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Home | Community & Vocational | 11 November 2010 - Club visit to the College of Arms

Thu Nov 11th 2010

Photo above: the Rotary Clubs of Amersham and Barnet with William Hunt, pictured in the Earl Marshall's Court/Court of Chivalry.

Do you know the difference between a ‘Blazon’ and a ‘Visitation’ ?

If you had taken part in the Club tour of the College of Arms in October and November you will have had the difference explained in detail by the Windsor Herald, William Hunt.

Twenty members of the Club together with guests from the Rotary Club of Barnet recently toured the College of Arms as the guests of William Hunt.

The College of Arms is the official repository of the coats of arms and pedigrees of English, Welsh, Northern Irish and Commonwealth families and their descendants. Its records also include official copies of the records of Ulster King of Arms the originals of which remain in Dublin. The officers of the College, known as heralds, specialize in genealogical and heraldic work for their respective clients. Coats of arms have been and still are granted by Letters Patent from the senior heralds, the Kings of Arms. A right to arms can only be established by the registration in the official records of the College of Arms of a pedigree showing direct male line descent from an ancestor already appearing therein as entitled to arms, or by making application through the College of Arms for a grant of arms. Grants are made to corporations as well as to individuals.

After spending time in the record room inspecting various grants of arms to a number of well known individuals and corporate bodies we all enjoyed a superb buffet supper in the adjoining ‘waiting room’