Bilsbury Heritage and Heraldry
I ordered the Bilsbury Family Name Origin from Heritage Arts
- "The surname name Bilsbury was an English habitation name from Bilsborrow in Lancashire, near Preston, a small hamlet in the parish of Garstang. So called from the general case of the Old English personal name Bill and Burgh. Literally meaning the dweller in or near the fortified manor."
- "Local names usually denoted where the original bearer held his land. Billesbure (without surname) was recorded as a tenant in the Domesday Book of 1086, and appears to be the first of the name on record. Billesburgh (without surname) was recorded in 1212 in County Lancashire."
It goes on to list a few other names similar to Bilsbury from the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries.
The document also lists the following:
- ARMS - Per pale gules and sable a lion rampant argent crowned or
- CREST - A snail in its shell proper
- ORIGIN - England
After talking to a few other Bilsburys and looking on the web, I think it means the Bilsbury coat of arms is a red and black vertically-halved shield, red on the left, bearing a rampant silver/white lion wearing a gold crown. Or something similar. I made a stab at drawing one:
- Per pale gules(red) and sable(black) a lion rampant argent(white/silver) crowned or(gold)
- Per pale gules and sable - vertical halved red and black
- a lion rampant argent - standing white/silver lion
- crowned or - wearing gold crown
The scroll I received from Heritage Arts is framed on a wall in our house! It was definitely worth the $12.95