The Doubtful arms of Staffordshire - Weston and an elaborate fabrication

The final one of our five notes on the "Doubtful arms of Staffordshire" is that of  *Sir Symond Weston, of Lichfield.

Ermine, on a chief Azure five bezants, a martlet Gules for difference.

* An evident interpolation, for Sir Simon was not a knight in 1583, and his father, James Weston, was then living. The latter made his will in 1589, and therein names his son James, then under twenty-four years of age, and his son and heir Simon. It may be here mentioned that the elaborate pedigree of Weston printed in Harwood’s “Erdeswick” was fabricated in 1632 for Richard, Lord Weston, then Lord Treasurer of England. (Vide Mr. Chester-Waters’s “Memoirs of the Chesters of Chicheley.”) It should be added that Sir Simon does not appear in the lists of doubtful coats given in Lord Hatherton’s MS. and in the Harl, MSS. 1077, 1173.

There is no crest recorded alongside that specific blazon in the primary visitation entry for Sir Symond (Simon) Weston of Lichfield. In The "Visitacion of Staffordschire" made by Robert Glover, 1583, the entry records only the shield (arms): Ermine, on a chief Azure five bezants, a martlet Gules for difference. Genealogical notes on the 1583 Visitation point out that this entry is a later interpolation. Sir Simon Weston (c. 1565–1637) was not knighted until August 1599, and his father James Weston was still alive at the time of the 1583 visitation.

While no crest is attached to Sir Simon's interpolated Visitation entry, broader heraldic armories (such as Burke's General Armory and later 17th-century grants) record crests for the closely related Weston of Lichfield and Weston of Rugeley branches, which used either the bezant coat or the older Staffordshire eagle coat. For the Weston family of Lichfield bearing Ermine, on a chief Azure five bezants (the arms confirmed/granted in 1632 to Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland, who claimed descent from the Staffordshire Westons), the recorded crest is typically an eagle rising reguardant Sable (sometimes blazoned as an eagle's head erased Or, beaked Gules). For Sir Simon's direct cousin Sir James Weston (1573–1634), Baron of the Exchequer and also of Lichfield, the family bore Or, an eagle displayed reguardant Sable with the crest: An eagle's head Or, beaked Gules, a crescent for difference.

The Controvercy:

The 1632 pedigree controversy centres on a lavish vellum genealogy commissioned by Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland, which claimed his Essex family descended from the ancient Staffordshire Westons of Lichfield and Rugeley, and through them, from the noble Neville Earls of Westmorland.

Compiled by herald Henry Lilly (Rouge Croix) and certified by Sir William Segar (Garter King of Arms) around 1632/1633, the manuscript (now British Library Add. MS 18667) became famous in Victorian genealogy as a textbook example of an "elaborate fabrication". Later archival evidence, however, has largely vindicated the Staffordshire connection.

The Claims of the 1632 Pedigree

As Lord High Treasurer to King Charles I and newly created Earl of Portland, Richard Weston sought an illustrious ancestry to match his political rise. The certified pedigree asserted that his grandfather, Justice Richard Weston of Skreens in Essex (d. 1572), was the second son of John Weston of Lichfield, making Justice Weston the brother of James Weston (Sir Simon Weston's father) and Robert Weston, Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

John Weston of Lichfield had married Lady Cecily Neville, sister of Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland, giving Portland direct noble blood. Through the Lichfield line, Portland descended from the medieval lords of Weston-under-Lizard in Staffordshire, tracing back to the Norman Conquest.

"An Elaborate Fabrication"

In 1878, genealogist Robert E. C. Waters published Genealogical Memoirs of the Extinct Family of Chester of Chicheley, launching a scathing critique that shaped standard reference works like the Dictionary of National Biography for over a century. Waters argued that Portland's grandfather had no connection to Staffordshire at all. Instead, he claimed the Judge descended from a minor Essex family, William Weston of Prested Hall in Feering, and that Henry Lilly had simply grafted the Essex upstart onto the prominent Lichfield family because they shared a surname.

Critics pointed to the suspicious entry for Sir Simon Weston in the 1583 Visitation of Staffordshire as retroactive tampering designed to harmonize Lichfield records with Portland's new pedigree. Waters dismissed the marriage of John Weston of Lichfield to Lady Cecily Neville as a complete invention to manufacture a Plantagenet/Neville connection.

