Coat of Arms | kingshott

The Kingshott "Coat of Arms"

I'm sorry to disappoint, but I'm afraid there is no such thing as a "Kingshott Coat of Arms." We were never important or rich enough to have one. The arms above belong to the late Queen Elizabeth II, and I am probably committing any number of offences in displaying them without the correct authority!

If you were to read the myriad "family crest" websites out there, you would be informed that the Kingshott family derived from an armigerous family -meaning someone entitled to bear arms - usually stated to be the Kingscote/Kingscott family of Gloucestershire. I will say, here and now, that there is, to date, no evidence that this is the case.

Those websites mentioning this "fact" also claim that the first evidence of a Kingshott in an official record is in 1790, yet I have many instances of the surname much earlier than that.

These sites will also identify a Kingshott "coat of arms" and often offer to sell you all sorts of junk with "your Kingshott coat of arms" on it. I'm sad to report that this is also a load of old rubbish.

The College of Arms, the ancient body that has granted arms in England and Wales since early medieval times, said the following about such claims.

"There is no such thing as a 'coat of arms for a surname'. Many people of the same surname will often be entitled to completely different coats of arms, and many of that surname will be entitled to no coat of arms. Coats of arms belong to individuals. For any person to have a right to a coat of arms, they must either have had it granted to them or be descended in the legitimate male line from a person to whom arms were granted or confirmed in the past."

I have checked with the magnificently titled Richmond Herald at the College of Arms, who states that up to the time I asked him (August 2009), there had been no grant of arms to anyone with the name Kingshott or any of the usual derivatives.

To rectify this, I eventually persuaded my dad, Brian Kingshott, to apply for a grant of arms from the College of Arms. He made the formal application and submitted various documents and a genealogy that I supplied. He provided his biography and, after a couple of years and no small expense, was formally granted the following arms, pennant and heraldic badge. They are formally described thus:-

Arms:-

"Barry wavy azure and argent on a pile azure a balance or"

Crest:-

"From a crown palisade azure a demi-lion or, holding in the dexter paw a truncheon bendwise sinister sable"

Motto:-

"Quod verum æquum justum."

Badge:-

"Within an annulet wavy azure, a balance or."

The formal grant of arms is recorded on a vellum scroll, elaborately illustrated by a heraldic artist, and signed and sealed by heralds from the College of Arms. It is quite difficult to photograph this through the glass in the frame, and this is the best I could do at short notice. I will endeavour to obtain a better photograph in due course.

You will note here that in addition to the armorial bearings (on the left) and heraldic badge (in the centre), Dad is now also entitled to bear a pennant, as illustrated in the top left corner.

Anyone associated with him is able to display the armorial badge, displayed in the centre of the grant. But only dad is entitled to these arms. I inherit them upon his death.

My brother and I are entitled to use them now, however, provided we distinguish them with formal marks of difference or cadency. So, during Dad's lifetime, I can use the arms with a cadency mark of a "label of three points" as the eldest son, and my brother can use them with a "crescent" cadency mark as the second son.

If you click on the photo, it should open up into a PDF file, that can be viewed in more detail.

This is the case concerning British Heraldry, but there is a potentially armigerous branch of the family across the English Channel.

The van Kinschot family of Holland has some members who have been granted arms. As it stands now, I have no evidence other than the sound and spelling of their name to suggest that they are linked to us in any way, but the possibility exists.

Gaspar Rudolph van Kinschot (1704-1748) was entitled to bear the following arms:-

These arms are an evolution of the arms of those depicted below, which were granted to Franciscus van Kinschot in 1647.

Jan Hendrixsoon, 'kint van Schooten' , chose in 1250 the coat of arms of his wife's wife: Herlaer. It consisted of a black crossbar, top and bottom with tilting, on a field of gold. Jan Van Kinschot added in 1350 three bees in the natural colour to the coat of arms. But in 1647 Franciscus Van Kinschot received permission from Philip IV to remove the three bees. The full shield of Franciscus Van Kinschot is covered by a golden crown. On both sides of the shield two shield holders are depicted: on the left the Holy Virgin with a bleeding heart, with a golden crown and a veil of golden stars, and on the right a silver unicorn with a crown, beard and hooves of gold.

I have recently found this interesting document which illustrates the arms of the ancestors of Johan Anthonij van Kinshot. The reference for this is on the image itself. I'll also include a portrait of the man himself. It is interesting that Johan descends from two branches of the van Kinschot family.