On and off over the past 35 years or so, I have been looking at the Gollop family from Dorset, more on that later. However, in the last few months I have revisited the Armorial Bearings of the Gollops and, as a result, have had to make a few tweaks to my blazons and emblazonments;
The pedigree of Gollop of North Bowood and Strode first appears in the 1623 Visitation of Dorset but without any recorded Arms. However, in the Harleian Society’s Visitation of Dorset 1677 (published 1977) the Arms are recorded as “Quarterly: 1 and 4, Gules on a bend or a lion sable; 2 and 3, Azure, a bear passant argent”. Whilst the published pedigree does mention two heiresses, it is not clear from whom the Bear Passant is inherited.
A further twist is that there were two Grants from the College of Arms after the Visitation. The first in 1682 and the second in 1720. I raised this with the College and received the following response from the office of John Petrie, Rouge Croix;
“We have looked at the two grants you mentioned. The first (Coll. Arms Grants 3/162), is not a grant, but an assignation of tinctures. It seems Thomas Gallop, son of Thomas Gallop, appeared at the College with a ‘much worne’ seal ring which he said had been used by his father for many years. Despite the fact that no arms were recorded for the family at the visitation of Dorset in 1623, the heralds seem to have accepted the arms on the seal – On a Bend a Lion passant – as the arms of the family and ‘granted and assigned’ the tinctures Gules on a Bend Or a Lion passant Sable armed and langued Gules. The confirmation was to ‘the said Thomas Gollop’, which is a little unhelpful considering both father and son are mentioned earlier, and the patent is dated the 30th October 1682.
The second grant (Coll. Arms Grants 6/417) is the result of Thomas Gallop, junior, desiring a grant of a crest after omitting to petition for one in 1682. The text of this patent makes clear that the earlier assignation of tinctures was to both Thomas Gallop, junior, and the other descendants of his father, and with the same limitation. It grants a crest of “On a Wreath of his Colours a Demy Lion Rampant Bendy of four Or and Sable holding in his Dexter Paw a Spear Or, the Staff Rompu Gules”. The patent is dated the 20th April 1720.”
It was also noted that the quartering with a Bear was unidentified in the 1677 Visitation and seems to be its only occurrence in the College records.
As the College mentioned above, there is some confusion regarding which “Thomas Gollop” is which. The cast of characters for the period were:
- Thomas Gollop b.1582 d.1663
1.1. Thomas Gollop b.1617 d.1692
1.1.1. Thomas Gollop b.1640 dsp.1727
Looking at the published pedigrees, I think 1. Thomas Gollop would have been the signatory of the 1623 Visitation and 1.1. Thomas Gollop that for the 1677 Visitation. What is not clear is which Thomas Gollop petitioned for the two “Grants”. Initially I thought it was 1.1. in 1682 and then 1.1.1. in 1720. However, re-reading the College’s response, I suspect it was Thomas Gollop (b.1640 dsp.1727), he would have been aged 42 and 80 respectively for each Grant. The latter Thomas was the eldest of 12 brothers, at least five of which had children. Incidentally, the North Bowood & Strode estates, by agreement, passed to the fourth son, John.
The knock on effect of the above was to realise that I had been using the wrong blazon for Gollop. I initially used the one listed in Burke’s General Armory (and then added the Bear quarter);
Arms: Gules on a bend Or a lion passant guardant Sable
Crest: A demi lion bendy Or and Sable holding in the dexter paw a broken arrow Gules.
This is subtly different from the actual blazon;
Arms: Gules on a Bend Or a Lion passant Sable armed and langued Gules
Crest: A Demy Lion Rampant Bendy of four Or and Sable holding in his Dexter Paw a Spear Or, the Staff Rompu Gules
My interest in the Dorset Gollops started when I tried to identify the family of my paternal great-great-great-great grandmother Elizabeth Gollop and any connection with the armigerous family of Gollop of Strode. She married the Rev’d John Plowman at Toller Porcorum, Dorset, on 7th November 1776. The marriage was witnessed by a Thomas Gollop and Eliza Maria Foy. The first hint at a possible connection was Eliza Maria Foy. The two sons of the John Gollop of Strode mentioned above, John & Thomas, married two Foy sisters. Eliza was either the wife of their nephew or his daughter.
I was unable to find any further details about Elizabeth Gollop in parish records, partly due the fact that Thomas and Elizabeth were the most popular Christian names in Dorset. However, by checking the wills of multiple Thomas Gollops I found her brother (died 1823) and the name of her father, also Thomas. Various documents* held by the Dorset History Centre showed that her brother had financial difficulties over a number of years. By following a number of Indentures that concerned Lowcombe Farm (also Staverlands, Saunder’s Living and Hogbear) in North Bowood it was possible to track its ownership from her brother back to the 1690s. That showed that their grandparent were Thomas Gollop and Mary Foy.
Expanding the family tree a bit:
1. Thomas Gollop b.1582 d.1663
1.1. Thomas Gollop b.1617 d.1692
1.1.1. Thomas Gollop b.1640 dsp.1727
1.1.2. Giles Gollop
1.1.3. William Gollop
1.1.4. John Gollop of Strode d.1731
1.1.4.1. John Gollop of Strode m. Edith Foy – His issue are recorded in Burke’s Landed Gentry
1.1.4.2. Thomas Gollop of London d.1743 m. Mary Foy
1.1.4.2.1. Thomas Gollop of Weymouth d.bef 1780
1.1.4.2.1.1. Thomas Gollop of Bincombe dsp.1824
1.1.4.2.1.2. Elizabeth Gollop d.1806 m.1776 Rev John Plowman
1.1.4.2.1.2.1. Thomas Plowman d.1856
1.1.4.2.1.2.2. Henry Plowman d.1842
1.1.4.2.1.2.2.3. Rev John Herbert Plowman d.1892
1.1.4.2.1.2.2.3.1. Rev Herbert W T Plowman d.1902
1.1.4.2.1.2.2.3.1.1. Clifford H F Plowman d.1948
1.1.4.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.1. Ronald T F Plowman d.2004 Grantee of Arms
1.1.4.2.1.2.2.3.1.1.1.1. Stephen J F Plowman
Elizabeth Plowman died in 1806 and her brother died without issue in 1823, this made Elizabeth a heraldic heiress in her issue. In the English heraldic tradition, a heraldic heiresses’ Arms go into “limbo” until such time as a male heir has Arms with which to quarter them. Therefore, I could display my Arms as below:
Quarterly 1st & 4th Argent three Anchors Sable each entwined by a Serpent Gules on a Chief enarched nebuly Azure three Martlets rising Or (for Plowman) 2nd Gules on a bend Or a lion passant Sable a martlet Or charged with a crescent Gules for difference (for Gollop 1st & 4th Vis 1677) 3rd Azure a bear passant Argent (for Gollop 2nd & 3rd Vis 1677)
*
Arms: Gules on a fess Argent between three mullets erminois a lion passant guardant Sable.
