Hi List This posting may not be relevant to the list, but with so many talented people, someone may be able to help! I have had access to a very extensive genealogy, written by an American author, and which has been "Accepted by the College of Arms, 7 January 1932" I understand College of Arms is also involved in genealogy and have many pedigrees in their records, so am I correct in believing that a pedigree accepted by this organisation would be considered as very credible?? The "Huntbach manuscript" is also mentioned as having a pedigree for this particular family. What is the "Huntbach manuscript" and is this document available for public access please? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks Marg Smith Mardi, NSW Australia

On 16 Sep 2010 at 10:47, Marg Smith wrote: > Hi List > > This posting may not be relevant to the list, but with so many > talented people, someone may be able to help! I have had access to a > very extensive genealogy, written by an American author, and which has > been > > "Accepted by the College of Arms, 7 January 1932" > > I understand College of Arms is also involved in genealogy and have > many pedigrees in their records, so am I correct in believing that a > pedigree accepted by this organisation would be considered as very > credible?? > > The "Huntbach manuscript" is also mentioned as having a pedigree for > this particular family. What is the "Huntbach manuscript" and is this > document available for public access please? > Several thoughts arise..... 1) Just because a work is claimed by an author to have been accepted by the College of Arms, it doesn't necessarily mean this was the case. Have you checked with the College to query the authenticity of this statement? 2) The College of Arms, while certainly an ancient genealogical body, is not infallible! It was the College that instituted the much-vaunted Heralds' Visitations, which I have always regarded with some suspicion as to their 100 per cent accuracy. Let's remember that the Heralds who were calling on "gentleman" claiming a right to arms, by and large, accepted what the applicant told them. How much independent evidence did they assess? I have also had my suspicions that the applicant would wine and dine them right royally and that even on the odd occasion a plain brown envelope might have exchanged hands! Remember that in genealogy there have always been fakes and frauds and I doubt the College of Arms is immune. And then there were the infamous pedigrees perpetuated by John Burke (of Burkes Peerage) in the 19th century when nouveau riche Victorian industrialists paid money to have a pedigree to go with their newly acquired wealth and Burke was happy to take their cash and give them what they wanted. It seems to me that a good piece of advice is never to accept anything until you have proved it yourself by your own researches. 3) A simple spot of Googling will turn up several references to the Huntbach manuscripts. -- Roy Stockdill Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE

Marg, you should try contacting the college directly. My great great grandfather Thomas E Hurst Hodgson used a coat of arms and I sent a rather speculative e-mail to them asking if we was entitled to use it and I got a prompt very polite reply saying that he was not! Not a suprise as TEHH wasn't always on the right side of the law. Good luck Gavin Sent from my iPhone On 16 Sep 2010, at 01:47, "Marg Smith" <msmith47@tpg.com.au> wrote: > Hi List > > This posting may not be relevant to the list, but with so many > talented people, someone may be able to help! > I have had access to a very extensive genealogy, written by an > American author, and which has been > > "Accepted by the College of Arms, 7 January 1932" > > I understand College of Arms is also involved in genealogy and have > many pedigrees in their records, so am I correct in believing that > a pedigree accepted by this organisation would be considered as very > credible?? > > The "Huntbach manuscript" is also mentioned as having a pedigree for > this particular family. What is the "Huntbach manuscript" and is > this document available for public access please? > > Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. > > Many thanks > > Marg Smith > > Mardi, NSW > > Australia > ==== DUR-NBL Mailing List ==== > To Post a message to this list send it to, > DUR-NBL-L@rootsweb.com > > ==== DUR-NBL Mailing List ==== > List Web Page > http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/durhamgenealogy/index.phtml > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DUR-NBL-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message