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 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.