Monday, May 27, 2019

What Can Happen Heraldically When Cousins Marry


I have posted before with some of the heraldic memorials in St. Martin's Church, Canterbury (e.g., https://blog.appletonstudios.com/2014/11/an-heraldic-conundrum.html).

As a side note, St. Martin's is the oldest parish church in England, having been established in Canterbury in 597 A.D. by Augustine. The building itself, added to over the years, still has some of its original Roman walls visible in the oldest part of the church.

Anyway, having made my way there again on this most recent trip, I stopped to photograph this memorial:


The plaque is inscribed:


In the family vault
in this Church are deposited the remains
of
Robert Thomas Pyott Esquire
of this Parish who departed this life Vth July
MDCCCIV in the LXVIth year of his age.
Also of
Anne the relict of the above named
Robert Thomas Pyott, who departed this life
XXIVth July MDCCCXVI in the LXXIVth year
of her age.
She was the only daughter and heir
of Charles Pyott Esquire, and Anne his wife
who was one of the daughters and coheiresses
of Sir Richard Sandys Baronet
of Northborne Court
in this County.

(Got all that straight? Anne, daughter and co-heir of Sir Richard Sandys, married Charles Pyott. Their daughter and heir Anne married Robert Thomas Pyott, a cousin, though whether a first cousin, second cousin, or a more distant cousin, I have not been able to determine yet. The most specific information I have found to date is from some old legal records from the Vice-Chancellors' Courts which says that they "were related to each other before their intermarriage.")

Anyway, the result of an heir, daughter of a co-heir, marrying her cousin of the same surname, leads to these two pieces of heraldry:


The arms are those of Pyott (Sable on a fess or a lion passant gules in chief three bezants) overall an inescutcheon with the arms of Pyott in the first and twelfth quarters: Quarterly: 1 and 12, Sable on a fess or a lion passant gules in chief three bezants (Pyott); 2, Or a fess dancetty between three crosses crosslet gules (Sandys); 3, Per fess gules and azure(?) a tower argent; 4, Or on a fess dancetty sable between three (open books?) ? three bezants; 5, Argent a chevron between three [ducks?] sable; 6, Azure three ? or; 7, Argent two chevronels sable; 8, Gules a chevron ermine between three pine apples or (Pyne); 9, Gules a chief indented argent; 10, Vert a lion rampant guardant argent [maintaining something in its forepaw?] overall a fess gules; 11, Argent a chevron and in dexter chief a trefoil sable.

The Pyott crest, here placed below the shield, is A demi-lion rampant gules charged on the shoulder with three bezants one and two.

All in all, a fascinating work of heraldry with a complex history and an even more complex depiction.

1 comment:

  1. Hi David. I came across this post given the inclusion of the Pyne arms here. I've researched Pyne connections for a long while now but haven't come across this one before. I'll see if I can find where the Pyne link is ( generally a West country name and family)

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