Heraldry
Introduction
The following was written1 by J.P.Brooke-Little, of the Royal College of Arms:
“Once arms have been granted they may be borne and used by the grantee, as his especial, personal mark of honour and likewise by his legitimate descendants in the male line. They may be used by none other than one who is entitled to them by grant or descent.
This does not mean that they may not be displayed by another. To display arms is simply to exhibit them in a way which clearly indicates that they are the arms of someone else. For example many people display the arms of towns … they exhibit the arms of schools, colleges and institutions with which they have some connection; and frequently the arms of famous people are used as decoration. All this is permissible and indeed to be encouraged.
On the other hand … to place on stationery arms to which no title has been proved … is not only pretentious and vulgar but is legally indefensible.”
… unless of course, as is said, you clearly indicate that they are the arms of someone else.
Halsted & Halstead
The Coat of Arms (more correctly referred to as a Grant of Achievement) shown at the top left of each page on this web site was borne in 1826 by Admiral Sir Laurence William HALSTED, KCB.2. The shields of other grants of achievement for the surname HALSTEAD and its main variant HALSTED are depicted as follows (the numbers in superscript indicate the Source References):
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| HALSTED 2,3
of Sonning, Berkshire and London granted 10th May 1687 |
HALSTED 2
of Rowley |
HALSTEAD 4
HALSTED 4 |
HALSTED 2,3 of London |
HALSTED 3 | ||||||||||
Other Variants
HAUSTED and HAWSTED have the same sound phonetically, as do the alternative endings …STED and …STEAD.
The HANSTED variant may stem from HAUSTED where the handwritten letter “u” has been read as an “n”.
HAUSTED was much used in the 13th century and HASTED in the 17th century.
The shields of grants of achievement for those variants are depicted as follows
(none have been found for the variants HOLSTED, HOLSTEAD or ALSTEAD):
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Associated FamiliesThe shields of grants of achievement for other families with which the Halsteds were associated, or with whom they intermarried, are depicted as follows:
Halstead, the town in Essex CIRCA 1886 “In Sir Bernard Burke’s General Armory, 1875 and 1878 editions, there is the following entry: ‘Halsted, Town of (co. Essex). Az. a coronet composed of one fleur-de-lis and two leaves or’. The Halstead Urban District Council, upon its formation some thirty years ago, [circa 1886] adopted these arms and placed them in the council seal. The Rev. Henry L. Elliot, vicar of Gosfield, Halstead, subsequently made some enquiries upon the subject, and he received a letter dated, from the College of Arms, 15 May 1903, from the then editor of Burke’s Armory, as follows: ‘The result of a search here [College of Arms] shows that you are correct in stating that the town of Halstead has no right to arms… I cannot understand how the entry crept into Burke’s Armory.’ ”  20th NOVEMBER 1964
Granted to the then Halstead Urban District Council, subsequently adopted by the Halstead Town Council. “The weaver’s shuttles represent the town’s long association with Courtauld’s Limited, and weaving in general, an industry that has existed in the town since the arrival of Flemish weavers in the fourteenth century. The town’s association with the Courtaulds began in 1782 when George Courtauld, a descendant of the Huguenot refugee families, set up in business as a silk throwster. The thunderbolt alludes to Evans Electroselenium (now Ciba Corning Diagnostics), whose managing director gave generously towards the cost of the grant.” Source ReferencesEach number in superscript identifies one of the following sources for the information referred to above:
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ASHMOLE: Ashmole MS.804, in the British Museum;