Coat of Arms & Family Crests Store
AMSTED Family Crest / AMSTED Coat of ArmsThe surname of AMSTED is of the locational group of surnames 'of Anstey' places in Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and Hertfordshire. Surnames derived from placenames are divided into two broad categories; topographic names and habitation names. Topographic names are derived from general descriptive references to someone who lived near a physical feature such as an oak tree, a hill, a stream or a church. Habitation names are derived from pre-existing names denoting towns, villages and farmsteads. Other classes of local names include those derived from the names of rivers, individual houses with signs on them, regions and whole countries.Early records of the name mention Richard de Anested, 1164, County Essex. William Ansted of County Somerset, was documented during the reign of Edward III (1327-1377). Robert de Anestead of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Edward Ansted of Wiltshire, was recorded in the year 1400. At first the coat of arms was a practical matter which served a function on the battlefield and in tournaments. With his helmet covering his face, and armour encasing the knight from head to foot, the only means of identification for his followers was the insignia painted on his shield, and embroidered on his surcoat, the flowing and draped garment worn over the armour. Over the centuries, most people in Europe have accepted their surname as a fact of life, as irrevocable as an act of God, however much the individual may have liked or disliked the surname, they were stuck with it, and people rarely changed them by personal choice. A more common form of variation was in fact involuntary, when an official change was made, in other words, a clerical error. Among the humbler classes of European society, and especially among illiterate people, individuals were willing to accept the mistakes of officials, clerks and priests as officially bestowing a new version of their surname, just as they had meekly accepted the surname they had been born with. In North America, the linguistic problems confronting immigration officials at Ellis Island in the 19th century were legendary as a prolific source of Anglicization. The associated coat of arms is recorded in Sir Bernard Burkes General Armory. Ulster King of arms in 1884. |
