A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Vautier family of England.
eagleNobility, strength and a keen mindSir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, London: Harrison & Sons, 1884
Blazon (the actual original written record)“Or, an eagle rising ppr”
The Vautier 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 Vautier 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 Vautier surname originates from the French word "vautier," which historically served as a title for a forest warden or a local official responsible for managing woodland resources. While the name is deeply rooted in French linguistic traditions, members of the family established a presence in Cornwall by 1620. During this period, the arrival of such families in the West Country of England was often linked to the movement of skilled laborers and religious refugees seeking new opportunities across the English Channel. These early settlers integrated into the local Cornish economy, likely transitioning from their traditional roles as land managers to participate in the region’s growing maritime and agricultural industries. Over time, the family name became a permanent fixture in the local records, reflecting the broader patterns of migration and social change that defined seventeenth-century coastal communities.
Derived from the Germanic elements for ruler and army.
