Arms of Henry (b1778) in Cowlinge Church,
Suffolk.
Two Usborne grants are
recorded:
1. 17 May 1809 to John Usborne, of Broad Street, City of London,
merchant, for use by him and his descendants, and the descendants of his
brothers, Thomas Usborne of Ware, Herts, merchant, and Henry Usborne of
Quebec, merchant, and by his sisters, Elizabeth Jane and Sophie Usborne,
and their respective descendants. The
coat of arms is described by the College of Heralds as: Paly of six
argent and gules a lion passant proper on a chief wavy an anchor gold
between two martlets argent. The crest is described as: A mount vert
thereon a stag lodged at the foot of a larch tree proper. The
motto is Virtus Vincit Invidiam.
Thomas Starling Usborne who died in 1903 was the last Usborne entitled
to use them. The crest is still widely and incorrectly used by the
descendants of Charles
2. 21st.December 1927to Thomas Masters
Usborne, of
Chilham, Kent, and Writtle, Essex to be used by all descendants of his
father Thomas (b.1840). The college of Heralds description is: Per
saltire ermin and vert on a fess gold an anchor between two martlets
sable. The crest is: A mount vert thereon a stag lodged argent at the
foot of a larch tree proper and gorged with a collar gules. i.e. the stag has acquired a
collar. The motto: Virtus Vincit Invidiam. The registered pedigree of Thomas Masters Usborne (b.1866) starting
with Thomas Usborne (b.1811) can be found under
"Usborne formerly of Writtle" in Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th
Edition, vol. III (1972).
Descendants of Thomas (b.1840) are entitled to use these arms.
3.
The Pax in Bello arms were registered at the Heralds Visitation of
London in 1568 to Edward Osborne. He was
knighted in 1583/4 on becoming Lord Mayor of London. Edward's
great-grandson, Thomas was created Duke of Leeds in 1694. Their pedigree in Thoresby's
"Leeds" begins with Richard Osborne, Sir Edward's father.
Richard married Elizabeth Tyldene from Marden and they lived
at Ashford, which is just fourteen miles from Staplehurst.
The Staplehurst branch of the family were using these arms in 1686 and
probably earlier before the dukedom was created.
The
Canadian branch (descendants of Claude (b.1872)) has a silver tray engraved
in 1909 with the "pax in
bello" arms. They also appear on the family tree drawn up by David
Usborne based on one built up by Thomas Usborne of Chilham in the 1930's. (The
College of Heralds wrote on Sept 9th 1977: There are quite a number of
families using arms without authority and then subsequently regularising
the position by petitioning for a new grant. The arms that they had been
using were usually those of another family of the same name. This is
what must have happened in the case of your ancestors)
The following
information has been kindly supplied by Robin Fletcher from research in
the London
College of Arms:
"A coat of
arms consists of arms (the blazon), crest and motto, and the crest
and motto go with the arms. Arms are granted by the College of Arms and
are the property of the grantee and, depending on the wording of the
original grant, others eligible to use them would be his descendants and
sometimes other descendants of his parents or grand-parents. Anyone can
invent a crest and use it as they like, but it would have no validity,
without being granted and registered by the College of Arms. It is
illegal to use someone else's arms and in the past people have been
prosecuted for so doing".
Note that the image on the right above (Henry's coat of arms) is
to be found on a diamond shaped plaque 1½m square in Cowlinge Church,
Suffolk. Such "Funeral Hatchments", combining the arms of
husband and wife, were painted specifically
on the death of prominent gentry to be carried at the front of the
funeral procession and placed in church as a permanent memorial. Many of
these have the inscription "RESURGAM" (I will arise). The colour of
the background, black or white to left or right, depends on whether the
husband survives the wife or vice versa.
St Olaves Church, Hart Street in
the City of London miraculously survived the Great Fire of 1666, another
disastrous fire in 1843 and major damage in the Blitz of 1940. Here can be
found the coat of arms adopted by
Major Usborne in the right hand light of the middle window (of three), known as the Church-wardens' window in the north
aisle.
It is described: Paly of six argent and gules, a lion
passant or, on a chief wavy azure an anchor erect enclosed by two martlets
of the first; impaling, Argent, a bat displayed sable.
Crest : A stag lodged beneath a tree, all proper.
