Coat of Arms & Family Crest Details
Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, London: Harrison & Sons, 1884
Blazon (the actual original written record)“Az. three quatrefoils chevronwise betw. as many doves or”
A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Dowie family of England.
Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, London: Harrison & Sons, 1884
Blazon (the actual original written record)“Az. three quatrefoils chevronwise betw. as many doves or”
The Dowie arms were recorded in Surrey, c. 1620.
Surrey sat just south of London and filled up with families who had made money in the City. Buying an estate there was the usual next step, and an estate was the usual reason to take arms.
This is where the arms were entered in the register. Families often moved to other parts of the country, so the same name can turn up in more than one region.
English heraldry allowed arms to be shared by all legitimate descendants of the original owner. These symbols were treated as personal property that moved through the generations to all children. While the eldest son kept the original design, other family members could use the same shield without needing to change it or register their own unique versions.
The family name Dowie has roots that stretch back several centuries, with early records confirming that members of the family were established in the English county of Surrey by 1620. While the name is often associated with Scottish origins, its presence in southern England during the early seventeenth century suggests that the family was mobile and well-integrated into local communities during a time of significant social change. Historians often link the name to descriptive origins, potentially derived from early terms for people living near specific landscapes or those known for a particular temperament. As the family grew, they became part of the local fabric of Surrey, participating in the parish life and economic activities that defined the region during the Stuart period. This early documentation provides a clear starting point for tracing the family’s long history and their movement across the British Isles.
A Gaelic term meaning dark or black-haired.
