Friday 31 October 2014

Heraldic Roll Commissioned by the Fitton Family.

Heraldic Roll Commissioned by the Fitton Family. Cheshire, England, late 16th century.

fitton-scroll.jpg

This spectacular 20 foot-long heraldic roll was commissioned to enhance the pedigree of the Fittons of Gawsworth, a family whose fortunes were on the rise - they were knighted in 1566 and would be made baronets in 1617; the last member named, Mary Fitton (1578-1647), was to become a maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth, and “the Dark Lady” of Shakespeare’s sonnets, while her brother was Treasurer of Ireland. According to this genealogical tree, the Fittons are related to the Earls of Northumberland and via them to the royal house of Plantagenet and to William the Conqueror. This fantasy was made possible by the marriage of Sir Edward Fitton of Gawsworth (1500-1553), High Sheriff of Cheshire, with Mary Harbottle, daughter of Guiscard Harbottle of Northumberland, himself the son of Margaret Percy. This Margaret Percy was the great-grand-daughter of Lord Marshall Henry Percy (1341-1408), who was the son of Mary of Lancaster and thus the great-great-grandson of King Henry III of England. Indeed, the rich heraldic material includes the “three golden lions on a red background” of the Kings of England, adopted by their cousins the Earls of Lancaster (with the addition of a label of three points azure, each point charged with three fleur-de-lys or). Richard the Lion-heart had been the first to use three lions for his seal, and the ambitious family from Gawsworth, in the County of Chester, incorporated them into their coat of arms.

fitton-scroll-1.jpg

Thanks and Credit to Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Cheshire Heraldry Society November Meeting

November 15th 2014

Due to unforeseen circumstances the scheduled speaker is unable to attend our November meeting so the Chairman of the Society (me) will be presenting an illustrated talk on The Heraldry of The Manorial Court Leet of Ashton-under-Lyne. This will include photographs and details of the manorial chain of office, mace and other items of heraldic regalia recently sold at auction.  This will be a more detailed preview of a short article which is due to be published in the Heraldry Gazette in December 2014.

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Saturday 11 October 2014

Next meeting of the Cheshire Heraldry Society October 18th 2014

Just a reminder that our next meeting is

Oct 18th 2014

Masonic Symbolism: The 25 Most Common Symbols in Freemasonry. Pauline Chakmakjian  MA

Details of venue and times etc. along with all the other meetings can be found at: http://cheshire-heraldry.org.uk/society

I hope to see you there,

Martin



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