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Who Do You Think You Are? Live at Olympia.
On March 6th, 2009 myfamilysilver wrote on the subject of Latest News.
The dreaded credit crunch doesn’t appear to have reached the family history world.
Last week, I was at Who Do You Think You Are? Live in Olympia to value family heirlooms brought in by the (thousands of) visitors. More used to the scholarly calm of the annual antiques fairs at the same venue, I was staggered by the vast queue stretching around the building before the show opened.
Inside the aisles soon filled up as people crushed around the various stands promoting genealogical resources such as ancestry.com, findmypast.com and the National Archives. The family historians were a pretty ruthless lot (with sharp elbows) as they pressed forward with steely eyed determination onto the besieged experts. Unsurprisingly, most looked retired and of a certain age as it takes time (and money) to pursue such an obsessive hobby. You can of course, never know it all and one small lead can take you in unexpected directions.
The College of Arms was flying the flag for heraldry and I passed a happy few minutes watching an illustrator preparing a coat of arms on their stand. Otherwise, the subject seemed poorly served so I expect a flood of silver surfers when our site goes live in April as people drop in to find their family crest. One visitor who now knows what to look for is actor Kevin Whately who on the latest edition of the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? was shown (to his evident surprise) a version of his crest on the tomb of an ancestor. He may not know, however, that the Whately crest, a Stag’s Head, is shared by dozens of other families thus giving Kevin an excellent chance, in time, of finding a nice piece of antique silver with it on at My Family Silver…..
Fire at the College of Arms on 5th February.
On February 17th, 2009 myfamilysilver wrote on the subject of Latest News,Out and About.
There was a fire at the 17th century College of Arms in central London on 5th February which served as a stark reminder of the fragility of historical documents. More info on the fire by the BBC and the Evening Standard.
Thankfully, none of the irreplaceable heraldic records stored at the College appear to have been destroyed in the fire. But their vulnerability to loss or damage is again revealed, as it was when faced with previous threats such as the 1666 Great Fire of London (when the original College building was gutted) and the Blitz (when the current building was badly bomb damaged).
Fortunately, on both occasions, the records had been moved to safety beforehand. In addition to its priceless contents, the College itself, which sits in splendour below St Paul’s Cathedral, is a rare treasure being one of the earliest surviving buildings in the City of London. Not that it hasn’t faced down its own threats.
In the early 19th century there were plans to move the College to the more fashionable West End of London. Then in the 1860′s some typically ill-advised town planning drove the new Queen Victoria Street through the college buildings, destroying one side of the original quadrangle and slicing off the remaining wings. The digitisation of records (including our own small contribution at My Family Silver) will safeguard their knowledge but can never replicate their beauty.
There is also a growing debate among institutions about the projected lifespan of digital records. Even whether we will be able to access records saved now using technology which will be outdated in the future.
So, regardless of the convenience and utility of digital records, we will always need the original sources. Another reason, if needed, is to celebrate their recent close escape and the careful custodianship of today’s heralds.
Peter Jones from Dragons Den issued with a coat of arms.
On February 10th, 2009 myfamilysilver wrote on the subject of Press and Media.
The Daily Telegraph reported this week that the College of Arms has issued serial entrepreneur and star of BBC’s “Dragon’s Den” Peter Jones with a coat of arms (to go with the CBE he received last year). Appropriately, Jones has adopted a dragon as his crest in tribute to the show which made his name.
Or was it to stop his fellow panellists grabbing the distinctive crest? Jones loves to provoke and challenge the other dragons when presented with a business opportunity in the den. But maybe he has a rival in Duncan Bannatyne ? One version of the Bannatyne family crest is a griffin, a fearsome part-eagle, part-lion beast and a good match against a dragon in a punch-up.
None of the remaining dragons (Deborah Meadan, Theo Paphitis and James Caan) has a crest listed (yet). But the last laugh must go to amiable show presenter Evan Davis.
Among the twenty five varieties of Davis crest is a sleeping lamb. No surprise there. But another is a leaping wolf. Is Evan the original lamb in sheep’s clothing? Bannatyne and Jones had better watch out!
Who Do You Think You Are?
On February 9th, 2009 myfamilysilver wrote on the subject of Crestfinder,Fairbairn's,Latest News.
To celebrate its return to our screens, I thought it would be fun to trace the crests of the celebrities profiled in the current series of BBC’s popular programme Who do You Think You Are? Beginning this week with Rory Bremner. According to Crestfinder, the Bremner family crest is A Cock’s Head Erased – very appropriate for a well loved entertainer!
Are there any celebrities crests you’d like us to search for?
Scandal on Antiques Roadshow!
On January 21st, 2009 myfamilysilver wrote on the subject of Latest News.
If you live in the UK, did you catch the “Antiques Roadshow†on the BBC last weekend?
Among the usual family bric-a-brac and occasional gem, there was a rather intriguing antique silver tray bearing the maker’s mark of Paul Storr. As you already know but if you didn’t, Mr Storr was the mega-star maker of the late Georgian and Regency period. He was also the only English silversmith to rival Paul de Lamerie in the fame game.
The tray was engraved with a inscription explaining that it had been presented to a civic worthy in the market town of Hertford in December 1830. The tray was otherwise bog standard for this date i.e. it had a heavy cast border and feet with elaborate chased decoration. All, however, was not quite as it seemed.
As specialist Ian Pickford patiently and lucidly explained to the viewer, the hallmarks on the tray were in keeping with the inscription. They were struck in 1799/1800 at the height of the neo-classical period when it was quite impossible for such a highly elaborate tray to have been made. Still with me? This is exciting stuff!
So what had happened? Well, after gently pointing out that its obvious later alterations made the tray illegal (!) Ian suggested that an earlier Storr piece (possibly a salver or dish) had been cut up and used as the basis of the tray.
For me, this explanation begged a bigger question because Storr was still very much alive in 1830 and surely no other silversmith would perpetrate such an obvious fraud? I also think it is inconceivable, given the circumstances, that the good people of Hertford would have knowingly ripped off the recipient with a dodgy gift.
More likely I’m thinking is that they went to the best silversmith in London (i.e Mr Storr) to buy the flashiest piece they could. Unfortunately, their budget didn’t match their high ambition so maybe the renowned (but naughty) Paul Storr himself sold them this cut-price pup.
Scandal! Discuss! What do you think?
John Culme, who for many years has been connected with Sotheby's Silver Department, is author of several books and articles, including The Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, 1838-1914, published in 1987, and co-author with Nicholas Rayner of The Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor. He is also a Liveryman of the Goldsmiths' Company, London.
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