Heraldic visitation
By this writ, Henry VIII also compelled the sheriffs and mayors of each county or city visited by the officers of arms to give aid and assistance in gathering the needed information.In the early days, the visiting herald would tour the homes of the gentry and nobility, but from the late 1560s these persons were summoned to attend a central "place of sitting" – usually an inn – at a particular time.An example of the text of a herald's visitation writ is the following, issued by Edward Bysshe, then Clarenceux King of Arms, dated 1 July 1664 and addressed to the Constables of the Hundred of Clackclose in Norfolk, giving them notice of two and a half months to muster the local gentry in the Black Swan Inn at Downham Market at 8 am:[6] These [letters patent] are to require you and in his Majestie's name to charge and comand you, that forthwith upon sight hereof you sumon these Baronets, Knights, Esqrs and Gentlemen, whose names are here under written, personally to appear before me Edward Bisshe, Knight, Clarenceux King of Armes of all the South, East, and West parts of this Realme of England, from the river of Trent Southward, upon Thursday the fifteenth day of September, by eight of the clock in the morning, at the sign of the Black Swan in Downham, where I intend to sit for the Registring of all the Gentry within the said Hundred; and to that end you likewise give them notice, that they bring with them such armes and crests as they use and bear, with such other evidence or matter of record and credit as (if need require) may justifie the same, to the intent that I knowing how they use and challenge their Titles and by what right and authoritye they beare or pretend to bear Armes, I may accordingly make entrance thereof, and register the same in the office of Armes, or else proceed as my commission enjoyneth me in that behalfe, and to disclaim and make infamous such as usurp the title of Esquires or Gentlemen; and to convent all such as shall refuse to conforme themselves unto my said commission before the Lords Commissioners for the office of Earle Marshall of England, there to answer their misdemeanors and contempts.Edward Bysshe, ClarenceuxThe resulting volumes now make up the collection of Visitation Books at the College, which contain a wealth of information about all armigerous people from the period.Philip Styles, for example, related it to a declining willingness of members of the gentry to attend visitations, which he traced to a growing proportion of "newly risen" families, who lacked long pedigrees and were therefore apathetic about registering them.[8] However, Janet Verasanso has challenged this interpretation, finding that (in Staffordshire, at least) gentry enthusiasm for coats of arms as an enhancement to social standing persisted to the end of the 17th century.As a result of these processes of transmission, a number of variant manuscript copies of any one visitation record may now survive, possessing varying degrees of accuracy and authority.However, because until relatively recently the College of Arms restricted access to its records, many of the older published editions were necessarily based on the unofficial second- or third-generation copies in other collections, and may therefore not always be reliable.The Southern Province, the jurisdiction of Clarenceux King of Arms, comprised that part of England south of the River Trent, i.e. the counties of Bedford, Berks, Buckingham, Cambridge, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Essex, Gloucester, Hereford, Hertford, Huntingdon, Kent, Leicester, Lincoln, Middlesex, Monmouth, Norfolk, Northampton, Oxford, Rutland, Salop, Somerset, Southampton, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick, Wilton, Worcester, and the City of London; and South Wales.The Trent ran through Staffordshire, and the county was therefore technically divided between the two provinces; but for the purposes of visitation it was generally treated (sometimes through a process of deputation) as falling under the jurisdiction of Norroy.
DublinUlster King of ArmsKings of Armsheraldsofficers of armsEnglandIrelandcoats of armsnobilitygentryboroughspedigreesupper classcensushistoriansgenealogistsKing of ArmsWilliam BrugesGarter Principal King of Armsarmorial bearingswarrantHenry VIIIThomas BenoltClarenceux King of Armsknightesquiregentlemansheriffsmayorscountycoat of armsSheriffbailiffhundredtitlesgrant of armsCollege of ArmsofficerLondonEdward ByssheHundred of ClackcloseDownham Marketletters patentWilliam IIInewly risenLancaster Herald of Arms in OrdinaryThomas HawleytabardRoyal arms of EnglandHarleian CollectionBritish LibraryHarleian Societyrecord societiesfieldnoteschurch monumentsstained glassStonehengeClarenceuxNorroyRiver TrentBedfordBuckinghamCambridgeCornwallDorsetGloucesterHerefordHertfordHuntingdonLeicesterLincolnMiddlesexMonmouthNorfolkNorthamptonOxfordRutlandSomersetSouthamptonSuffolkSurreySussexWarwickWiltonWorcesterCity of LondonSouth WalesLancaster HeraldIsle of WightLondon CompaniesWilliam HarveyRobert CookeChester HeraldRichmond HeraldOxford UniversityPortcullis PursuivantRalph BrookeRouge Croix PursuivantWilliam CamdenNicholas CharlesAugustine VincentBluemantle PursuivantHenry St GeorgeJohn PhilipotRouge Dragon PursuivantSomerset HeraldSamuel ThompsonWindsor HeraldHenry ChittingRichard St GeorgeGeorge OwenYork HeraldWilliam RyleyWilliam DugdaleNorroy King of ArmsHenry DethickFrancis SandfordElias AshmoleGregory KingChesterCumberlandDurhamLancasterNorthumberlandNottinghamStafford