINGE. KEMSEY, Harl. MS. 6110, fo. 22b. PRAERS, Barthomly and Baddeley, co. Chester.
(l) Argent a scythe sable the blade upwards - Sir James LEE, Aston, co. Stafford, W. Roger SNELYTONE, London, 1633; Harl. MS. 1358 fo.45. (m)
Argent a scythe the blade in chief the sned or handle in bend sinister sable in the fess point a fleur-de-lis of the second. SNEYD, Keel, co, Stafford;
descended from Henry SNEID, alias Tunstall, living 6 Edward III. SNEYD, Bishton nd Ashcomb; and Byrkley, co. Stafford.
(n) Gules three scythes in pale argent KEMPLEY or KEMSEY, co. Salop; Add. MS 21025 fo.85.
(o) Gules three scytheblades in pale barways or. KEMPLEY.
(p) Per fess gules and or in chief three scythes argent. SETHINGTON.
(q) Per chev sable and or in base a moorcock of the first in chief four scythes cojoined two and two argent the handles of the
second. HUCKMORE. or Hugmore, Buckland Baron, co. Devon; the heiress m. Gould.