Ordinary of arms

An ordinary of arms (or simply an ordinary) is a roll or register of coats of arms arranged systematically by design, with coats featuring the same principal elements (geometrical ordinaries and charges) grouped together.^[1]^[2] The object is to enable a student to identify the owner of a coat of arms from visual evidence alone. Ordinaries may take either graphic form (consisting of a series of painted or drawn images of shields), or written form (consisting of blazons – verbal descriptions – of the coats). A knowledge of the technicalities of blazon is essential for the reader intending to make best use of a written ordinary.

Medieval ordinaries

The ordinary appears to have been an English development. No medieval ordinaries are known from continental Europe.^[3]

Modern ordinaries

The standard ordinary of British heraldry (until recently) was "Papworth's Ordinary", or in full An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, forming an extensive Ordinary of British Armorials upon an entirely new plan, compiled by John Woody Papworth (1820–1870). Papworth published a prospectus in 1857, and began to issue the work in instalments shortly afterwards. By his death in 1870 he had proceeded as far as p. 696: the remaining 429 pages were edited and brought to completion from his materials by Alfred William Morant (1828–1881). The work was published as a single volume in 1874, and was reprinted in 1961, 1977 and 1985.

Papworth had relied heavily for the contents of his Ordinary on Burke's General Armory (first published 1847), and had consequently inherited many of Burke's errors and omissions. In 1926 Lt Col George Babington Croft Lyons left a substantial bequest to the Society of Antiquaries to prepare a new edition of Papworth. Anthony Wagner became co-general editor from 1940 and sole general editor from 1944, a position he held until 1995. However, work progressed slowly, in part because of Wagner's insistence on high scholarly standards and use of primary sources, and in part because of over-ambitious plans to include a series of essays on medieval armorial families. It was eventually decided to limit the project to the medieval period (pre-1530), and to publish an ordinary, including a name-index but without the additional essays. With the aid of computer technology, the first volume of what was now entitled the Dictionary of British Arms appeared in 1992.^[4] Volume 2 was published in 1996, and volume 3 in 2009: the fourth and final volume has yet to appear.

References

^ Franklyn, Julian; Tanner, John (1970). An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Heraldry. Oxford: Pergamon. p. 246. ISBN 0080132979.
^ Friar, Stephen (1987). A New Dictionary of Heraldry. Sherborne: Alphabooks. p. 260. ISBN 0906670446.
^ Wagner, Anthony Richard (1950). A Catalogue of English Medieval Rolls of Arms. Aspilogia. Vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
^ Chesshyre, D.H.B. (1992). "History of the Project". In Chesshyre, D.H.B.; Woodcock, Thomas (eds.). Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Ordinary. Vol. 1. London: Society of Antiquaries. pp. viii–xiv. ISBN 0854312587.

[1] Franklyn, Julian; Tanner, John (1970). An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Heraldry. Oxford: Pergamon. p. 246. ISBN 0080132979.

[2] Friar, Stephen (1987). A New Dictionary of Heraldry. Sherborne: Alphabooks. p. 260. ISBN 0906670446.

[3] Wagner, Anthony Richard (1950). A Catalogue of English Medieval Rolls of Arms. Aspilogia. Vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[4] Chesshyre, D.H.B. (1992). "History of the Project". In Chesshyre, D.H.B.; Woodcock, Thomas (eds.). Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Ordinary. Vol. 1. London: Society of Antiquaries. pp. viii–xiv. ISBN 0854312587.

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