Did our immigrant ancestor Dr. John Durand (1664–1727) have a coat of arms? I don’t think so.
John (Jean) Durand (1664-1727) was a French Huguenot, orginally from the Île de Ré, near LaRochelle. He came to America about 1685, eventually settling at Derby, Connecticut.
The usual reference for John Durand’s coat of arms is Bolton’s American Armory: “Durand. Sa. a fess dancettée or and in chief 3 fleurs-de-lis of the 2nd. Crest: a griffin’s head erased, pierced with a spear. Bookplate John Durand, Esq.” (Bolton 1927, 53),
An engraving of these arms was published in Allen’s American Book-Plates (Allen 1894, 47). Some authorities have dated this bookplate to circa 1720–that is, near the end of John Durand’s life. However, However, the bookplate is in Chippendale style, which emerged much later. Instead, this engraving is believed to be the work of a great grandson, Asher Brown Durand (1796-1886), a prominent American engraver.
In Asher Durand’s lifetime, stationers commonly kept books showing coats of arms for various surnames. As an engraver, Asher would have had ready access to books like these and would be been able to look up “the Durand coat of arms” easily.
Burke’s General Armory gives these arms (but with the colors Sable and Argent) for a Durant family in Hampshire and another family at Tong Castle in Shropshire (Burke 1884, 309). Other recorded variations show some Durant families using arms with the fess fleury dancetty. That is, the fleurs-de-lis stem from the fess rather than being separate elements.’
Burke cites the 1634 Visitation of Hampshire, which takes us further back. There we find this Durant family who bore these arms traced back to John Durant (1288/89) who married Avelyn, a co-heir of her brother Richard Plessitis. These arms attributed to his grandson Thomas Durant, 1333/34. (Benolt 1913, 124.)
Grazebrook, The Heraldry of Worcestershire (1873) says “These arms were entered as those of Durant, according to Berry (Hampshire Pedigrees) at the Visitation of Hants, in 1634 ; but the pedigree he gives terminates with Thomas Durant, 7 Edward III. A pedigree of the same family was entered at the Visitation of Rutland, in 1618, but the paternal coat of Durant is given as Sable, a cross potent ermine which was borne quarterly with St. Lise, and the coat mentioned above.” (Grazebrook 1873, 182, note)
The Visitation of Rutland (1618-19) shows the Durant arms as Quarterly, 1- Sable a cross crosslet ermine (Durant), 2- Argent two bars and in chief three fleurs-de-lis gules (St. Lise), 3- Sable a fess dancettee and in chief three fleurs-de-lis argent, 4- Gules a chevron between three lions’ gambs erased ermine. Crest – A boar passant argent bristled or vulned over the left shoulder gules.
So, here the arms in the 3rd quarter, the origin of which is unknown, became in some branches the main arms.
French coats sof arms (Rietstap 1884, 578-79). None that match this English family and none with an obvious connection to the area around LaRochelle.
No reason to think a French family from the Isle de Ré off the coast of LaRochelle would have been really an English family. It’s not impossible, but it’s not likely.
- Allen, Charles Dexter. American Book-Plates. New York : MacMillan, 1894.
- Benolt, Thomas et al. Pedigrees from the Visitation of Hampshire, Vol. 64. London: Harleian Society, 1913.
- Bolton, Charles Knowles. Bolton’s American Armory. Boston : F. W. Faxon Co., 1927.
- Burke, Sir Bernard. The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. London : Harrison & Sons, 1884.
- Grazebrook, H. Sydney. The Heraldry of Worcestershire. London : J. R. Smith, 1873.
- Rietstap, Johannes Baptist. Armorial Général. Gouda : G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884.
Registrations and Recordings
There seem to be few American recordings of these Durand arms, but they are widely displayed across the Internet as being the arms of Dr. John Durand.
- American College of Heraldry: unknown
- American Heraldry Society: John (Jean) Durand, Roll of Early American Arms.
- Augustan Society: unknown
- NEHGS Committe on Heraldry: unknown
- U.S. Heraldic Registry: Jean Durand Registration No. 20070204C.
