Jewellery, Watches, Antiquities and Objects of Vertu

A silver seal matrix, 17th-18th century, with a tri-lobed perforated suspension loop and a hexagonal faceted pedestal with a three ridged collar, the oval die bearing the arms of the family Smith (alias Harris or Heriz): a shield divided by a chevron or, bearing three cross fitchy with two roundels above and one below, width 16mm, height 25mm. £160-£180

Originally found in East Anglia, from a UK collection.

The arms as engraved upon this gentleman’s personal seal fob are those of Smith* (alias Harris or Heriz), of Withcote and later of Edmondsthorpe both in the County of Leicestershire. These arms may be blazoned as follows:
Arms: Gules on a chevron or between three bezants as many crosses paty fitchy sable**
It is thought this seal would have been the possession of a gentleman who descended from John Smith (alias Harris or Heriz) (died prior to November 1545, Will proved 13th November 1545), of Withcote in the County of Leicestershire and his wife, Dorothy Cave, daughter of Richard Cave, of Stanford in the County of Northamptonshire. These arms were recorded for the Smiths, of Withcote, in the Herald’s Visitation of the County of Leicestershire of 1619*** which was undertaken by William Camden, Clarenceux King of Arms along with a pedigree headed by John Smith and Dorothy Cave aforesaid with several generations of their descendants.
These arms are found in the 1st and 4th Quarters of the memorial to Sir Roger Smith, Lord of the Manor of Edmondsthorpe who died in 1655, aged 84 and his two wives and his son and grandson who predeceased him within the Parish Church of St Michael & All Angels, Edmondsthorpe in the County of Leicestershire. Sir Roger was the son of Erasmus Smith, the fifth son of John Smith and Dorothy Cave.


*Sometime spelt as ‘Smyth’ or Smythe’. The family having changed their name to Smith from Heriz (or Harris) when they inherited the Manor of Edmondsthorpe during the reign of King Henry VII.
**Some authorities give the chevron as being ‘argent’ (silver) and the crosses charged thereon are sometimes blazoned as being ‘crosses formy fitchy’. Crosses ‘paty’ and ‘formy’ whether ‘fitchy’ or not tend to be interchangeable.
***These arms were also recorded in the earlier Herald’s Visitation of (the City) of London of 1568 as well as in the Herald’s Visitation of the County of Northamptonshire of 1618.


With grateful thanks to John J. Tunesi at Beacon Genealogical and Heraldic Research.