As we are probably all now aware, the Brabazon Clan is not homogenous but rather a mosaic of smaller genetic groupings, sometimes explicable by descent via a Brabazon female line, sometimes due to the adoption of the Brabazon name for various known or unknown reasons. By casting the discussion network as wide as possible perhaps we can begin to shed more light on each of the sub-lineages of the Clan - worldwide brainstorming, so to speak!

The Earl and Countess of Meath remain the standard bearers of the Brabazon name, and I think we would all agree that we have an excellent family at the very heart of the Brabazon Clan. Across the spectrum of our Family we are a good microcosm of Irishness in all its cultural forms and our cohesiveness in diversity is perhaps the best testimony to the greatness of our ancestors. So start blogging and let's see where it goes!

Family Crests Part 2

The following arms were researched and drawn by Toban Wild.

In the Eastwell church two further shields were displayed, impaling the arms of Brabazon with other families. Burton claimed the sinister half of the shield was occupied by those of Chaworth and Harecourt [sic], respectively.

      Per pale, the dexter gules, on a bend or, three  martlets sable (for Brabazon), the sinister gules, two  bars or (for Harcourt)

These arms would have been created on the marriage of John le Brabazon of Moseley and Eastwell (living in the reign of Edward III, Richard II and Henry VI) to a daughter of the family of Harcourt. The arms depicted on the shield are that of the House of Harcourt, a Norman family with lands in Leicestershire.





Per pale, the dexter gules, on a bend or, three martlets sable (for Brabazon), the sinister azure, two chevrons or (for Chaworth)


John Brabazon, grandfather of the first Baron Ardee, married a daughter of Chaworth. The Chaworth arms on the shield were first granted to Thomas de Chaworth in 1299 and are also those of the family in Alfreton co Derby and Kempeford co Gloucester.





Gules, on a bend or, three martlets sable, a crescent argent for difference

Assumed by Capt. Anthony Brabazon of Ballinasloe (d. 1597), second son of Sir William Brabazon (as indicated by the crescent mark of cadence).







Per pale, the dexter or, a cross gules, in the dexter canton a lion rampant sable (for Burke), the sinister gules, on a bend or three martlets sable (for Brabazon) 

These impaled arms were used by the Rt. Hon. John Burke, Viscount Clanmorris (d. 1633), whose mother, Catherine, was the daughter of Capt. Anthony Brabazon of Ballinasloe (above).






Gules, on a bend or, three martlets sable, a mullet argent for difference

The arms of Sir Anthony Brabazon, knight, third son of Edward, Lord Brabazon, Baron Ardee.








Gules, on a bend or, three martlets sable, a crescent for difference

Maj. John Arthur Henry Moore assumed these arms on taking the additional surname of Brabazon in 1868.The colour of the crescent is not noted in Burke. The Brabazons of Swinford also use a differencing crescent on their shields.







Azure, a chief indented or, charged with three mullets, pierced, gules

Maj. Moore’s elder brother, William John Moore, assumed the Brabazon surname in 1845 when he inherited the estate of Tara. He elected to maintain the arms of his Moore predecessors, thus this is the original coat of arms of the Moore-Brabazon of Tara House family.







Quarterly, first and fourth, gules, on a bend or, three martlets sable (for Brabazon), second and third, azure, on a chief per pale argent and or, three mullets gules (for Moore) 

The Moore-Brabazons later adopted a quartered shield, with the arms of both Brabazon and Moore (altered somewhat from the original design) displayed. This is the one in use by the family today.






Quarterly, first and fourth, gules, on a bend or, three martlets sable, a fleur-de-lis argent for difference (for Brabazon), second and third, argent, gouttée-de-poix, on a fesse sable, three towers of the field (for Higgins)

These are the arms of the Brabazons of Brabazon Park, Co. Mayo. The original bearer, Hugh Brabazon, was the son of Luke Higgins, and assumed the surname Brabazon by royal licence in 1852, after the extinction of the Brabazon Baronetcy there, founded by Sir Anthony Brabazon (d. 1803). Sir Anthony’s sister, Catherine, was the mother of Hugh. The Brabazon Park Brabazons’ crest depicts the Brabazon falcon, charged on the breast with an azure fleur-de-lis.


