Stepping away from the tombs along the front fence of King's Chapel Burying Ground in Boston, Massachusetts, we carefully make our way to some of the other armorial tombs there.
I say "carefully," but the burying ground has paths laid out for people to follow, in order to better preserve the tombstones there from damage. This does mean, alas, that I was not always able to get as close to a tomb as I would have liked to get the clearest possible photograph of the arms carved on it. Still, that's what a good variable telephoto lens is for. And being a historian as well as a heraldry enthusiast, I will (mostly) gladly follow the rules laid out by an historical site that continues to allow common folk like myself to have access to these artifacts.
Although here at King's Chapel, it does mean that I can no longer get a photograph like the one my wife took of me back in 2008 in front of the tomb of my 10th great-grandparents who are buried here. (We will see the side of this table tomb and its coat of arms in a subsequent post.)
.JPG)
No matter, we will continue to do the best we can within the limits of what the site allows.
Next, we come to the tomb of James Townsend. We are certain of this identification because the inscription at the bottom of the armorial plaque in the center of the slab says “James Townsend’s Tomb”.
Changing the orientation of the photograph, and zooming in a little, we can see the arms more clearly. (I did try working some "perspective correction" magic on this photo, but it was not sufficiently improved that I felt that I could in good conscience use it here.)
Zooming in, and you can click on the image above to go to the full-sized picture to do that, what I saw was: James Townsend. A chevron between three escallops. Crest: A stag statant.
Zooming in, and you can click on the image above to go to the full-sized picture to do that, what I saw was: James Townsend. A chevron between three escallops. Crest: A stag statant.
The Heraldic Journal, Vol. II, p. 21 makes the chevron Ermine.
Burke’s General Armory: “Townsend (Ludlow, co. Salop) [also, Townshend]. Azure a chevron ermine between three escallops argent.”
The Dictionary of British Arms, Vol. II, p. 334, gives Townsend/Townsende, Azure a chevron ermine between three escallops argent.
Bolton’s An American Armory, citing The Heraldic Journal, gives the same blazon as Burke and the Dictionary of British Arms, but for one of the other Townsend coats of arms he cites make the escallops Or rather than Argent.
As does Crozier’s General Armory:
The Heraldic Journal, Vol. II, p. 21: “The Townsend tomb possibly belonged to the family descended from William Townsend, who married Hannah Penn, and had sons James, Penn and Peter here. Of these, the most noted was Penn, who married Sarah Addington, Mary Leverett and widow Hannah Jaffrewy, and held many high offices here. Penn Townsend died in 1727, leaving several children.
“In this case as in several others it is extremely difficult to race out the ownership of the tombs, and we must leave the task to those interested, having discharged out duty in recording the existence of the stones.”
Preachers, Patriots & Plain Folks, Boston’s Burying Ground Guide, p. 125, notes that Penn Townsend (1651-1727) is buried in Boston’s Granary Burying Ground (just a few blocks from King’s Chapel) in Tomb No. 36 there.
Burke’s General Armory: “Townsend (Ludlow, co. Salop) [also, Townshend]. Azure a chevron ermine between three escallops argent.”
The Dictionary of British Arms, Vol. II, p. 334, gives Townsend/Townsende, Azure a chevron ermine between three escallops argent.
Bolton’s An American Armory, citing The Heraldic Journal, gives the same blazon as Burke and the Dictionary of British Arms, but for one of the other Townsend coats of arms he cites make the escallops Or rather than Argent.
As does Crozier’s General Armory:
“Townsend. Massachusetts.
“Thomas Townsend, Lynn, 1637.
“Salop.”
“Azure a chevron ermine between three escallops or.
“Crest—A stag passant proper.
“Motto—Droit et evant. [Right and forward]”
Two of the sources we have cited in some of our recent posts give us more information about the Townsend family:
“Thomas Townsend, Lynn, 1637.
“Salop.”
“Azure a chevron ermine between three escallops or.
“Crest—A stag passant proper.
“Motto—Droit et evant. [Right and forward]”
Two of the sources we have cited in some of our recent posts give us more information about the Townsend family:
The Heraldic Journal, Vol. II, p. 21: “The Townsend tomb possibly belonged to the family descended from William Townsend, who married Hannah Penn, and had sons James, Penn and Peter here. Of these, the most noted was Penn, who married Sarah Addington, Mary Leverett and widow Hannah Jaffrewy, and held many high offices here. Penn Townsend died in 1727, leaving several children.
“In this case as in several others it is extremely difficult to race out the ownership of the tombs, and we must leave the task to those interested, having discharged out duty in recording the existence of the stones.”
Preachers, Patriots & Plain Folks, Boston’s Burying Ground Guide, p. 125, notes that Penn Townsend (1651-1727) is buried in Boston’s Granary Burying Ground (just a few blocks from King’s Chapel) in Tomb No. 36 there.
No comments:
Post a Comment