What are visitations?

Between 1530 and 1688 visitations were undertaken by heralds in the English and Welsh counties in order to record the use of coats of arms
People called before the heralds had to show the arms they were using and prove their entitlements to those arms. These submissions included much genealogical information, including the pedigrees of the families concerned
For further information, see the Medieval English Genealogy web site's page Heralds visitations and the College of Arms

Page last updated: 18th February 2014