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Crest on seal on the will of John LEVER d. 1798

Crest on seal on the will of John LEVER d. 1798

Posted: 26 Feb 2015 10:04PM GMT
Classification: Will
Surnames: LEVER
The will of my ancestor, John Lever has the attached seal beside his signature and the legal phrase " signed, sealed, published and declared...". John Lever was a merchant in Manchester and died in Bolton-le-Moors.

Can anyone help me identify thie crest on this seal? Could it be a family crest or just an official seal?

Regards,
Jeremy
Attachments:

Re: Crest on seal on the will of John LEVER d. 1798

Posted: 3 Mar 2015 4:18PM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi, Jeremy!

A quick search for Lever and for "per bend sinister ... and ... a lion rampant" through all of the regular sources for tracking down such arms, Burke's "General Armory" and Papworth's "Ordinary of British Armorials," does not show this coat of arms for Lever, and none of those families who bore a lion on a field divided per bend sinister were Levers or even anything that might have transmuted to Lever (many of them were Lloyds, but that's the closest surname to Lever that I found).

I realize that this information isn't terribly helpful, though it does point to the idea that the seal is more likely a family coat of arms than a seal for an institution of some sort.

David

Re: Crest on seal on the will of John LEVER d. 1798

Posted: 3 Mar 2015 11:03PM GMT
Classification: Query
< Can anyone help me identify thie crest on this seal? Could it be a family crest or just an official seal? >

The seal itself looks, to me, to be the personal arms of someone. I couldn't find those arms registered in Britain (in Burke's 'General Armory', the 'Supplement to Burkes GA’, Morrant's 'General Armory Two', or Robson's 'The British Herald') under that surname.


The crest shown on the seal is what I would describe as a 'demi-Lion' but I couldn't find one that matched the image with the surname of Lever. Unfortunately, the crest isn't sufficiently clear enough to show the finer details (is the Lion collared/gorged, is the Lion holding anything in its paws, etc.). On searching through 'Fairbairn's Crests' the crest of a demi-Lion is quite popular being used by more than 50+ different surnames.


The design of the shield itself (as opposed to the incorrectly used word 'crest') I would describe as 'Per Bend sinister [two unknown tinctures] a Lion rampant'. This design is also very common being used in several hundreds of different arms.


I think that your best bet would be for you to approach the 'Officer in Waiting' at the College of Arms in London http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/Enquiries.htm. The College, being the Heraldic Authority for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has far more extensive records than I have at my disposal If you do have any positive outcome with any dealings with the College of Arms, it would be appreciated if you could let us know the outcome.


Sorry I couldn't have been of more assistance.
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