Forefather
Forefather: find the ancestor who founded your noble family!
by Jan-Olov von Wowern
I will here use the term "forefather" in the sense of "founder",
which, as used in nobiliary genealogical work, usually refers to
the person who was first ennobled or recognized as noble.
If the headship of the family is hereditary, you are most likely
to find the founding forefather by simply tracing the family
line which possesses the headship backwards, until you encounter
the person who was ennobled or first recognized as noble.
If you know the geographical place (country, county, city) where
the family was first identified, you may well search its history
for the family name in question in order to find your
forefather. You should be aware of the possibility of variant
spellings. This is also how I found further information about
the founder of my own family. In the official history of the
city of Antwerp, "Geschiedenis van Antwerpen", a monumental 9
volume work, I found a list of the "sheriffs" of Antwerp who
were also made Marquises (margraves) of the Land of Ryen (the
county surrounding Antwerp in medieval times). My forefather
Gilles van de Wouwere was made a "Schout" of Antwerp and a
Margrave of the Land of Ryen in 1141, and his son Hendrik
succeeded him in 1199.
If you have elementary knowledge of heraldry you may wish to use
this to trace your founding forefather. The main problem when
using heraldry to search for your forefather is that the terms
and customs of heraldry varies a great deal from one country to
another. Some symbols may be strictly reserved for the higher
nobility in one country but free for anyone to use in another.
It is therefore only possible to provide some general guidelines
on this topic and you are kindly advised to look further into
the heraldic customs of the country of your interest.
A free lesson in "Heraldry for Genealogists" can be found at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson19.htm .
In many cases a coronet (crown) is used as a symbol of nobiliary
rank. The coronets are different for nobles of the various
ranks, so the coronets for a prince and a baron would look
different. The presence of a coronet on a coat of arms of a
forefather is by no means absolute proof of nobility, but it
would be safe to say it is such a strong indicator that further
research is motivated.
Also the use of supporters (figures either side of the shield
appearing to support it) is a strong (but not definitive)
indicator of nobility. In some countries nobles above a certain
rank were required (or at least expected) to add supporters to
their arms.
The number of helmets used can be another indicator. In some
countries it was common for a nobleman to use 1 helmet, a baron
2 and a count 3 helmets. But variations are many and again the
presence of one or more helmets on a coat of arms of a
forefather is not definitive proof of nobility.
Mantling (a flowing drapery attached to the helmet) is often
(but not always) a heraldic symbol of high nobility.
When researching your family history it is most helpful if you
can identify the family arms which have been quartered or
incorporated with your own arms and also identify the family
arms where your own arms can be found as quartered or
incorporated.
Part of this work may be done through the Internet, using
various specialized sites with advanced search facilities.