The Endean Coat of Arms

By Dennis Endean Ivall.

We were saddened to learn of the death of Dennis Endean Ivall on 6th February 2006. Dennis generously allowed us to use his material on the Endean surname and coat of arms.
Dennis was born in 1921 and was a well-known heraldic artist who was descended from the Endeans on his maternal side. He was able to trace his Endean ancestors in their migration from St Mawgan through St Columb Minor, Newlyn and Ladock to Cornelly. Although he was not a part of our Endean family unit we hope that one day we may be able to align his family tree with ours.
Dennis was also a bard of the Cornish Gorsedd. The Cornish Gorseth was founded in 1928, under the aegis of the Welsh Gorsedd, which itself was established in the late 18th century to carry on the tradition of Bardic law and culture in the Celtic lands, particularly in the 5th & 6th centuries AD.
The ceremonial of the Cornish Gorseth follows in many respects that of the Welsh body, and there is a similar association of Breton bards with like aims. A member of any of the three bodies is held to be an honorary bard of the other two also.
Cornish Bards are elected from those considered to be sufficiently proficient in the Cornish Celtic language, have done good work in the field of Cornish history and arts, or whose activities otherwise reflect credit on Cornwall. Dennis's qualification for Bardship was proficiency in the Cornish language,and for work in the field of Cornish history, heraldry and art.

ENDEAN DEVICES

In the past, various bearers of the name have attested their wills with seals bearing devices more or less of an heraldic character. None of these seems to have been a regularly used coat of arms or crest. Moreover, it was quite a common practice to use someone else's seal on the rare occasion when such was needed.

In the 19th century one London branch of the family used as a crest “a swan sable” with the motto “pax et Amor”, but neither this nor any other device was ever registered for Endean/Andain in the English College of Arms. The adoption of a crest or coat of arms was then a common practice with anyone attaining or claiming a certain social status. Such devices were used to head notepaper, decorate carriage panels or adorn signet rings and a large proportion of these were never officially recorded.

Two devices have been adopted in modern times by different branches of the family. Firstly a man's head with a black band bearing "bezants", represents the origin of the name "The Man", with bezants as borne on the coat of arms of the Duchy of Cornwall. Secondly a man bearing a cross and a sword again represents "the Man" with the emblems of man's nature, active and spiritual.

Various versions of the above, in the form of coats of arms or otherwise, have been simply adopted or recorded with the State Archives of Solothurn Canton in Switzerland on behalf of various families of Endean, Andain, Indian etc. all of whom can be shown to be of Cornish origin. The adoption of these coats of arms etc is not in any sense a claim to social eminence or particular distinction but simply to put on record devices to represent the family.
Endean Coat of Arms

When arms were granted by the Lord Lyon, king of Arms in Scotland, in 1992 to Leonard Fordham Ivall of Elgin, Morayshire, the crest chosen was a man's head with a black band with bezants (gold roundels), the motto being “An Den” (Cornish=the man), this crest being a clear allusion to his maternal Cornish ancestry.

No attempt has been made to trace all the descendants of the 16th century St Columb minor group, though many such descents could no doubt be deduced from the hundreds of references to other branches and a common descent of all bearers of the name Endean and its variants seems very probable.

Some surnames in Cornwall were of relatively late adoption and the name may not indeed occur as a surname long before that period. Having a deep interest in the history and language of Cornwall I find considerable satisfaction in having traced our roots back to a period when the people of Cornwall were still to a great extent speaking their old Celtic language.

The Cornwall Military Survey of 1522 covers only the Hundreds of Penwith, Kerrier, West Trigg and East and no Endeans occur in the references there.

The records of Loans over Ł5 (published with the above) do cover all Cornish Hundreds, but no Endeans occur.

The Cornwall Subsidy Rolls give the following:
1524 Stephen Endure of St Erme
Denis Endure of St Erme
1535 Simon Endur of St Dennys
1543 Simon Endyr of St Dennys