Modern Reassessment & Evidence

Subsequent research into Tudor and Stuart records has overturned much of Waters's dismissal. Long before the 1632 pedigree was drafted, John Weston of Lichfield, Justice Richard Weston of Essex (on his 1572 tomb), Lord Chancellor Robert Weston, and Sir Simon Weston all bore the exact same distinctive arms (Ermine, on a chief azure five bezants). In 1625, seven years before the pedigree was commissioned, Richard Weston explicitly referred to Sir Simon Weston of Lichfield in correspondence as his "uncle" (a common 17th-century term for an older cousin or kinsman), proving the two branches actively recognized their blood relationship.

While the direct Staffordshire kinship between the Essex Westons and Sir Simon Weston of Lichfield is now accepted by historians, the exact parentage of Cecily Neville remains debated, as primary Neville family records do not independently confirm a daughter marrying into Lichfield.

Sir Simon Weston (d. 20 February 1637) was buried in St. Mary's Church in Lichfield Market Square, where a large mural monument commemorating him and his immediate family was erected on the north side of the chancel.

Because St. Mary's underwent major demolitions and rebuildings in the 18th and 19th centuries, the surviving antiquarian records, most notably Sir William Dugdale’s 17th-century Church Notes and Stebbing Shaw’s History and Antiquities of Staffordshire, provide the primary evidence for the monument's original text and heraldry.

The Weston Mural Monument (St. Mary's, Lichfield), originally positioned on the north wall of the chancel, memorialised three generations of the Lichfield branch: Sir Simon's father James Weston, Esq. (Registrar of the Diocese and MP for Lichfield), Sir Simon Weston himself, and Sir Simon's daughter Elizabeth (Weston) Ridgeway, wife of Robert Ridgeway, 2nd Earl of Londonderry.

Antiquarian accounts of the monument note that its sculpted shields prominently displayed the Weston bezant coat (Ermine, on a chief Azure five bezants) quartering Neville (Gules, a saltire Argent). This public display in Lichfield served as a visible assertion of the family's descent from John Weston of Lichfield and his wife Cecilia Neville, the exact lineage later contested in the 1632 Earl of Portland pedigree controversy.

The medieval fabric of St. Mary's in the Market Square was pulled down and rebuilt in 1717 - 1721, and altered again during Victorian restorations in 1842 -1843 and 1868 -1870. Many early modern chancel monuments were displaced, lost, or heavily restored during these rebuildings, meaning the antiquarian transcripts remain vital for verifying the exact 17th-century blazons.

The Doubtful arms of Staffordshire - Bowes

 Sir John Bowes, of Elford.

Arms: Ermine, three bows strung in pale Gules, in the dexter chief a fleur-de-lis (for difference).

In the 1583 Visitation of Staffordshire (conducted by Robert Glover as deputy to Norroy King of Arms), the entry specifically records the family line and arms of Sir John Bowes, of Elford: Ermine, three bows strung in pale Gules, in the dexter chief a fleur-de-lis(for cadency). These arms are recorded amongst the "Doubtful arms of Staffordshire".

The three bows are "punning" or canting arms (a visual play on the surname Bowes). The fleur-de-lis in the upper-left (dexter chief) corner is a heraldic mark of cadency. Because the Staffordshire branch descended from a younger son of the northern Bowes family (specifically a sixth son, according to heraldic tradition), the fleur-de-lis was used as a cadency mark to distinguish the Elford line from the senior branch at Streatlam Castle in County Durham.

Although recorded in the earlier Visitations under the "Doubtful arms of Staffordshire, the later Visitations of Staffordshire (1614 & 1663–64), compiled by Sir Richard St. George and William Dugdale, document Sir John's descendants (his son Richard and grandson John) and verify the family's quartered arms, showing the Bowes coat quartered with the arms of Huddleston (Argent, on a chevron Sable three escallops Or), acquired through Sir John's first marriage to the Elford heiress Anne Huddleston.

The Bowes family originally migrated from Northern England (Durham/Northumberland). Local Staffordshire histories record that the manor of Elford passed via the female lines of the Stanley, Staunton, Huddlestone, and Smythe families until it finally came into the possession of Sir John Bowes. Sir John married Anne Hodleston, daughter of Sir Richard Huddlestone, bringing the Elford property firmly into the Bowes family line, where it remained for generations.

