I also do not want to have to pay a fee. Are there any websites any one knows of, or any books that would be helpful? The name I am looking for is Italian if that helps.
2007-11-22 15:53:24 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
There is no such thing as a family crest.
A crest is part of a coat of arms. Many of us on this board can give you links to websites peddling coats of arms but we would be dishonest if we did not tell you that even if you found one shown with your surname underneath it that is no guarantee it belongs to you or if you are related to the person it does belong to.
They do not belong to surnames.
There are no law in the United States regarding heraldry and a lot of companies take advantage of gullible American selling them tacky little walnut plaques and leaving them to think it belongs to them. Anytime you see one of those on someone's den wall, they are just displaying one that was granted to someone with their surname. That's all.
See the links below:
http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comconsumerpsst.cfm
http://www.regalis.com/onom.htm
We find on this board a lot of teachers who apparently know nothing at all about genealogy or heraldry are asking their students to find their "family crest." If this is your case, please educate her/him.
2007-11-22 17:04:56 · answer #1 · answered by Shirley T 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
First of all, don't assume that your family actually had one.
Second, don't assume that everyone with the same last name has the same crest, just like not all Scots of the same name has the exact same tartan.
To really be certain you have the legitimate family crest, you have to do the research on your own family.
Some of us who did descend from family lines that we can trace back to the times when crests were important and still issued find that our ancestors were farmers or low level tradesmen, and didn't have a crest.
2007-11-22 16:24:36 · answer #2 · answered by open4one 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It would REALLY help if you gave us the name. There's a chance that someone hear on Yahoo! has the very same last name and could give you a website or other info that you'd appreciate. But I think that the websites for crests that I've seen are simply money makers with no proof that they have actually found the "family crest". I, for one, don't have one.
2007-11-22 15:56:55 · answer #3 · answered by HoneyBunny 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Shirley is 100% correct. They do not belong to surnames, they belong to people. In order to be entilted to one, first an ancestor of yours would have to have been granted one. Then, you have to descend from the first born of every generation since that person. In otherwords, it gets passed down to the first born, then that person's first born, then that person's first born, and so on. If you do not fall into that line, then even if an ancestor of yours was granted a coat of arms, you could not claim it.
2007-11-22 21:46:10 · answer #4 · answered by Annabelle 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Forget the crest. Few people ever had one; most of them are created scams.
2007-11-22 17:08:12 · answer #5 · answered by Boomer Wisdom 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