Is there a family coat of arms or crest for the surname Whatmough?

Question

Is there a family coat of arms or crest for the surname Whatmough?

Answer 1

Shirley is 100% right.

If you legtimately, legally had one, you would already know it.  Coat of Arms were granted to INDIVIDUALS, not assigned to surnames. Just because someone of your last name MAY have been granted one at some point does not make it yours.  Also, it may be that several men of the same surname were granted a coat of arms....each one different.....and maybe none of the men were related to each other.  Likewise, it may be that NO ONE of your surname was ever granted one.  In order for you to be able to claim any Coat of Arms you must be able to do the following:

1. research your family tree to see if you have any ancestors that were granted a Coat of Arms.

2. If you do have an ancestor who was granted one, then you can only claim it IF the following is true: The person who rightfully can claim a Coat of Arms that was granted to their ancestor is a male descendant who is the first born son, of the first born son, of the first born son, of the first born son, etc., all the way back to the person who was originally granted the Coat of Arms. If you do not fall in that line, then you cannot claim it.  If you do fall in that line, then chances are you are already aware you have one.

To use a Coat of Arms based on your last name is meaningless.  It is about as accurate as buying a picture frame at the store that has a piece of paper in it showing an image of a child holding a flower and claiming that is actually a picture of your child.

Answer 2

You can put "family crest" a misnomer for a coat of arms in your search engine and come up with a multitude of sites peddling them.

However, realize that if you do find one that does not mean it belongs to you or to anyone with whom you are related.  The surname product business which includes coats of arms is one of the biggest scams around.  Actually, there might have been, for instance, 15 different men with the same surname, not all necessarily related, each granted their own coat of arms, all different. Some persons with that surname will not be entitled to any coat of arms.  No one merchant of deceit that sells them on the internet, at shopping malls, at airports, in magazines or solicit by mail will have all 15.  They don't need to in order to sell to gullible people. The only time they will have more than one is if persons with the same surname from more than one national origin were granted a coat of arms.

In that case, they might have one of each when in fact there might have been several of each.

See the links below, one from the British College of Arms.  They grant coats of arms and are the ultimate authority. The other link is from the most prestigious genealogical organization in the U.S., The National Genealogical Society.

http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/Faq.ht...

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comconsumerp...

If this is a school assignment, please print off the links I have furnished you and give them to your teacher.

Answer 3

There are none with that spelling, but if you traced your lineage back to the town of Watmough in county Lancaster of 1613 there are two lineages granted arms. They are the same shield but have different crests. The crest is the part of the achievement just above the helmet.

Watmough (Watmough, co. Lancaster, 1613). Argent three branches of wheat vert. Crest: - A leopard's face or, cut through with a scimitar proper hilted and studded gold.

Watmough, or Watmoughe. Argent three bunches of wheat vert. Crest: - A ferret passant sable collared or, lined gules.

When a Coat of arms is granted to an individual it is granted to the oldest known ancestor and all their descendants. For example William Shakespeare, the bard of Avon, applied for a  coat of arms in his youth but it was not granted till his old age and it was granted to his long dead father. Shakespeare only had a daughter who inherited the arms. The Shakespeare arms are still alive and have not been declared extinct that I can find.

Visiting heralds would come and check the genealogy of arms grantees, the college of arms and Lyon office keeps pedigree records for verification purposes.

The other answerers are stern because so many people get riped off by the 'family crest' sellers online and at malls and airports. Your lineage determines your right to a particular coat of arms. In the USA there are no rules about arms and anyone can assume any coat of arms they wish or even make up their own.

Here is a link to an image of only the shield you can view print and use for free: http://www.rushings.info/images/watmough...

Answer 4

Probably not, but here's a link to the people who have been researching the family and have the best information on its history: http://genforum.genealogy.com/whatmough/

Answer 5

If you are an american and are interested in having a coat of arms for yourself, your best option is The American College of Heraldry, they could help you create one .

www.americancollegeofheraldry.org