Heraldic visitation

Heraldic Visitations were tours of inspection undertaken by in England, Wales and Ireland in order to regulate and register the  of nobility and gentry and s, and to record s. They took place from  to, and their records provide important source material for.

Process of visitations
By the fifteenth century, the use and abuse of arms was becoming widespread in. One of the duties conferred on, the first was to survey and record the  and pedigrees of those using coats of arms and correct irregularities. The of England made occasional tours of various parts of the country to enquire about matters armorial during the fifteenth century. It was not until the sixteenth century that the process began in earnest.

The first provincial visitations were carried out under granted by  to Thomas Benolt,  dated. He was commissioned to travel throughout his province and was given authority to enter all homes and churches. Upon entering these premises, he was authorized to "put down or otherwise deface at his discretion...those arms unlawfully used". He was also required to enquire into all those using the titles of, , or and decided if they were being lawfully used.

By this, Henry VIII also compelled the s and s of each county or city visited by the to give aid and assistance in gathering the needed information. When a, or his deputy, visited a county, his presence was proclaimed by presenting the Royal Commission and the local gentry and nobility were required to provide evidence of their right to bear arms. The Sheriff would collect from the of each hundred within his county a list of all people using titles or arms. These were summoned to the visitation and the hope was that none would escape the enquiry. The people that were summoned were to bring their arms, and proof of their right to use the arms. Their ancestry would also be recorded. Where an official grant of arms had been made, this was recorded. Other ancient arms, many of which predated the establishment of the, were confirmed. The officer would record the information clearly and make detailed note that could be entered into the records of the College of Arms when the party returned to. These volumes now make up the Library of Visitation Books at the College, which contain a wealth of information about all armigerous people from the period. If the officers of arms were not presented with sufficient proof of the right to use a coat of arms, they were also empowered to deface monuments which bore these arms and to force persons bearing such arms to sign a disclaimer that they would cease using them.

The visitations were not popular with the landed gentry who were required to present proof of their gentility. Members of this class grew in power after the installation of in, and further commissions to carry out visitations were not issued by William or his successors. This cessation of the visitations did not have much effect on those counties far removed from London. Over the period of visitations many of these counties were rarely visited. Those closer to London were more frequently subject to inspection. Also, there was never a systematic visitation of Wales. There were four visitations in the principality, and on 9 June 1551, Fulk ap Hywel, was given a commission to visit all of Wales. This was not carried out, however, as he was degraded and executed for counterfeiting the seal of. This is regrettable, since no visitation of all Wales was ever made by the officers of arms.

Surviving records
The original notebooks of the heralds during the visitations were not retained by the College of Arms and have been used as the basis for other manuscript copies which have been published by various groups. The only definitive records of the visitations are difficult to examine as they form part of the library of the of Arms. These published sources do provide a great amount of detail on the subject. Many have been published by the, some by county record societies, and a few have been printed privately. Many of the on which these published copies are based can be found today in the British Library in London.

Visitations in Ireland
Since the practices of so closely followed those of the English College of Arms, it is hardly surprising that the Irish officers of arms undertook heraldic visitations in their province. The purpose behind these visitations was two-fold: to prevent the assumption of arms by unqualified people, and to record the arms of the gentry that were unknown to Ulster office. The first visitation was held by, the second , in 1569. He was authorized to reform practices which were contrary to good armorial practice. He conducted six visitations ( in 1568–1573, and  in 1570, Dublin in 1572,  in 1572,  in 1574, and  in 1574). One of his successors, had the commission renewed, and mounted several visitations. Although Molyneux's last visitation–of –was the last proper visitation, two other expeditions occurred after 1618 by subsequent Ulster Kings of Arms. It should be noted that the visitations were not very extensive. The officers would not often be found in the disturbed countryside. Thus the visitations are confined to areas under firm control of the administration.

Today, the original visitation and related manuscripts are in the custody of the. Copies are also deposited at the College of Arms in London.

Visitations in Scotland
The  that created the  gave  the authority to visit any part of  to execute his statutory duties. Such visits have been made in the past, however these visits are not organized information-gathering exercises in specific regions. , with its compulsory matriculations, is much more regulated and each generation must lodge an updated genealogy with Lyon Court in order to lawfully bear arms. Therefore the control of in Scotland is such that periodic inspections have never been necessary.