Coats of Arms for Eldridge

From Burke's Armory	From Burke's Armory	From Burke's Armory

Blazon for the Eldridge arms (from left to right) are:

1. Or on a bend ragulée sable three bezants.
2. Or a bend ragulée sable in chief a martlet gules beaked of the second.
3. Or a bend ragulée sable between two martlets gules.

A crest is only given for the first one, but the two references vary slightly.

Bolton's Armory, pg. 54, lists the crest as: Out of a ducal crown 5 peacock feathers.

The Book of Crests, pg. 162, lists the crest as: Out of a ducal crown a peacocks tail proper.

 

Blazon for the Eldred arms (from left to right) are:

1. Or on a bend ragulée sable three bezants.
2. Or a bend ragulée sable in base a martlet gules.
3. Azure a cross formée fitchée or, on a chief of the last three globes azure.

The crests for the second and third are:

2. A dexter hand couped fessways, reaching to a laurel crown all proper
3. A merman or triton proper holding in the hands an escallop or.

As can be seen above, five of the six coats share a basic coat of a gold shield with a black bend ragulée. The differences in the coats may represent different sons of the same person. It was the practice of each son after the first to add a specific charge to his fathers shield, so as to distinquish it from his brother's. The martlet is the sign of the fourth son, so the addition of the addition of the martlet may mean that this coat belonged to the fourth son.

Burke's Armory, pg. 320, lists the fourth coat as belonging to two families named Eldred, one of which went extinct in 1653 and said to have been a very ancient family claiming Saxon origin. The second coat is listed as belonging to Eldred or Eldridge, so it is entirely possible that the first five coats are all variations of an older one.

The sixth coat is totally different from the other ones. This would tend to imply that this Eldred family has no connection to the other ones. Or this person could have been related to the others and distinguished himself enough to be granted an original coat. The use of sea themes in the crest and globes on the coat, lead me to believe that the original grantee was probably a sailor or explorer. This coat could belong to Thomas "The Mariner" Eldred who sailed around the world witth Sir. Thomas Cavendish.  If so then his male descendants could be entitled to use it.  I am presently trying to find to whom this coat belongs.

I am using the first coat, since it is the only one listed as being used by an American family.

If you have any inforamation on any of these three coats, please contact me.

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Pages created by Andrew Littlefield
Last Updated 7 Jun 98