If the arms you are looking for were granted in Ireland, try
Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland
Kildare Street
Dublin 2
www.nli.ieinfo@nli.ieIf the arms are from Ulster,
Norrey and Ulster King of Arms, one of the three chief heralds of the College of Arms
College of Arms
Queen Victoria Street
London
EC4V 4BT
www.college-of-arms.gov.uk(for Scotland:-The Court of the Lord Lyon, H M New Register House, Edinburgh, EH1 3YT
for Canada, Chief Herald of Canada, for US, there is a Heraldry Association of United States of America, but if the arms originate in UK or Ireland, as above; Australia comes under the heraldic jurisdiction of the College of Arms, London, as a Commonwealth country)
Caveat as ever:- arms are granted to individuals and are inherited by direct male line only, in their original form, and cannot, by various laws in different countries, be used by everyone with the same surname.
To use arms already granted, authority must be sort from the original granting authority, with evidence such as birth certificates and parish registers, back to a man who is registered with the granting authority as being legally allowed to use those arms. The evidence will be scrutinised by more than one herald, if that authority is the College of Arms.
The Heraldry Society
www.theheraldrysociety, and the College of Arms websites are very useful for information and laws, the Heraldry Society also has some suggestions of helpful books.
The information on these two websites is written by the Heralds.
The book, Amorial Families, by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, was published in the early 1900s.
I hope this is helpful to all those with similar queries regarding coats of arms which they feel may belong to them; a crest is only the design on top of a shield, and is normally only granted to men.
Matthew, I wish you the best of luck identifying the coat of arms you are asking about, and maybe having it confirmed to yourself, it is a long slow process, but could be rewarding in the end.
Best Wishes.