I have been emailing Judith and she has given me an answer to a query I had about two words in an old letter and they are Doctors Commons and she suggested I write and ask those of you who are knowledgeable, just what is "Doctors Commons" ? This was in the context of someone working on changing their family crest and it suggested this person go to Doctors Commons. Any help gratefully accepted. Regards Liz Waring

Re Ron and Liz's question I know a fair bit about Doctor's Commons, os if anyone is interested I could post to the list, otherwise I have e-mailed them separately. Or if anyone else knows and they post it to the list that will be fine. best wishes Eunice in Queensland At 07:31 13/07/04 +1000, Ron and Liz Waring wrote: >I have been emailing Judith and she has given me an answer to a query I had about two words in an old letter and they are Doctors Commons and she suggested I write and ask those of you who are knowledgeable, just what is "Doctors Commons" ? This was in the context of someone working on changing their family crest and it suggested this person go to Doctors Commons. Any help gratefully accepted. >Regards Liz Waring > > >==== OLD-ENGLISH Mailing List ==== >To contact the list administrator: >OLD-ENGLISH-admin@rootsweb.com > >

> she has given me an answer to a query I >had about two words in an old letter and they are Doctors Commons > This was in the context of someone working on changing >their family crest no such thing as a generalised 'family crest'. A crest is the device above the helmet attached to a shield containing a coat of arms. There are coats of arms issued to a particular person, by the College of Arms, which descend to the eldest son of that person. These are not just varied at will, only under specific circumstances and for younger sons of the armigerous family who have achieved something (including usually a title) in their own right. Arms are not just pretty decorations to be altered to match the curains, which is what this sounds like. >and it suggested this person go to Doctors Commons. This must be information based on lack of knowledge. Doctors Common was the location for lawyers concerned with, among other things, probate, issue of some marriage licences church courts and complex litigation on specialised subjects. It was not concerned with the issue or policing of the use of coats of arms, ever. -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society