Pierrepont Family Crest

Recently I acquired a copy of the Pierrepont crest and genealogy that had been published in 1764 (over 250 years ago)! There were three pages – a hand-colored crest with text below and two pages containing 24 generations of the Pierrepont family, beginning with Robert who came to England in 1066 with William the Conqueror and ending with Evelyn Pierrepont who was a Duke.

The text on the page reads as follows:

Family Crest of the Most High, Puissant, and Noble Prince, Evelyn Pierrepoint, Duke of Kingston-Upon-Hull, Marquis of Dorchester, Earl of Kingston, Viscount Newark, Baron Pierrepoint of Holme-Pierrepoint

There are actually a few errors in this text. First, the family name is spelled “Pierrepoint” (3 times) which is at odds with the more accurate spelling of “Pierrepont” contained in the accompanying genealogy charts. Second, Evelyn never held the title of Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, this title being “reverted” when the title of Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull was granted to his grandfather (and the full title for his Earlship should have included the “-upon-Hull” portion.

These pages were from a 5-volume collection that was written by Joseph Edmondson (-1786) He was originally a carriage painter, but this led to a study of heraldry and genealogy. The full work he produced was titled “Baronagium Genealogicum, or the Pedigrees of the English Peers, Deduced from the Earliest Times”, and it was 1054 pages when published in 1764. Edmondson also produced a supplement of 260 pages in 1784 shortly before his death. Very few copies of the full set still exist as most have been dismantled and sold as individual pages (or sets of pages). Such auction houses as Christies have sold plates including a set of 8 plates sold for $1315 in 2003 and a set of 12 plates sold for $4541 in 2004. Single plates often sell for $325-$425.

 

Family Coat of Arms

The family crest is actually just a shield-shaped figure (called an Escutcheon). It contains a field of “cinquefoils”, i.e. five-sided “flowers”. In the center is a standing (rampant) lion. The flowers are red and the lion is sable, i.e. black. Here is a simple form of the coat of arms.

[Pierpont coat of arms]

 

For family members who hold titles – Baron, Duke, etc. – the crest is usually topped with a “crown” (called a coronet) whose shape and elaborateness vary based on the title. Here is an example:

[Pierpont coat of arms with crown]

 

In the example here, the coat of arms is very elaborate with not only the coronet of a Duke, but with a crest consisting of a “lion rampant sable” between two wings, supporters on each side also consisting of sable lions, and the family motto below. It is quite elaborate and was hand-colored after being printed back in 1764.

 

In the genealogy charts that accompanied this crest and in the upper left of the first page is another crest labeled “The Original Crest”. Instead of the rampant sable lion, it has a picture of a fox with one paw extended forward. In Latin this is called “a fox passant gu.” But where was this alternate crest used?

Referring to Fairbairn's book of crests of the families of Great Britain and Ireland, all references to the Pierpont/Pierrepont/Pierrepoint and Manvers families refer to the “lion rampant sa.” With the exception of three: (1) “Pierpont, Hants” which has a crest of “a fox gu.”, i.e. one without the extended paw; (2) “Pierpont, Shropsh.” which gives “fox passant gu.” as an alternate; and (2) “Pierrepont” (non-specified, i.e. not the ones from Holme Pierrepont) as “fox passant gu.”

The first two references are to William (1607/8-1678). As the second son, William did not inherit any land/titles from his father, Robert. But he did purchase Thoresby (see below) and it is believed that he used a dower of his mother to do so. Also, he married Elizabeth Harris who was the daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Harris whose property included Tong Castle in Shropshire (see below). William did not have any titles, so he would not have had a family crest, but it would have been used by Gervase when he became a baron. When the property passed on from Gervase, it was merging with the main peerage line of the Pierrepont family and the fox crest would have been discontinued.

Some of the other genealogies of the Pierpont family, such as the one by Moffat in 1913, used the fox crest on the cover, but I have found any verification of the fox crest other than the one detailed above. Since the “Pierrepont” reference in Fairbairn’s book is so ambiguous, it is difficult to know when else it might have applied.

Family Motto

On the bottom of the family crest is a ribbon which contains the family motto. It reads “Pie Repone Te” (some variations have a “.” after the “Pie”) in three, sometimes four, pieces across the ribbon. At first glance, one might think that it’s a rendition of “Pierrepont” that is in some sort of misspelling or variation on the family name. But it’s actually a visual pun on the family name and it’s in Latin.

“Piens” (which is abbreviated by the “Pie” or “Pie.”) is the Latin adjective for pious/holy/godly. “Repone” is a verb which means replace/restore/lay/repay/lay aside/store and is in the imperative form. “Te” is the Latin word for “you”.

