The Hillman family has little claim to aristocratic fame and therefore coat of arms or other armorial trappings. Correspondence with Dr Richard Baker of the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (pers. comm. 2004) concluded that no Hillman’s have ever been formally issued with arms. However, Papworth[1], and the 1884 version of Burke’s[2] “The General Armory”, both give a reference and description, as noted below.
Despite this assertion, commercial family heritage companies can provide a coat of arms as described in both Papworth and Burke with full description – for a price.
Searches of the literature and the web have provided a little background.
In the “General Armory”2 there is a single reference to Hillman, with the arms described more formally as:
- Arms – Gules, on a bend cotised Or, three roses of the field, seeded of the second and barbed Vert.
- Crest – a demi-eagle, wings displayed Or, holding in the beak a rose Gules stalked and leaved Vert.
The red roses used may have some significance. A red rose was the symbol of the House of Lancaster in the Wars of the Roses (1455-1487), and of the Princely House of Lippe, north-east Rhineland, Germany, that was founded in 982 AD. However, no link between either of these and Hillman or Illman can be demonstrated at present!
Papworth 1 ascribes the same arms as Burke2 to the family name. Neither the Harleian Society[3] “Grantees of Arms”, nor more recent editions of Burke’s and other aristocratic references mention Hillman Arms.
The main colours and elements described above – simply put as “red roses on a golden diagonal strip, on a red background”, are to an extent repeated in some versions of the Hillman Motor Car Co. logos and badges. These include the three spires of Coventry (where the cars were made) in yellow/gold on a red background. Does this denote a link or aspirations on the part of William Hillman one wonders? Dr Richard Baker (pers. comm.) pointed out that William Rootes, founder of the Rootes Group that took over the Hillman Motor Co., was elevated to the peerage as Baron Rootes of Ramsbury (see note ref. Sir Robert Hillman of Ramsbury below). However, the arms illustrated for Baron Rootes are very different.
Graphic examples of arms and Hillman car badges are given below.
The mentions of Sir Robert Hillman of “Romsbury” (Ramsbury, Wiltshire) in some USA genealogical literature, state that he died in 1692 (0r 1684), and is buried in the church there, where his coat of arms can be found. However, while there is a memorial to the man, with fancy, probably Victorian carved or plaster urn, there is no coat of arms. There was reportedly this homily however:
“The good knight is dust, His sword is rust, His soul with the Saints, We trust”
The information was reportedly provided by the Media Research Bureau of Washington, D.C., of 1110 F. Street. This organisation was closed down in the 1940s by the American Society of Genealogists for providing generally “elaborated” information on armorial bearings to people[4].
The memorial plaque in Ramsbury Church in fact bears the inscription[5] – “Here lies the body of Robert Hillman Gent. who departed this life July the 8th 1694 in the forty ninth year of his age” – so was he even ever knighted?
The “Hillman Diaries”[6] bear an armorial representation on the cover. Printed in 1990, but covering an earlier period to 1884 it is not clear when the arms were used or from where they originated. They bear a striking resemblance to other “Hillman Arms”, viz. three red roses on a yellow ground stripe, diagonally across a red shield, surmounted by a bird’s head holding a rose in its beak. It includes a motto “Nil Desperandum” – “Never Despair”.
The similarities between all these suggested Hillman arms indicate some common origin, whose connection with the family name is yet to be discovered but would seem to have some basis in the Papworth and Burke references mentioned earlier.
Despite all the foregoing, there is further confusion with the existence of some alternative arms and some contesting of the main arms described above.
E. Haviland Hillman[i] referring to Devon families, notes that the family Helman of Furlong has a “pedigree of seven generations in the male line, and the arms Vert, on a chev. betw. three pheons or, five guttee de sang, being inserted in the official copy of the Visitation” (Col. Vivian’s Visitations of Devon).
Interpreting the above I have constructed these arms as illustrated here. I am uncertain which way up the “three pheons” (arrow heads) should be?
In response to E. Havilland Hillman’s query the College of Arms responded with yet another set of arms awarded to the Hillmans of Atterhill and Furland of Devon, being “Argent three bendlets azure within a bordure engrailed gules”. Again, I have had to construct this not having found a printed copy. E. Havilland Hillman claims to have found these last arms on the monument to Robert Hillman in Chieveley Church, Berkshire, who died in 1749 (and probably the son of Sir ? Robert Hillman of Ramsbury Park, Wiltshire, mentioned earlier), as well as on the gravestone to Rawlins Hillman in the Morning Chapel at Salisbury Cathedral, who died in 1741. These same arms were also to be found on the memorial to Sir William Hillman, died 1793, found in the Church of St James, London, and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
He goes on to claim that the red and yellow arms more usually found to be associated with the name, comprising three red roses on a diagonal yellow band on a red shield, are those attributed to the family of Aundy or Dawney, albeit with different colours, and wonders why Burke’s General Armoury (Gu. on a bend cotized or, three roses of the field, seeded of the second, barbed vert. Crest : A demi eagle, wings displ. or, holding in the beak a rose gules, stalked and leaved vert.) ever attributed it to Hillman.
So – the Hillman family might have a coat of arms
after all – the question is – which one?
Examples of purported Hillman coats of arms and Hillman Motor Co. logos and badges:
Sources
[1] Papworth, John W. 1874. An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland; forming an extensive Ordinary of British Armorials. T. Richards, London, UK
[2] Burke, Sir Bernard. 1884. The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales Comprising a Registry of Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time. Heraldry, Vol. 1. Harrison, Pall Mall, London, UK.
[3] Foster, Joseph. 1917 Grantees of Arms 1687, 1898. Harleian Society. London.
[4] Judge, Edward. 2004. Web notes on Ramsbury Church memorials. www.ramsbury.com/history.htm
[5] Holy Cross, Ramsbury. Inside Memorial survey. https://www.wiltshire-opc.org.uk/Items/Ramsbury/Ramsbury%20-%20Holy%20Cross%20Church%20Interior%20Memorial%20Survey.pdf
[6] Hillman, Bentley. 1990. The Hillman Diaries 1877-1884. Private Printing, Applecross, Western Australia
[i] E. Haviland Hillman. 1911. Carew & Pole Letters. Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries VI (Jan 1910-Oct 1911):173-4