By the mid to late 1980's, several topics regarding the Jones surname and coat of arms came into focus. First, as a surname, there were more than 100 Jones families that had a "coat of arms" registered in Burke by the 1840's. [post of 6 November (1)] Second, a fair number of references were available to help understand the basics of "Armorial Bearings", and a general understanding of this topic could be achieved. [post of 28 December (2)] Third, there seemed to be a clustering of symbols among these arms with 45% having some form of the "lion". Various other symbols appeared being on the most part less than 10% for each symbol. [post of 1 February (3)] Four, beside the symbols, there were a number of ""tinctures" (base colors) scattered about these shields with the color "gold" being the most frequent (37%). [post of 2 March (4)] Five, the geographic location of these Jones families could be outlined showing the counties of England, Wales, and Ireland that contained these arms. [post of 26 March (5)] Six, on this side of the great pond, an attempt to identify those families who were "Entitled to Coat Armor" had been published from those in Virginia where my own Jones family arrived in 1649. [post of 27 April (6)] Finally...seven, a Jones family from my own home town published in 1891, an account of "Captain Roger Jones" that contained a coat of arms dating back to London. [post of 14 May (7)]
Wow...line 'um up! Beside the Roger Jones listed above, Virginia Heraldica contained only three other Jones families "Entitled to Coat Armor" : 1) Jones. Sussex county...Ermine three lions , 2) Jones. Frederick county...Argent, a lion rampant vert, vulned in the breast gules , and 3) Jones. Prince George county... Per Bend sinister ermine and ermines, a lion rampant or a bordure engrailed of the last. On to Virginia it is.
