Hebden Family Genealogy
Family Trees and data for Hebden, Hebdon, Hebdin,
Hibden, Hepton, Ebden. Ebdon and Webden,
Collectively known as The Hebden Clan
Copyright 2018 Hebdens.com
Heraldry
The Ancient Arms, (Right) were associated with William De
Hebden (E4/1), and granted by Edward II in 1316. On William’s
death in 1321 the estate and titles passed to Sir Richard De
Hebden (C3/1), who died in 1385. After his death the estate was
inherited by Sir Nicholas De Hebden (C6/1), and then via his
daughters Grace (B9/1) and Elizabeth (B11/1), the title passed to
The Tempest and Dymoke families. (see Sheet 1 Medieval and The
Timeline).
The Achievement (the whole ensemble) is made up of a number
of separate components. The arms are those depicted on the
Escutcheon (The shield). The arms consist of Ermine (the white
background decorated with a representation of ermine tails). Five
Fusils (Diamonds) in Fess (the centre third of the shield,
measured vertically), and Gules, (red, referring to the colour of
the diamonds). Above the shield is a helmet, with a flowing piece
of cloth behind it representing some kind of protection for the
neck. This is fixed to the helmet by a circlet of twisted cord,
known as the wreath. In later years the helmet and the
escutcheon were surrounded by the Mantling, in this case,
depicting foliage representing oak leaves, with the colouring
reversed on opposite sides. On top of the Helmet is the crest, a
Triton, (half man, half fish) holding a trident. There is no motto
attached to the ensemble.
Hebden/Lutterell Arms, St. Oswald’s Church, Howell, Lincolnshire
The Arms shown above are displayed in the choir
of St Wilfrid’s Church, Burnsall, North Yorkshire
The Ebden Arms
The Arms of the Ebden branch of the family (Right). Probably
awarded to Richard Powney Ebden C.B. born on the 20th
November 1833 in Ipswich, Suffolk. The family had branches in
South Africa, Malaya, India and Canada and held high positions
in the British Administration of India. The roots of the family were
in Suffolk where the family is traceable back to the 1500’s.
Richard Powney Ebden died on the 9th February 1896.
The arms comprise five linked fusils in gold, (a recurring theme, -
see above) on a sable (black) fess, - (a horizontal bar across the
the centre of the shield). Below it is a gold lion, with a black collar
looking upwards over its shoulder to the Palm trees at the top
of the shield. These relate to the family connections with Malaya
and India, and are shown “proper” (in natural colours) and eradicated
(pulled up by the roots).
The motto probably comes from a line in book XI of Virgil’s Aeneid - “Spem siquam adscitis aeolium habuistis
in armis, spes sibi quisque, sed haec quam angusta veditis” The meaning of the Latin phrase is difficult to
translate. If the word “trust” is used instead of “hope” it seems to make more sense. The colloquial meaning is
“Let each man’s hope (trust?) be in himself” if “Sibi” is taken to be plural, it means
”We find our hope (trust) in one another”.
The “Blue“ Arms
The blazon (Right) carries elements of all the previous
arms except the fusils (lozenges or diamonds). The gold
crescents of Sir John Hebdon’s arms are present but
the blue background on ermine is not indentured
(saw-toothed). The crest is a helmet surmounted by
a blue leopard sejant erect (sitting with front paws
raised) holding a gold crescent. The mantle is is
composed of reversed thistle branches and flower
heads and below is the latin motto, added by the
Appleton-le-Street branch of the family “Re E Merito”
which translates as “This By Merit”.
This coat of arms, as far as I am aware, has no legal standing
and is assembled from elements found in other legitimate
grants of arms to the Hebden family. Legal or not, the general
effect (in my humble opinion) is rather attractive!
This blazon is carved on one of the eight faces of the font (right)
of St. Oswald’s Church, Howell, Lincolnshire. The font was
a gift to the church by Sir Richard de Hebden (D1/1) who died
in 1373. The panel on this face of the font depicts the arms of
Sir Nicholas de Hebden (C6/1) and his wife Catherine de Whyham
Rye (C7/1) whom he married around 1379.
