Dear Readers: Today I am posting Part III on the Heraldic windows at Chawton House Library, this post giving details on the shields in the Great Hall, as well as two more family pedigrees, and a very short course on the meaning of the various colors in the heraldic crests.
- You can read Part I on the Great Gallery here.
- And Part II on the Great Staircase here.
And again I thank Edward Hepper, one of the Chawton House Library’s invaluable volunteers, for sharing with us his expertise on heraldry! Please comment if you have any questions or anything to add to any of these three posts.
Chawton House Library and Church
[Image: DH and DigLibArts]
Part III: The Great Hall
Various painted shields show the arms of different branches of the family since the 17th century. Some of those above the fireplace include Knights and their wives from the early 20th century. They were probably painted for Montagu Knight in the years just before the 1st World War. [You can see portraits of these named in the previous two posts.]
Edward Knight (jr) & Adela Portal: Thomas Knight (jr) & Catharine Knatchbull
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Charles E Knight & Emma Patrickson (?): Lionel C E Knight & Dorothy Deedes
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Jane Monk; Thomas (Brodnax) Knight (sr)
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Pedigree: Knight Family
The Chawton Manor Succession:
The Meaning of the colors: a brief summary, and please note that there is a wide variation in assigning a meaning to a color, with many experts disagreeing…
- Blue: the use of blue in heraldry means truth and loyalty
- Green: green symbolizes hope joy and loyalty in love
- White: White backgrounds usually refer to innocence and purity
- Red: red or gules (a tincture with the color red) represents magnanimity and fortitude
- Yellow/Orange: The orange represents, worthy ambition
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The Austens had their own crest:
[From Ron Dunning: JA’s Family Genealogy]
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If you have an interest in heraldry, you might like to visit some of these various sites:
- The Heraldry Society (U.K.): http://www.theheraldrysociety.com/home.htm
- The American College of Heraldry with meanings: http://www.americancollegeofheraldry.org/achsymbols.html
- Royal Heraldry Society of Canada: http://www.heraldry.ca/
- International Heraldry: http://www.internationalheraldry.com/
- A Glossary of Heraldry: https://www.heraldsnet.org/saitou/parker/Jpglossa.htm
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraldry
- And you can find meanings of crests, etc. and have your own made up here: http://www.familytreesandcrests.com/heraldry-symbols.htm
- Or here: https://www.fleurdelis.com/meanings.htm
Here’s my very own“caro sposo’s”: (apologies for fuzziness – it is scanned under glass, but you get the idea…)
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- If you are interested in visiting Chawton House Library and seeing all these examples of heraldry (and much more!), you can find information about it here: http://www.chawtonhouse.org/
- If you are interested in becoming a Friend of Chawton House Library (a very worth-while cause!), please visit this page on their website: http://www.chawtonhouse.org/?page_id=56592
- For those of you on this side of the pond, here is the form for membership in the North American Friends of Chawton House Library: http://www.chawtonhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Become-a-Friend-North-America.pdf
Jane Austen in Vermont 