Sir John Bowes of Elford was the father (or closely related elder brother, depending on the generation recorded in the pedigree charts) of the prominent Elizabethan diplomat Sir Jerome Bowes (d. 1616), who served as Queen Elizabeth I's ambassador to Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia. The Elford branch eventually connected back to the main aristocratic tree of the Bowes family. By the 18th century, the manor passed through marriage to Henry Bowes, who became the Earl of Berkshire and Suffolk, and rebuilt Elford Hall.

Elford Parish Registers, held by the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service, record the burial of Sir John Bowes on 1 February 1607/8 (following his death on 29 January). They also contain the baptismal records of his children and the burial of his daughter Elizabeth (buried 18 December 1580).

St. Peter’s Church in Elford houses significant tombs and effigies of the Stanley, Smythe, Huddleston, and Bowes families who successively held the Manor of Elford.

According to historical surveys (including The History of Parliament biography of his younger brother, the courtier and ambassador Sir Jerome Bowes), numerous records of the family's property transactions were preserved at Elford Hall. These deeds detail how Sir John acquired the manor through his marriage to Anne Huddleston and consolidated lands across Staffordshire, Leicestershire, and County Durham.

Records of Sir John's will, Inquisitions Post Mortem (IPMs), and land disputes are catalogued at The National Archives (Kew) and the Staffordshire Record Office (within the Paget/Howard of Elford estate collections, as the estate passed via marriage from the Bowes family to the Howards, Earls of Suffolk and Berkshire, in 1683).

The Manor of Elford is a historic pre-conquest estate in the Lichfield district of Staffordshire, situated on the banks of the River Tame about 5 miles north of Tamworth. The manor originally belonged to Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia, before the Norman Conquest. In the 1086 Domesday Book, it was recorded as Elleford (or Eleford), consisting of villagers, smallholders, and working watermills.

Over the centuries, the manor passed through several prominent families, including the Ardernes (12th–15th centuries), the Stanleys, Stauntons, Huddlestones, Smythes, and later the Bowes and Bowes-Howard families through to 1877.

The main manorial seat, Elford Hall, dated largely from the late 18th century and stood adjacent to the historic St. Peter’s Church. In 1936, the estate was handed over to Birmingham Corporation by Francis Paget. After falling into disrepair, the hall was demolished in 1964. An earlier medieval iteration of the manor is recorded at a wet moated site in Elford Park (referenced in the Staffordshire Historic Environment Record). A major surviving remnant of the estate is the 12-foot-high walled garden. It was restored by local volunteers starting in 2009 and now features a rose garden, orchards, a riverside walk, and community spaces managed via the Elford Hall Garden Project.

The Church of St. Peter’s remains a focal point of the village, housing notable medieval and Tudor tombs of the Arderne and Stanley families.

Historical layouts of the estate can be explored via archived records such as the Map of the Manor of Elford in 1719 on Staffordshire Past Track.

Doubtful arms of Staffordshire - Skeffington

John Skevington, of Fysherwyke.

Argent, three bull's heads erased Sable.

Historical records for John Skevington (Skeffington) of Fisherwick (historically spelled Fysherwyke or Fisherwicke), matching the coat of arms "Argent, three bull's heads erased Sable," reveal a prominent Staffordshire gentleman embedded in Tudor and Elizabethan gentry records. The primary historical touchpoints for this specific individual include the Heraldic Visitations of Staffordshire (1583).

Conducted by Robert Glover (Somerset Herald), this survey was designed to regulate and record legitimate coats of arms. In the editorial prefaces analysing Robert Glover's 1583 journey, the family of Skeffington (Skevington) is recorded as a notable omission or defaulter who initially failed to appear or register properly under Glover's strict summons. While John Skevington was a recognized local landowner, his arms faced explicit scepticism during the herald's tour and were recorded under Doubtful Staffordshire Arms.

When Glover (the Somerset Herald) went through Staffordshire, he flagged specific coats of arms that were disallowed or "respited" for lack of sufficient proof. It meant the family was claiming the arms, but could not produce ancient deeds, seals, or explicit grants at that exact moment to satisfy the rigorous standards of the College of Arms. In historical transcripts (such as Harleian MS 1570 and Lord Hatherton's MS), John Skevington’s entry sits directly in this compromised list, recorded as: "John Skevington, of Fysherwyke: Argent, three bull's heads erased Sable."

