For information on Armorial Bearings one can communicate with the College of Arms, London England - they have a URL however I don't think they answer specific questions on it - one has to write, as I recall, and a fee could be charged. At their site they explain the system of granting Arms too. I have misplaced their URL - go to a search engine - www.google.com and enter a query. In general, a Grant could be made by the College - usually to the father, and then the Grant is to him and his descendents. Therefore the Grant is to specific people being the (male) descendants of the original holder. At some later date, if one is a descendent of the original grantee, that person can apply to the College for a right to use the Grant, providing descent in an unbroken male line, can be established. My recall is that in modern times the regulations about being male only have been relaxed - but all of this is detailed in the site. The Granting of Armorial Bearings does go back to the times of William I, but grants are also provided in modern times too - several are under consideration now. There are various sites and publications dealing with this interesting matter - as extensive Pedigree filings were required by the College, any of those descended from one who was entitled to use the Arms granted can find extensive genealogical data. In general, Arms were sought by the Gentry and there has been some criticism by some that the Heralds in their Visitations and the College themselves were not very discriminating, at one time, in establishing lineage - perhaps even bribery was involved? But you are correct - there is no such thing as a Heraldic Crest that is applicable to a surname - only to specific individuals. By the way, after some years absence, Burke's Peerage has just been published again - and that along with Burke's Landed Gentry, Burke's data on homes/estates/properties, can be a good place to gather ancestral information. One might have had an ancestor who in the service of someone with an Estate - good records are about, in some cases, of those in service. -----Original Message----- From: Lesley Robertson [mailto:l.a.robertson@stm.tudelft.nl] Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2000 11:17 AM To: BORDER-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: Family crest >If you live in the U.S. I have a website for a company in California and >also a telelphone number for Vancouver, Canada. They are quite cheap >compared to the UK prices. >I was going to get one until someone said that it wouldn't have been for all >the Lindores' only the individual Lindores at that time (1400's). >Give it a try. > I'm afraid that's true for all UK-linked heraldry - it belongs to specific people and not to a surname in general. There's no such thing as a coat of arms for everybody of a given name. Lesley Robertson