I’ve seen a number of versions of this translated into English, including “Trust in Providence”, “Place yourself piously”, “Relax in piety”, or “Dutifully restore you”.

 

Background of the Pierrepont Family

I’ve written a separate post about the members of the Pierrepont family who were part of the “peerage” of England (see here). But as some background to that, I’d like to comment on some of the places in England inhabited by the family.

Places where the Pierrepont family lived or where their titles refer

·         Holme-Pierrepont – the family home of the Pierrepont family, just outside of Nottingham

·         Nottinghamshire – the shire (county) of about 800K people with the county seat of Nottingham – population 330K

·         Derbyshire – shire just to the west of Nottinghamshire

·         Kingston-upon-Hull – a port city (population of 250K) where the Hull River empties into the Humber Estuary about 25 miles inland from the North Sea, about 90 miles NE of Nottingham

·         Dorchester – a town of about 20K people in the south of England, about 220 miles from Nottingham

·         Newark – also called Newark-on-Trent – a market town of 27K people in Nottinghamshire, on the edge of Sherwood Forest, about 20 miles from Nottingham. Best known as the place where King Charles I surrendered during the English Civil Wars.

·         Shropshire – the location of Tong Castle, a shire of about 500K people located 90 miles west of Nottingham against Wales

Sheriff of Nottingham

Having mentioned Nottingham and Sherwood Forest, you may be reminded of the tale of Robin Hood who “stole from the rich and gave to the poor.” In this tale, Robin lived in Sherwood Forest and his adversary was the Sheriff of Nottingham. While the tale is fictional, not only does Sherwood Forest exist, but the Sheriff of Nottingham was a real position. From 1068 until 1566, this position existed as the Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests, but after 1566 the position was split and there were separate appointments made for the Sheriff of Derbyshire and the High Sheriff of Nottingham. This was an annual appointment. The following members of the Pierrepont family served in this position:

·         1469 – Sir Henry Pierrepont

·         1471 – Sir Henry Pierrepont

·         1503 – William Pierrepont

·         1522 – Sir William Pierrepoint

·         1558 – George Pierrepont

·         1575 – Henry Pierrepont

·         1601 – Henry Pierrepont

·         1615 – Robert Pierrepont, 1^st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull

·         1795 – Jonas Bettison of Holme Pierrepont

·         1798 – Nathaniel Stubbins of Holme Pierrepont

·         1982 – Robin Brackenbury of Holme Pierrepont

Homes of the Pierrepont Family

Finally, a brief mention of the actual homes where the Pierrepont family lived is in order. After Robert de Pierrepont accompanied William the Conqueror to England in 1066 the family originally lived in the south of England. After Henry de Pierrepont married Annora de Manvers around 1280 the family acquired property in Nottinghamshire. The area was then known as just Holme, but the family surname was added as a suffix, making it Holme Pierrepont. The current home on that property, known as Holme Pierrepont Hall, was built by Sir William Pierrepont around 1500. This home became a secondary home of the family when Thoresby Hall (see below) was built and remained occupied by members of the family until WWI when it was requisitioned for military purposes. After WWII, it was occupied by a sister of the 5^th Earl Manvers, then sold to her cousin, Mrs. Brackenbury, in 1968. It is now used as a luxury function venue for weddings, etc. as the family lives elsewhere on the property.

In 1633, Robert Pierrepont, the 1^st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull, acquired land farther north in Nottinghamshire known as Thoresby. His son, Henry Pierrepont, the 2^nd Earl, built the first house on that land. In 1746, during ownership by Evelyn Pierrepont, 2^nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, the house was destroyed by a fire. He built a new house on that same site twenty years later. In 1868, Sydney Pierrepont, the 3^rd Earl Manvers had that house demolished and erected the current house, known as Thoresby Hall. When the last Earl Manvers, Gervas Pierrepont, died without a male heir in 1955 and all the Pierrepont titles became extinct, the house remained with his wife and daughter for a while, then was sold in 1979. The house is currently owned by Warner Leisure Hotels who operates it as a 200-room country house hotel.

William Pierrepont (1607-1678), despite not having any titles, became the owner of Tong Castle which his wife, Elizabeth Harris, inherited through her father, Sir Thomas Harris. When Elizabeth died in 1656, it became the property of her husband. Because their son, Robert, predeceased him in 1666, the castle passed to their second son, Gervase (1649-1715). He died without children so it then passed to the third grandson of William, Evelyn (1665-1726), the older sons of Robert (1637) having died in 1682 and 1690. Evelyn passed it on to his grandson, Evelyn (1711-1773) who, then owning three castles, sold Tong Castle in 1764.