John Skeffington was part of the foundational line that established the Skeffingtons in Staffordshire. He was a direct descendant (grandson) of Sir John Skeffington, a wealthy merchant of the Staple who served as Alderman and Sheriff of London in 1521, and who originally purchased the manor of Fisherwick. John and Alice's eldest son, Sir William Skeffington, inherited Fisherwick and served as High Sheriff of Staffordshire at the end of Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1601) and again under King James I (1623). He was eventually created the 1st Baronet of Fisherwick by King Charles I in 1627. Through this direct line, via his marriage to Elizabeth Dering, Sir William's descendants inherited the estate and eventually married into the Clotworthy family, directly establishing John Skeffington as an ancestor to the Viscounts Massereene.

Land and property registries from the late 16th century credit John Skevington with expanding his family's footprint in Staffordshire. He is recorded as having built the "large, magnificent" Elizabethan-style manor house at Fisherwick Park, which stood for two centuries before being demolished and rebuilt by the Marquess of Donegal in the late 18th century.

The entry in Burke's General Armory for this family records: Skeffington (Fisherwick, co. Stafford, bart., extinct 1816; descended from Thomas Skeffington, third son of Sir Wiliam Skeffington, Knt., of Skeffington, Lord Deputy of Ireland temp. Henry VIII. The fifth bart. became Earl of Massereene). Same Arms (Argent, three bull's heads erased Sable armed Or). Crest: A mermaid with comb and mirror all Proper.

Could it be that the crest has makes reference to the family estate in a subtle pun?

The family estate is Fysherwyke (modernly Fisherwick in Staffordshire). The crest features a mermaid, an explicitly half-fish mythical creature. The presence of a mermaid is a direct, witty visual pun on the "Fisher" element of "Fisher-wyke."

The Doubtful arms of Staffordshire - Aderley

Continuing of Doubtful theme, the second entry in Glover's Visitations of Staffordshire under the Doubtful arms of Staffordshire is Raufe Aderley, of Coton:

Argent, on a bend Azure three lozenges Or, each charged with a pheon Gules.

References to Raufe Aderley (or Ralph Adderley) of Coton, alongside this specific coat of arms (Argent, on a bend Azure three lozenges Or, each charged with a pheon Gules), feature in several prominent historical and heraldic volumes:

The primary source for this exact entry is The Visitation of Staffordshire made by Robert Glover, Somerset Herald, in 1583, where he is recorded amongst the "Doubtful arms of Staffordshire". A detailed pedigree of his family and brothers (including John, Humfrey, and George) is recorded within the same text, tracing their line back to the Adderleys of Blackhagh (Blackwood/Blackhalgh). In this pedigree, Raulf is recorded as Raulf Adderley, of Cotton in the County of Stafford, Esq, Justice of the Peace; now living in anno 1583. He is married to Phelice, daughter of Henry Milwarde in Com. Derby; second wife.

The specific blazon is documented across historical texts detailing British gentry and their coats of arms:

The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales by Sir Bernard Burke (1884): Under the entry for Adderley (Coton Hall, co. Stafford), the arms are explicitly catalogued. (Note: Some printed variations or transcriptions in the same text omit the Or and blazon the lozenges simply as "of the field", but the core design remains tied to Coton Hall).

Warwickshire Arms and Lineages by F.W. Kittermaster (1866): This text notes that the branch of the family expanding into Warwickshire (such as Sir Charles Adderley, Equerry to King Charles I) descended directly from “Ralph Adderley, of Coton, Co. Stafford, High Sheriff of the County (temp. Eliz.)”. It explicitly cites the original Heraldic Visitations and Dugdale's antiquarian records.

Collections for a History of Staffordshire (William Salt Archaeological Society): The genealogical files track the administrative presence of the family at Coton, identifying Ralph Adderley as an influential justice and landowner who initially purchased the Coton estate in 1558.

The Burke's General Armory entry in full with the additional entry for Adderley of Blakehagh (This coat confirmed by the Deputies of Camden, Clarenceux):

Adderley (originally of Blakehagh, co. Stafford, and subsequently of Weddington, co. Warwick, Coton, co. Stafford, and Hams Hall, co. Warwick, confirmed by the Deputies of Camden, Clarenceux, to HUMPHREY ADDERLEY, of Weddington, co. Warwick, son of HUMPHREY ADDERLEY, of the same, fourth son of THOMAS ADDERLEY, of Blakehagh, co. Stafford, and fourth in descent from HENRY ADDERLEY.) Argent, on a bend Azure three mascles of the field. Crest: On a chapeau Gules turned up Ermine a stork Argent.

