The "Brough" Coat of Arms
The Use and Meaning of a Coat of Arms
The following information comes from the
World Book Encyclopedia and was quoted in the 1981 RBFO book
The Ancestors of Richard Brough and Mary Horleston, pp.43-44:
A "Coat of Arms" is a heraldic
design, used to distinguish individual families and to authenticate official
documents. The Coat of Arms comes from the custom of embroidering the
emblem of a knight on the surcoat which he wore over his armor.
Heraldic symbols as we know them today developed
with the use of armor in the Middle Ages. The suit of armor made it difficult
to distinguish friend from foe during violent hand-to-hand combat, and
knights developed heraldic symbols so they could identify each other.
The symbols usually commemorated an event in the knight’s life, or some
outstanding quality.
During the Middle Ages, heraldic symbols
were also used in everyday life. Most persons did not know how to write,
so they had to develop some way of proving the authenticity of various
documents. It became common practice to use a seal with a person’s heraldic
design as a signature. The introduction of gunpowder into warfare made
armor obsolete. As a result, heraldic symbols were no longer needed as
a means of recognition on the battlefield. These symbols became more useful
as an emblem distinguishing a particular family than as a mark of an individual
knight. [Similarly, the College of Arms has stated: "With the introduction
of gunpowder and artillery the use of arms on the jousting field and in
battle eventually decreased, while the use of arms in civilian activities
and social endeavors increased."]
In England, Richard III established the
Herald’s College (College
of Arms) in 1484 AD. The Herald’s College decided(s) who is entitled
to wear coats of arms. Also, in such [areas] as Great Britain, heraldic
symbols usually depict the ancestry of a particular individual, rather
than an element of his life.
A complete coat of arms consists of a shield,
crest, and motto. The shield, or escutcheon, is the basic element. A helmet,
or supporters, or both may be added. Accessories include the wreath, mantling
and scroll. The wreath represents a device used to cover the point where
the crest was attached to the knight’s helmet. The mantling originally
protected the knight from the direct rays of the sun and also protected
the helmet from stains and rust.
The College of Arms in London, England
Today, the Heralds of the
College of Arms in London,
England, grant the "right to arms" to individuals who can "show
direct male line descent from an ancestor already appearing therein as
entitled to arms." The College of Arms reminds people that
"there is no such thing as a 'coat of arms for a surname'. Many people
of the same surname will often be entitled to completely different coats
of arms, and many of that surname will be entitled to no coat of arms.
Coats of arms belong to individuals. For any person to have a right to
a coat of arms they must either have had it granted to them or be descended
in the legitimate male line from a person to whom arms were granted or
confirmed in the past."
The
fee due the College of Arms "upon a grant of arms" is considerable:
"As of 1 January 2008 the fees payable upon a personal grant of arms
and crest are £3,950, a similar grant to an impersonal but non-profit
making body, £8,575, and to a commercial company, £12,850."
The "Brough" Coat of Arms
Five hundred years ago, the
Broughs of Leekfirth, Staffordshire, used a coat of arms of "Argent
[silver], on a saltire [diagonal cross] sable [of black], five swans of
the first [five white swans]." This "Brough" Coat of Arms
appears in Staffordshire pedigrees and records of the 1500's and 1600's.
In the early 1500's, Thomas Burgh (born
about 1480) of Brewood, Staffordshire, moved to Windygates, Leek, Staffordshire.
Initially, Thomas was a "leaseholder of land." But while
his sons or serving men worked his fields, Thomas, being a literate and
able man capable of administration and government, eventually achieved
the position of "Gentleman." Although Thomas apparently
never took upon himself the title of knighthood--possibly because he was
reluctant to incur the expenses involved--he was known as a Gentleman
and used the Brough Coat of Arms of "Argent [silver], on a saltire
[diagonal cross] sable [of black], five swans of the first [five white
swans]." From the 1500's to the present day, Thomas Burgh's
descendants have used this Brough Coat of Arms.
The Brough Coat of Arms appears on
several Brough gravestones located in the
churchyard of the Parish Church of St. Matthews,
Meerbrook, Leek, Staffordshire, England.
