Major New Discoveries sponsored by The Goble Family Association
Coat Of Arms

The College of Arms in London, England was contracted by the Goble Family Association to search the official registers of pedigrees and arms to establish what, if any, arms have ever been granted to any person named GOBLE in the English jurisdiction. On July 14, 1998 we received the final report from the Rouge Croix Pursuviant regarding the research into the Goble Coat of Arms.

This Coat of Arms had been used by our Association based on two sources.

Goble Coat of Arms used in George W. Goble's book.

1. The Goble Family by George W. Goble (who wrote the first and most extensive genealogy on the Goble family) unpublished, completed in 1952, available at LDS Libraries. On page 186 George provided a drawing/picture of the crest and the motto with a description. George Goble did not explain why he included the crest or how he came to believe it was pertinent.

2. Halberts Family Heritage of Bath, Ohio (as most of you know) is in the crest reproduction business for profit and provides no substantiation for their claims and conclusions. It's possible that George Goble was provided this crest by Halberts.


The report from the College of Arms, London, E.C.4. dated 8 July 1998 concludes:

"I have found only one coat of arms for any Goble.


The Herald's Visitations

The search began with the records of the Heralds visitations of the English and Welsh counties during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The officers of arms went out to each county roughly every generation to oversee the use of arms and to record the pedigrees of the gentry. The resulting records fill many dozens of volumes and form the core of the College archives. When nothing was found in these under the surname Goble, the search turned to the main series of pedigrees recorded at the College since the end of the seventeenth century.


Other recorded pedigrees

Although the compulsory recording of pedigrees ended with the close of the visitation in 1687, many thousands have been recorded at the College on a voluntary basis since then and such recording continues apace today. The main series of these was searched under Goble, but only one pedigree was found. This was of descendants of James Goble who had a grant of arms in 1754 (see below).

The other series of pedigrees on official record were searched:


Founder's Kin

The series of pedigrees recorded by those seeking to gain entry to Trinity College, Cambridge, New College, Oxford, Winchester College, and other less prestigious institutions was searched, but without result.


Benefactors' Pedigrees

The volumes of pedigrees recorded at the College of those who contributed to the costs of its rebuilding following its destruction in the Great Fire of 1666 do not contain any of Goble.


Bath Books

The pedigrees recorded by members of the Order of the Bath until the 1840s were searched but none of Goble was found.


Funeral certificates

The search then turned to the series of records relating to heraldic funerals in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but the result was negative.


Grants of Arms

The only grant of arms to anyone named Goble was to James Goble of Petworth, co. Sussex, Esquire, who was granted arms by Letters Patent of John Anstis Garter Principal King of Arms, and Stephen Martin Leake, Clarenceux King of Arms dated 25 March 1754.

The arms are blazoned Ermine on a Bend invected between a Dove rising in the sinister chief Azure holding in its beak an Olive Branch Vert and in the dexter base a Tiger Passant Proper three fleurs-de-lis Or;

And the Crest, on a wreath of the colours, A Lion Passant Proper collared fleury counter fleury Argent and charged on the shoulder with a fleur-de-lis Or [Coll.ArmsGts.9.495]

In non-heraldic terms this is a shield with an ermine field. Across this from top left to bottom right runs a blue diagonal stripe with a scalloped edge, and on this are three gold fleurs-de-lis. Above the diagonal stripe is a blue dove with its wings raised; and below a tiger of natural colours walking to the left.

The Crest is on a gold and blue wreath, and takes the form of a walking lion of natural colours with a collar round its neck from which sprout the tops and bottoms of fleurs-de-lis.

A pedigree was recorded at the College of Arms in 1954 establishing a right to arms by descent for several of James Goble's descendants. It shows that James Goble was of Burpham and Petworth, co., Sussex. He was buried at Petworth 16 Jul 1771 aged 45 � years. His will dated 16 June 1769 was proved with two codicils on 7 August 1771. He married 29 April 1754 at Burpham, Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Holmes of that place. She died in 1777 aged 40.

The pedigree gives only one child in the next and three subsequent generations, but there may well have been more. James and Elizabeth Goble had issue a son,

James Holmes Goble, of Burpham Place, Burpham, and Hampnett, co., Sussex Lt. Col., in the West Sussex Militia. He died at Little London, near Chichester, co. Sussex in October 1814 aged 54. He married Mary Magdalene, daughter of Francis Methold, by whom he had a son,

James Methold Goble, Capt. In the Sussex Militia and a J.P. and D.L. for co. Sussex. He married in 1807 Dorothy, daughter of William Mitcalfe of Dockway Square, North Shields, co Northumberland. She died 6 May 1866 at Sunderland, co. Durham. They had issue a son,

James Goble, of Sunderland, co. Durham. He married 14 September 1863 at Monkwearmouth, co. Durham, Ann, daughter of William Padget. They had issue a son,

James Goble, calling himself James Perry Goble, of Dunfermline, co., Fife, born 1864 at Sunderland. He married 4 October 1889 at Dunfermline, Helen, daughter of Robert Milne. They had, with a daughter, Helen Keir (married James Logan Whyte), a son,

James Goble, calling himself James Goble Perry, born 17 August 1892 at Govan, co. Lanark, and died 5 October 1950 at Paoli, Chester County, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. He married 23 September 1919 at West Chester, Pennsylvania, Margaret Elizabeth, daughter of John Dennis Allen. They had issue:


James Allen Perry; George Dayton Perry; William David Perry; Margaret Ellen; and Pauline Marie. (Possibly all living). The surname of these children was Perry.

[Coll. Arms Surrey 19.291]


Royal Licences

The series of records relating to changes of surname and Arms by Royal Licence was searched but without result.


Irish Records

The College holds official photographic copies of the records of the Ulster Kings of Arms. These were made in 1943 when the office of Ulster King of Arms was united with that of Norroy King of Arms. The originals are in the custody of the Chief Herald of Ireland in Dublin. The indices to these grants and confirmations of arms, and pedigrees were searched under Goble but no entries were found.

The arms attributed to Goble to which you refer in your letter of 8 July 1997, do not appear in the official records here as having been granted or confirmed to a person. The combination of red and blue in an adjoining manner in the lower part of the shield would be most unusual, and bad heraldry.


Signed D. V. White, Rouge Croix Pursuivant"


Thanks goes to Dr. Terence T. Quirke, Jr. for his expertise and efforts on this project on behalf of the family of Goble and to Michael Goble of Nova Scotia for providing a copy of the Coat of Arms.

Goble Coat of Arms presented to Esquire Goble.

The Coat of Arms sent by Michael Goble is that of an Esquire, as the helmet is steel, and in profile with the visor shut. Michael's sister, Ruth, found it when clearing the apartment of Marion, a cousin, the only child of their Uncle Ted, their father's eldest brother. Supposing that Ted was the true holder of the Coat of Arms it would have gone to his brother Fred, a Surgeon Captain Royal Navy, upon his death in 1939. Fred had a son George, who was decorated with the BEM as a schoolboy during the German blitz of 1940. He later joined the Royal Marines, and sometime in the 1950's emigrated to Australia with his wife. He, or his son, if any, would probably be the holder of the Coat of Arms. If not it would presumably go down through the third son of Edwin James, Richard, who emigrated to South Africa soon after the First World War.

It is also noted that Coats of Arms are granted to a member of a family, and passed down through the eldest sons. They are not granted to the family. No connection has been made between the Goble line having been granted the Coat of Arms and that of Thomas Goble.

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Copyright © 1998-2002 by Evelyn Goble Steen, All Rights Reserved
This page posted on December 28, 1998
Updated September 12, 2004
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