Quarterly, first and fourth, gules, on a bend per bend or and argent, three martlets sable (for Brabazon), second and third, argent, on a fesse between three colts courant sable, as many trefoils or, a crescent for difference (for Colthurst) 

The arms of Nicholas Colthurst, Esq. of Danesfort, Co., Kerry, who assumed the surname Colthurst-Brabazon in 1845.  His crest was the Brabazon falcon charged with a cross-crosslet on the breast.





Gules, on a bend or, three martlets sable, a canton argent for distinction 

When Robert Chaloner Lindsey adopted the additional surname Brabazon in 1912, he was granted these arms, with a silver canton over the Brabazon arms. The other mark of difference between his arms and the ancestral Brabazon ones was a torteau on the breast of the falcon in the crest. Lindsey was the heir to Elizabeth Jane Brabazon of Rath House, and assumed the surname at her request.





Arms: Gules, on a bend or, three martlets sable Crest: On a mount vert, a falcon rising or, belled of the last Supporters: Two wyverns or, winged and membered gules, collared and chained of the first Motto: Vota vita mea


The full armorial blazon (or hatchment) of the Earls of Meath, from Edmondson.[PP] As mentioned before, most descendants of Sir William Brabazon use these arms, including those of Rath and Mornington Houses. The only difference being that the Earls alone have use of the supporters.

Whilst the simpler arms is usually seen, a fantastic example of multi-quartering exists in Killruddery House, which has the dates 1684-1704 etched at the base, and exhibits sixteen quarterings of the shield. An image and discussion can be found here: http://irishheraldry.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/heraldry-at-kilruddery-house.html
Two of the quarterings are Brabazon, and the rest depict the ancestral families of the fourth Earl of Meath, Edward Brabazon. His wife was Cecilia Brereton, whose family’s arms are superimposed over all others. The blazon for the shield would be:

Quarterly of sixteen; first and sixteenth, gules, on a bend or, three martlets sable (for Brabazon); second, sable, a chevron between three pick axes argent (for Moseley); third, azure, six bezants, three, two, and one (for de Bisset); fourth, azure, on a bend sable, nine rings or, three, three, and three, interlaced in triangle (for Hawberk); fifth, gules, on a cross engrailed argent five cinquefoils of the field (for Jervis); sixth, chequy azure and or, within a bordure gules (for Clifford); seventh, argent, two lions passant guardant sable, crowned or (for Cundi); eighth, argent, a fesse gules between three mullets sable, pierced or (for Ewyas); ninth, gules, six annulets or, three, two, and one (for Vipont); tenth, quarterly or and gules, within a bordure vairy argent and azure (for FitzPeter); eleventh, or, a cross gules, in chief a label of three points argent (for Bigod); twelfth, or, three chevrons gules, in chief a label of three points sable (for Clare); thirteenth, argent, six lions rampant sable, three, two, and one (for Savage); fourteenth, gules, a chevron between three martlets argent (for Walkington); fifteenth, argent, a pale fusily sable (for Daniers); overall an inescutcheon of pretence, argent, two bars sable (for Brereton) 

The tree below traced selected ancestral lines for the 4th Earl, showing where each of the names and shields come from. Surnames featured in the multiquartered arms are bolded and in red.




It is interesting to note that the arms of Walkington and Daniers are included, as the Brabazons do not descend from those families. Seeing as both Avice de Walkington and Margaret Daniers were heiresses, on their fathers’ death the family estates would have devolved onto them, and thus onto their husbands. This would involve the incorporation of their arms into the Savages’. Several texts do refer to the Daniers arms as the Savage arms with the Walkington arms (which should properly have a red crescent on the chevron) mentioned also. It is probable that all three were amalgamated into a single quartered shield for the Savage family, and when the Killruddery coat of arms was commissioned (some 300 years after the deaths of John & Margaret (Daniers) Savage) this quartered shield was well established as the family arms of the Savages. Thus each quarter of the Savage arms was given a portion of the Killruddery piece, despite the Brabazons not claiming descent from all the families they represented.

Sources:
Burke’s East Galway: Brabazon of Ballinasloe,
<http://burkeseastgalway.com/brabazon-of-ballinasloe/#_ednref9>
The Description of Leicestershire, William Burton, 1642.
The Present Peerages, Joseph Edmondson, 1785
The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, Sir Bernard Burke
The Peerage of Ireland, John Lodge and Mervyn Archdall, 1789
 ‘Savage01;’ Stirnet.com,
<http://www.stirnet.com/genie/data/british/ss4as/savage01.php>
The Visitation of the County of Leicester in the Year 1619, William Camden, 1870

























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