RE: College of Arms enquiry

Dear Mr Cooley,

Thank you for your email. Unfortunately the Governor's family do not appear in the records of the College of Arms – this search has already been carried out. Joseph McMillan, President of the American Heraldry Society, is the expert in this particular subject and his findings on the subject confirm that if there was any genealogical connection with the family of the Earl of Arlington, nothing has ever been found to confirm it. Mr McMillan and I agree that the use of Arms should not be taken as evidence of genealogical connections.

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And this. I never heard from Mr McMillan, even after contacting him.

RE: College of Arms enquiry

Dear Mr Cooley,

Thank you for your email.

With regard to your question about making up coats of Arms: it was unlawful to do this, but it did happen nonetheless, and particularly in North America which was never well controlled by the heraldic authorities in London. In particular it was very common for families to assume and use the coat of Arms of an unrelated family of the same name. This was common especially when that other family was notable, because of course their Arms would then appear in readily available published or unpublished lists of coats of Arms.

I shall forward your message to Mr McMillan.

College of Arms
Queen Victoria Street
London EC4V 4BT
020 7332 0776