(Photograph taken in August 2002)
In 1949, Catharine Ann Brough Hind visited the College of Arms in London for confirmation of the Brough arms shown in Staffordshire pedigrees and records. The Herald to whom she spoke said that no formal permission was needed for her family to use the Brough arms provided the family possessed genealogical confirmation of who they were. Interestingly, it was the Herald's belief that the Brough "swans" coat of arms were granted for service in wars in Ireland, in which their close blood kinsman, Lord Walter de Burgh and his sons, were leading noblemen and administrators, and whose descendants now make up the widespread de Burgh/Burke family clan of Ireland. Subsequently, Ann Brough's father, Edgar Brough, commissioned original art work for a Brough "swan" coat of arms, which was done by a London printer in 1949.
Brough Coat of Arms printed by Edgar Brough
(the father of Catharine Ann Brough Hind) in 1949.
In 1999, Catharine Ann Brough Hind provided the RBFO with
the following facts and information about the Brough Coat of Arms:
"During the 16th and 19th Centuries,
Visitations were made in every county by heralds and recorders. These
individuals recorded the descent--or pedigree--of each nobleman, gentry
and landed family, and described or portrayed the crest or arms of its
founder and ancestor as noted in deeds and grants of their family seat
in the county concerned. This is the sense in which a family recognizes--or
is indeed recognized
--by the arms of its ancestors and is held to have 'a family crest.' The
more simple the form of the crests portrayed, the more likely the grant
was earlier--and thus the earlier was the family recognized.
"You note that I am...sending the ‘original’
Brough crest. ...The more elaborate the crest the ‘newer’ the family.
The ‘cruder’ and more simple, the older! The elaborations came in time,
when every simple formula and shape had been claimed; and then with self-aggrandizement
by later risen gentry and nobility. ...With time of course there came
those who prefer the more floriated design and a belief that simplicity
suggests rusticity or a lesser worth...and if ‘the world’ judges by worth
and lesser worth then who is to say who is wrong or right? I’m proud of
proofs of the antiquity of our grant-of-arms and recognition of worth.
"Original" Brough Coat of Arms
sent by Catharine Ann Brough Hind
of England to the RBFO in December 1999.
"The 19th Century publication
of Joseph Foster's Dictionary of Heraldry
depicts in words seven 13th Century de Burgh coats of arms--several of
them in color. All holders are related by blood and cover the counties
of the Midlands and of Norfolk, Richmondshire (the modern North Yorkshire
on its Cumberland border), and Ulster in Northern Ireland. In later centuries,
individual Broughs achieved the right to their own arms, not the least
of whom was the 18th Century, Admiral Brough of Rollestone Hall in Mappleton,
East Yorkshire. Among the Middle Hulme and Leekfrith Houses of the Broughs
the 'swan' crest--or in some cases just one individual swan--was used
to seal papers, and was often displayed by the Broughs of Waterhouse."
In recent years, Ann Hind--because of her
fourteen years of research work and archaeological excavation of Moated
Wood Hall at Womersley, North Yorkshire, and the related heraldry of its
nobility, gentry and military owners--has spoken with a Rouge Pursuivant
Herald of the College of Arms. Nothing that he advised and explained to
her has cancelled or altered the perception of recognition of a House
by the coat of arms of its founding ancestor.
Logo of the Richard Brough Family Organization
Because the direct Brough lineage of Richard Brough and Mary Horleston extends back to the earlier Broughs of Leekfirth, Staffordshire, the RBFO commissioned an artist in the late 1970's to design an "RBFO Logo"--or "identifying symbol of the RBFO--which included the Brough "swan" Coat of Arms (described above). This logo was first printed in 1980, and since then has been used extensively by the RBFO and its officers.
The official "RBFO Logo"--or "identifying
symbol" of the RBFO--was first printed in 1980
and included the Brough "swan" Coat of Arms.
Currrently, the RBFO is investigating the possibility of purchasing or producing wood-carved or stone-engraved replicas of the Brough Coat of Arms for interested RBFO members. Examples of these possible wood-carved Brough Coat of Arms are shown below:
Additional Information and Links
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