A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Grills 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)“Or, three bendlets enhanced gu”
The Grills arms were recorded in Cornwall, c. 1620.
Cornwall was a county apart, with its own language and its own tight-knit gentry. Tin and the sea made money there, and families who made it bought land, which is what brought arms with it.
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.
The body that granted and recorded arms in England in this period.
Reigning in England when the Grills arms are first recorded.
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 surname Grills is deeply rooted in the rugged landscape of Cornwall, where records confirm the family was well-established by the early seventeenth century. The name likely originated as a descriptive nickname, possibly derived from the Middle English word for a gridiron or a similar iron tool, which suggests that early ancestors may have been metalworkers or blacksmiths. Life in Cornwall during the 1600s was defined by the sea and the tin mining industry, and families like the Grills were often tied to these local trades. As the family grew, they became integrated into the social fabric of Cornish parishes, leaving behind traces in local tax rolls and church registers. These early generations helped shape the identity of the region, living through a time of great social change while maintaining their presence in the coastal communities of the southwest.
Old French word for a gridiron or cooking grate.
