Nottinghamshire, England Visitations, 1569 and 1614

This database contains genealogies of some of the citizens of Nottinghamshire, England that were taken in the years 1569 and 1614 by William Flower, Al's Norroy King of Arms, and Richard St. George, Norroy King of Arms. Heralds (those in charge of controlling the use of coats of arms under the direction of the Crown) conducted visitations to record the use of arms. Part of this recording included recording the pedigrees of the families using coats of arms. Pedigrees were recorded because families had to prove their right to bear the arms by showing their connections back to the original bearers. Because coats of arms were passed down through the generations, armory, or heraldry, has much genealogical value. These visitations, therefore, are significant because they provide over 140 pedigree charts of families from the 16th and 17th centuries in Nottingham.

Taken from: Herber, Mark D. Ancestral Trails. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1998, pp. 492-494.