Re: Family Crest
-
In reply to:
Family Crest
Paul Vivian 2/22/07
Paul - I too searched for years for the "official" Vivian family crest.On a trip to Cornwall, England, to research my book, "Vivians: From Land's End to the Tip of Texas," we visited Trelowarren, the Vyvyan manor (the spelling used by the nobility) and discovered that there were dozens of crests in their family register that dates back 9 centuries.Each individual family group devised its own crest--the common thread is the white horse saddled and ready to ride with "the foot of the lion, rampant, [rearing on its hind legs'...resging 'on the waves of the sea."This is in reference to a legend that the first recorded Vivian escaped from a nearby island nation on a white horse as the island was submerged.My book shows two of these crests--one a photograph of the tombstone of Richard Vyvyan, who died in 1665 and is buried at Mawgan in Meneage--the other is a drawing of a sign on a pub in Truro, Cornwall.
You mention Winchester.Would that be Winchester, KY?
More Replies:
-
Re: Family Crest
Joan Vivian 9/13/08