Coat of Arms

[boats]

Steve Ashton

Yes, my family came from Scotland. I do not know if they were big of a clan to have a family crest. I am
also part of the Montgomery line also since my great grandmother was a Montgomery. I was also told
that the Thomas did not have a coat of arms because they were a small group and they were a sept to
the Montgomery.

boats

[Steve Ashton]

What I was trying to say boats is that there is no such thing as a family coat of arms under the Scottish system.

Arms are granted to, and the exclusive property of, one individual person.

What you may wear or display is the crest of Clan MacThomas. Here is one link. http://www.clanmacthomas.org/

[boats]

In that case, is there a such a thing as a family crest for the Thomas line? I like to know if there is one
so I can make one and hang it in the house for display. I do know that my ancestors are from Scotland
but I do know what line of ancestors they are from.

boats

[Dughlas mor]

boats, if your family name is Thomas, and if you know your ancestors came from Scotland, then you likely belong to Clan MacThomas, a recognized clan with it`s own tartan, etc. If you look at the shop page on the MacThomas society website, you will see a clan crest badge. Seems to be a wildcat holding (throttling?) a snake, with the motto "Deo juvante invidiam superado." (With God`s help I will rise above envy) This is what a clan member would wear as a cap badge. Of course it would look great reproduced any size you like, hanging on your wall. Hope that helps, and if you knew all that already, please excuse me.

[macwilkin]

boats, if your family name is Thomas, and if you know your ancestors came from Scotland, then you likely belong to Clan MacThomas, a recognized clan with it`s own tartan, etc. If you look at the shop page on the MacThomas society website, you will see a clan crest badge. Seems to be a wildcat holding (throttling?) a snake, with the motto "Deo juvante invidiam superado." (With God`s help I will rise above envy) This is what a clan member would wear as a cap badge. Of course it would look great reproduced any size you like, hanging on your wall. Hope that helps, and if you knew all that already, please excuse me.

One more thing to add to this post: don't forget that the best way to identify a possible link to a clan is a geographic location; ancestors who were from the traditional area associated with a particular clan. A Williamson from Fife, for example, would most likely not be a part of Clan Gunn, while a Williamson from Wick or Thurso would most likely have that necessary connection.

T.

[Dughlas mor]

One more thing to add to this post: don't forget that the best way to identify a possible link to a clan is a geographic location; ancestors who were from the traditional area associated with a particular clan. A Williamson from Fife, for example, would most likely not be a part of Clan Gunn, while a Williamson from Wick or Thurso would most likely have that necessary connection.

T.

Um, yes. I just learned that not all those named Thomas belong to MacThomas, so some more research might be needed. "The Scottish Tartans," by Johnston and Bacon, lists Thomas as connected to Campbell or Mackintosh.

[The Wizard of BC]

We see the very common misconception that if you are Scottish then you must be associated with a Clan.

This Is not necessarily true. The Clan system was only in the Highlands or the NorthWest part of the Country.
The vast majority of Scots lived in the Lowlands. That is where most of the cities are.

Those from the Lowlands are 100% Scottish and have a lot to be proud of but may or may not be part of a Highland Clan. There are Scots who carry the name of a Highland Clan but are from the lowlands and have no clan affiliation at all.

The only way to know for sure is to do your genealogy. And I'm not talking about doing a google search. Doing your genealogy is a paper chase. You start with your birth certificate. That will give you the names of your two parents. It may say where they are from. You go to that place and find their marriage license or birth certificates. That leads to the next piece of paper.

If you do not have an unbroken paper trail you do not have a genealogy. Some people spend a lifetime tracing their genealogy. Most can never get beyond just a few generations.

And one more tidbit. Remember that a person's family tree does not start with a single person back in history and grow larger and wider over the years and generations. It is actually the reverse. It starts with you and grows and expands the further back you go. For a hypothetical example - If each of your ancestors had children at age 20 then you have one generation each 20 years. 100 years would be 5 generations. 5 generations back you have 32 grandparents. You trace your lineage through 32 different lines. That's only back to around WWI.

If you can follow your paper trail back to a grandparent who lived up in the area of Glen Shee then you may have a Highland Clan affiliation. If your paper trail leads to somewhere else, you may not.

[boats]

Um, yes. I just learned that not all those named Thomas belong to MacThomas, so some more research might be needed. "The Scottish Tartans," by Johnston and Bacon, lists Thomas as connected to Campbell or Mackintosh.

If that was the case, would the Thomas family wear either of the clan tartan or would they have their own
tartan to wear. From what my brother told me, that my Thomas line came from Wales and the earliest
he got them in Wales is sometime in the 1700's. None of the Thomas's went to Scotland. He got all
the paper work on that. I looked at House of Names and found Thomas of Wales tartan. It is read
in color. Do you know any clan or association that I can contact and found out? Would it be right for me
to wear that kilt at all? Since I am redheaded, I thought that color kilt will go good with my red hair.

boats

May calm seas and fair winds follow you.

[Sir Didymous]

One more thing to add to this post: don't forget that the best way to identify a possible link to a clan is a geographic location; ancestors who were from the traditional area associated with a particular clan. A Williamson from Fife, for example, would most likely not be a part of Clan Gunn, while a Williamson from Wick or Thurso would most likely have that necessary connection.

T.

The region thing is indeed a bit confusing to sort out, but worth it in the end. It's why even though I'm of the clan Ferguson, I wear a sprig of pine instead of the little sunflower. According to a few sources, my strain of the clan is from Strachur, and uses pine. Though from what I can tell, this seems to be a little followed custom. Most people (at least in my neck of the woods) are content in the knowledge of having a name that pairs up with a country and just go with that.

[MacGumerait]

Steve Ashton

Yes, my family came from Scotland. I do not know if they were big of a clan to have a family crest. I am
also part of the Montgomery line also since my great grandmother was a Montgomery. I was also told
that the Thomas did not have a coat of arms because they were a small group and they were a sept to
the Montgomery.

boats

Greetings boats ,

Always good to see someone with some Montgomery lineage ( your great grandmother ) on board this ship .

The Montgomery Clan has no septs , however , there are various spellings of the surname . The good folks here are pointing you in the right direction .

If you can determine the area of Scotland your Thomas family is from , it should help you in figuring out which clan that " your " Thomas surname has possible connections .

Best of luck to you .

Cheers , Mike