Adderley (Coton Hall, co. Stafford). Ar. on a bend az. three lozenges of the field each charged with a pheon gu. Visit. of Stafford, 1583. (This differs from the actual Visitations entry in that the lozenges are "of the field" whereas in the Visitations they are Or).

Adderley of Blakehagh (This coat confirmed by the Deputies of Camden, Clarenceux.)

The Doubtful arms of Staffordshire - Brettayne

 The Doubtful arms of Staffordshire.

The following entry appears in Glover's Visitations of Staffordshire, Edited by H. Sydney Glazebrook, Esq. 

"The Doubtful arms of Staffordshire.

[The ensuing list does not appear in the Stukeley MS. nor in the (presumed) Original, but it is given in Lord Hatherton's MS. and several other copies of the Visitation. It no doubt contains those coats which were disallowed or "respited" by Glover. I here print it from the Harl. MS. 1570, where, as the Harleian Catalogue has it, the arms are "hastily tricked within printed escocheons." It is there headed, "Here beginneth the doubtfull Armes of Staffordshire."]"

The first entry in the list is that of John Brettayne, of Serescott, and Tamworth. Azure, a bend between six mullets Or.

The arms blazoned as Azure, a bend between six mullets Or (a blue shield featuring a diagonal gold band between six gold stars), are recorded in Harleian MS 1570. In this manuscript, the arms are described as being "hastily tricked [sketched] within printed escocheons".

This record is directly tied to the 1583 Heraldic Visitation of Staffordshire, conducted by Robert Glover (Somerset Herald) on behalf of William Flower (Norroy King of Arms). During these official visitations, heralds reviewed the rights of local gentry to bear coats of arms. John Brettayne's entry was compiled in an appendix of coats that were disallowed or "respited" for further proof. This means that at the time of the 1583 visitation, the heralds either disliked the authenticity or pedigree of the claim, or marked it as requiring more documentation/evidence of ancestral usage before it could be officially confirmed in the College of Arms.

Looking into where this coat might have originated, a coat of arms matching Azure, a bend between six mullets Or is historically associated with the Breton family (also recorded as Bretun or Britton) in English heraldry. The arms of Sire Robert Breton are blazoned in early rolls of arms (such as the Battle of Boroughbridge roll from 1322 and the Surrey Roll) as bearing Azure, a bend between six mullets of six points Or. Breton of Barwell (Leicestershire) are recorded in historical pedigrees (such as in Nichols' History and Antiquities of Leicestershire) with arms: Azure, on a bend between six mullets of six points, pierced Or, a mullet (with a crest of a lion's jamb erased). And of course, Burke's General Armory lists variations of the Breton family arms featuring a bend between six mullets, sometimes with slight differences such as pierced mullets or additional charges.

The only record of the arms of John Brettayne of Serescott and Tamworth is preserved in the heraldic collections of Staffordshire, specifically categorized under what early heralds called "The Doubtful Arms of Staffordshire". Syerscote (historically recorded as Serescott or Sirescote) is a historic manor and hamlet located in Staffordshire, near Tamworth. It appeared in the 1086 Domesday Book as a small settlement. Tamworth is the historic market town bordering Staffordshire and Warwickshire.

The arms of Henry Dagge, Esq.

 A recent conversation on Social media drew my attention to the arms of Henry Dagge, Esq.

They are historically recorded at the Foundling Hospital in London, preserved today in the parish archives of St. Pancras, and documented in historical architectural surveys. These arms were painted by the celebrated 18th-century glass-painter William Peckitt in 1766 into one of the chapel windows at the Foundling Hospital to commemorate Henry Dagge’s appointment as a Governor of the institution.

The arms (Argent, a chevron Sable between five nuns, three in chief and two in base, proper) form a classic example of canting arms. The surname Dagges (or Dagg) sounds phonetically or rhythmically close to "dags", which in Middle English and dialect referred to dangling shreds, tags, or the ornamental, jagged-cut edges of medieval clothing (dagges or dagging), or alternatively relates to daggers (dagg / dague).

In Middle English, the word dagge was borrowed from the Old French dague but evolved to specifically mean "a shred, tag, or strip (as of cloth or leather)" or "ornamental points or incisions on the edges of a garment." During the 14th and 15th centuries, "dagging" was a highly popular fashion trend where the hems and sleeves of tunics, gowns, and hoods were deliberately slit or slashed into decorative, jagged shapes (resembling leaves, tongues, or battlements). As a surname, it would have been given as a nickname to someone who wore or manufactured these fashionable, jaggedly-cut garments.

