Family Crest Rings
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008Smith Family Crest and Coat of Arms:
A Heron’s head erased sable, guttee d’or, in the beak gules a fish argent.
Smith Family Motto: ‘Steadfast and Loyal’ Latin: Lenax et Fidelis
The ancient surname of Smith is originall from Europe and like many other European names was registered in medieval documents that mention noble names that migrated from Europe during the Norman invasion of 1066.
In 1086 William the Conqueror introduced the record of the great Inquistion known as the Domesday Book, and documented owenership of lands of England to their extent value and liabilities. Some of the other ancient documents that survived were the Assize Rolls, the Inquisitio and the Ragman Rolls.
The name Smith itself meas “Blacksmith” and the name was common to every village and townsland in Ireland (the shield and crest shown in the first picture), England (the shield shown in the second picture), Scotland and Wales as it was a popular tradition to use the name of their occupation of blacksmiths and armourers. The Smiths would make shoes for the horses and were fantastic and forging weapons the would also work with other metals such as gold and silver, hence the references to silver and goldsmiths.
In England a Phillip le Smithe, County of Huntingdonshire, was registered in the ‘Hundred Rolls’ in the year 1273 and in the year 1379 a Willemus Smyght was registered in the’Poll Tax’ of West Riding of Yorkshire. In Scotland, Smith is on record since 1199 when one Robert the Smith is listed as a witness to a charter by John, bishop of Dunkeld. In Ireland Faelan Mac an Ghabhann is mentioned as one of the scribes of the book Ui Maine in 1394. On further research we find a reference of this name in Germany in 1257 when a Herr Conrad Faber (Latin fo Smith) was living in Hemmingen.
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