The blazon on the font is divided vertically or “party per pale”
The left-hand side bears the Hebden arms. Because the blazon
is “halved” only two (possibly three) of the five diamonds are
shown on a background of Ermine, depicted by the ermine tails.
The right-hand side depicts the Rye family arms with a “bend”
(the diagonal stripe across the half-shield) of Ermine on a plain
background.
Sir Nicholas died on 22nd September 1416 and Catherine died
in 1424. They are are both buried in St. Oswald’s church. Howell.
(click the Graves and Memorials button for an image of the Church).
The Ancient Arms, Burnsall, North Yorkshire
The Arms of Sir John Hebdon
The Arms shown here are those of Sir John Hebden (1612 - 1670).
awarded in 1659 and quartered with the Ancient Arms (see top of page).
They appear on the memorial to Richard, second son of Sir John, in
Wells Cathedral, Somerset. The arms are shown (right) on the
Escutcheon (Shield), Three gold crescents, Chief, (the top third of
the shield, or quartering) on an indented (saw-toothed)
azure (blue) background set on ermine. The black symbols
represent ermine tails on white fur. The crest is omitted in this
illustration.
Contrary to popular belief, the right to bear arms is granted to a
specific individual, and can only be passed down to his direct heirs.
Arms are not, (or were not) granted for use by the wider family,
or people with the same family name.
This Achievement shows how marriages between families, in this case
Sir Richard de Hebden (D1/1) and Petronella Lutterell (D2/1), who
married in 1345, were depicted. The arms relating to the husband
and wife’s families are split vertically on the same shield. The division of
the shield vertically is “party per” (divided by) and a vertical division,
as here, is “party per pale” The Hebden arms show five fusils
(diamonds) on a background of Ermine. The Lutterell arms depict
six Martletts (heraldic birds) separated by a “bend” (the diagonal
stripe across the half-shield). Martletts are shown without feet in
heraldry, as it was believed that they were constantly in flight and
never landed.
Hebden/Rye Arms, St. Oswald’s Church, Howell, Lincolnshire
(above) Heraldic symbol
representing an Ermine Tail
(Above) Hebden / Rye Arms on the bowl of the 14th
century font at St. Oswald’s Church, Howell,
Lincolnshire
(above) the Hebden/Rye arms as carved above the porch entrance
(Image credit) Font, St Oswald's church, Howell
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © J.Hannan-Briggs
- geograph.org.uk/p/3171545
(Above) The same arms are carved above the doorway into the
porch of St. Oswald’s, Howell, Lincolnshire, but this time the
stonemason has tried to indicate the five fusills (diamonds) of
the Hebden Arms, but only gives an indication of the fifth. The
carving of the Ermine Tails would be very delicate work, so in this
interpretation the tails are probably easier to carve and certainly
more durable (see below). Ermine is the fur of the stoat, which
changes colour from brown to white in the winter, though the tail tips
remain black. The tail is represented by the symbol shown (right),
and the three dots symbolise the fastenings by which the pelts
were fixed to the knight’s robe.
(Above) Image of the stone font in St Oswald’s
Church. The Hebden/Rye blazon is carved on
one of the eight shield motifs round the stone
bowl of the font seen here facing the camera.
Only two of the eight shields carry heraldic
motifs, the remainder are plain.
© Copyright
J.Hannan-Briggs
and licensed for
reuse
under this
Creative Commons Licence
The church dates from the late
12th Century and is built in the
Norman style. In the 15th
Century alterations were made
by John Spencer, the Rector at
the time. The building suffered
some damage during the Civil
War, and after the dissolution
of the monastries by Henry VIII
the church fell into disrepair. In
1870 a major restoration
programme was carried out
and since then very few
changes have been made.
The church is still without
electricity, and the only artificial
lighting is by candles.
The Church and the Howell Estate came into the Hebden family by way of Isabella de Yelland (b.circa 1267). She was
the heiress of Sir Richard de Yelland. Isabella married Sir William de Hebden and de Conistone around 1288 and on
the death of Sir Richard de Yelland the estate passed via Isabella to the Hebden Family (
see also Family Tree Chart 1)
.
The notes relating to the church are from https://stoswaldschurchhowell.weebly.com/history.html
which I am pleasd to acknowledge
