History and genealogy of Peter Montague, of Nansemond and ...

INTRODUCTION. 3
It will be noticed that the arms of the Boveney family are the same
as the arms of Sir Simon Montacute who signed the Baron's letter
(compare plates of both arms), except that to the former there have
been added three ogresses.
The ogresses may have been added for difference in family, or they
may (as it has been expressed by a gentleman in London who bears
the name) have been added to mark some deed done at some time,
such as a large donation of land to the church, as the church at
Boveney bears such a record.
Perhaps they may have been added as a part of the maternal arms
of William Montague, son of Robert, for his mother was Margaret,
dau. of Roger Cotton. And the Arms of one family of Cotton were,
"Argent a bend Sable between three ogresses."
Whatever may have been the origin of these pellets, the fact still
remains, that the Boveney family bear the Arms of Sir Simon Mon-
tague of A. D. 1300, which Arms were also borne by his son lord
William Montacute and by his grandson the first Earl of Salisbury.
Heraldry, or more properly Armory, is the short hand of History,
its purpose w r as to identify persons and property and to record descent
and alliance. Hundreds of persons may be entitled to the same
but only the members
initials, may possess precisely the same names ;
of a particular family can lawfully bear certain armorial ensigns, and
the various branches of even that family have their separate
differences to distinguish one from the other.
The Boveney family bear the same name as the descendants of
Drogo.
They were residing in A. D. 1500 in the same locality and county
of England where the descendants of Drogo had held possession and
manors in A. D. 1400 and for centuries before.
They bear the same Arms which alone would seem to silently but
surely denote that they are a branch of the same family. Where and
when the separation took place is not known, but it would seem
whose will was proved A. D. 1550, down to Richard and Peter who went to America, was
obtained by Mr. William H. Montague of Boston—one of the founders, and for many years
Secretary of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society, to whose early labors, in
behalf of this work, which date back as far as 1847, the American family must ever be
indebted. For he employed at considerable expense H. G. Somerby, Esq., an eminent
genealogist, and an American resident in London, who made verbatim copy of the Pedigree
of this family from 1550 from the Records in the Herald's College, London, and also went to
Boveney, Buckinghamshire, and compared and copied the Parish Records, thus bringing the
pedigree down to the year 1634.