The five nuns in their black-and-white habits (Sable on Argent) with hanging coifs/veils visually mirror the dangling, notched, or dark-trimmed strips (dagges) of fabric or hoods characteristic of medieval dagged apparel, and create a witty, visual play on the word itself. The crest of a demi-nun holding a book proper further anchors the motif.

His coat of arms is historically preserved and documented in 18th-century local topographies and armorial collections:

• The Foundling Hospital Chapel Windows: Henry Dagge became a Governor of the Foundling Hospital in 1766. His arms were famously painted by the York glass artist William Peckitt on the chapel windows of the hospital along with other notable governors.

• Daniel Lysons' The Environs of London (1795): His arms are formally cataloged under the parish of St. Pancras, where Lysons details the stained-glass heraldry of the Foundling Hospital.

I enjoyed emblazoning them (and adding them to my ever growing collection of punning arms) but I have to say that had I been the herald designing these arms, if the armiger had insisted upon five devout ladies (surely there must have been a reason for such) I would have avoided a chevron and either had no ordinary at all or chosen a fesse which would have avoided the nun in centre chief being squeezed in. Although I freely admit that his arms in The Chapel at Ashlyns School, Berkhamsted, have the ladies squeezed in a bit better - I tend to attempt to fill whatever space is available!

Aldriche of Weightmore - No proof given

 Not only am I fascinated by heraldic puns, I am also attracted to the unusual, or the out of the ordinary. One such coat of arms that attracted my attention was that of Aldriche of Weightmore: "Respite given for proofe of the Armes, but none made."

The record of Robert Aldriche of Weightmore in the Staffordshire Visitations record that "Respite given for proofe of the Armes, but none made." A footnote however, records that he was Bailiff to Lord Paget, and died 16th March 1656, in his 81st year, having issue by Anne his wife five sons and two daughters. On his monument at Burton-on-Trent are these arms:- Argent, on a fesse Vert a bull passant Argent.

Burke's record these arms as belonging to Aldrich Cheam co Surrey. So, is there a genealogical connection between the Staffordshire family, who failed to provide proof of their right to arms, and the Cheam family whose arms were recorded by Burke.

The exact arms (Argent, on a fesse Vert a bull passant Argent) displayed on Robert Aldriche’s monument at Burton-on-Trent and registered by the Cheam family are identical because the Cheam/Oxford branch of the family actually descended directly from Robert Aldriche of Weightmore. The connection is traced through the 1664 Visitation of Staffordshire and Oxford university records:

According to the Visitation of Staffordshire (1664), Robert Aldriche of Weightmore (d. 1656) and his wife Anne Horobin had five sons. His eldest son was Henry Aldriche (who married Judith Fraunces). Henry moved away from Staffordshire to Westminster, London, where he served as a political and local official (and was associated with Elias Ashmole).Henry’s son, Robert’s grandson, was the famous Dr Henry Aldrich (1648–1710), Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, an architect, theologian, and composer.

When Dean Henry Aldrich died in 1710, he was buried in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. His grand monumental inscription features the exact same arms: Argent, on a fess Vert a bull passant Argent. Because Dean Henry Aldrich was a celebrated figure in the south of England, his branch of the family became heavily tied to the gentry records of Surrey and London, including nearby Cheam. Sir Bernard Burke, compiling his General Armory centuries later, recorded the arms under "Aldrich of Cheam, co. Surrey" because that was the prominent, settled seat of the family's southern descendants by the 18th/19th century.

So why did the Staffordshire Visitations say "Respite given for proof"?

When the Heralds (specifically William Dugdale) visited Lichfield in July 1664, Robert’s second son, Jonah Aldriche, certified the family tree. Jonah claimed the right to bear these arms, but because his father Robert had been a land-agent/bailiff to Lord Paget rather than a traditional "gentleman", it seems that Jonah didn't have the official deed of grant or seal from London on hand to prove it. Because of this, it was noted that "Respite given... but none made," meaning they gave Jonah time to produce the evidence or pay the fees to the College of Arms, which he failed to do before they left the county.

Despite the failure of the Staffordshire branch to prove their arms in 1664, the family clearly kept using them. When Robert’s grandson rose to immense wealth and prestige as the Dean of Oxford, it was quite probable that the College of Arms fully recognised the family's right to them; which is why Burke formally records Robert’s ancestral arms under his descendant's Surrey location.