Dear Wades, After my original request for a copy of the Wade Coat of Arms, Betty in Texas kindly replied by sending me copies she had obtained. I subsequently had a request to post these on the List, but was not able to do so as I got a message back saying the rootsweb sites do not accept images ( and various other scripts etc ). If anyone would like me to copy these to them, please email me at wadesrus@iprimus.com.au and I will pass them on. There are several Crests owned by different Wade families, all of which feature 'sea shells' in the Crest. My understanding of this goes back to something I read some time ago...... that the reason for the sea shells relates to our forefather Wada who paddled across the North Sea in the late 700s to do a bit of the old raping and pillaging around the north east coast of England. This established the connection with the sea and many Wade families owe their surname to him. He was from the tribe of the Haeslings from the River Trave in what is now Northern Germany ( was in East Germany) and even today's maps show a place there called Wade which I believe may well have been his homeland but have not had the chance to research this. Wada lead a rebellion which included a Battle at Whalley in Yorkshire in 796 AD where the King of Northumberland was killed. This Wade link to the sea was also connected with the mythology of the sea creature recently posted and also 'Wade's bote' mentioned by Chaucer whenever it was he wrote. (I guess that was around the 1500s.) There is so much more to our name than just the 'dweller by the ford' ! My original Irish family had a Crest similar to the ones Betty sent and generally used by resellers of such items. It is connected to that used by Sir William Wade of the Tower of London. Georgia is correct ( of course ) in that each Coat of Arms is specific to a particular line of the surname, but the College of Arms and their predecessors, various nobility, who issued these things, made certain links and common threads between the arms of different families with the same surname. However, within any one family, the changes between father and sons or with marriage into another armigerous family were very specific. I guess if you were on the field of battle with knights in shining armour all around you, it was pretty important to recognise who was who without the benefit of seeing beneath their visors !! I am pleased that I didn't have to learn my Heraldry that well, as it seems to be a pretty complex subject. There are two slightly different Wade crests ( not in colour as Betty's are) to be found in Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland and no doubt more variations in the British volume from the same source. The motto is ' Pro Fide et Patria'. Desciption: 'Az. a saltire between four escallops or. Crest- An arm embowed in armour, the hand grasping a sword, all ppr.' If anyone can translate that accurately I would be happy to have that too! The escallops refer to the 'sea shells' mentioned above. Also, the use of a rhinoceros head and /or horn in some crests is a connection to Armigal Wade, clerk to the court of King Henry the Eighth and father of Sir William. Any other info on these crests or early English Wades gratefully received. Thanks. Robert in Brisbane, Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: Robert Wade <wadesrus@iprimus.com.au> To: <WADE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2001 6:34 PM Subject: Re: [WADE-L] Coat of Arms > If anyone on this list has a copy of the Wade Coat of Arms mentioned by > Glenn, either that specific one or another similar as there are more than > one in existence, I would also love a copy. Pls email it to > wadesrus@iprimus.com.au > Many thanks > Robert Wade in Brisbane, Australia