|
On
24th
January 1976,
Mr Campbell was
appointed Sennachie
to
the Clan Campbell
Society of North America by
MacCalein Mor,
Ian Campbell, 12th Duke
of Argyll. While
attending the Clan
Campbell gathering in
Scotland in May
1983, Donald Campbell
visited the Lord Lyon to
discuss his 1977
petition for a grant of
arms in memory of his
great-great-great-great-grandfather
John Campbell which he
thought was at a
standstill and should be
withdrawn.
Since
MacCalein Mor had
appointed him Society
Sennachie, the then Lord
Lyon, Sir Malcolm Innes
of Edingight, said that
he could grant arms to
Mr Campbell because he
held this appointment of
Sennachie.
However, Mr Campbell
turned down Lyon's
offer. His Chief was not
keen on this type of
grant nor was Mr
Campbell. He felt that
if he could not
matriculate arms based
on a Scottish ancestor's
arms, then having
personal arms would have
no meaning to him.
At
that meeting they
discussed his petition
in great detail. As a
result, Lyon stated that
Mr Campbell's petition
basically met the
criteria for granting
arms for and in memory
of his
great-great-great-great-grandfather
John Campbell. All that
was required was a
letter clarifying
several aspects of Mr
Campbell's original
petition. In due course
Lyon formally granted
arms for and in memory
of Mr Campbell's
Scottish ancestor John
Campbell - Gyronny
of eight Or and Sable,
the first charged with
four ibises' heads
erased of the second
now recorded in the
register, volume 65,
page 88, 20th February
1984.
Mr Campbell
has traced his
family's lineage back
more than seven
generations to a John
Campbell (b. c1775, in
the highlands of
Scotland; d. 1831,
Georgia) who, with his
future bride Mary
Nicholson, immigrated to
South Carolina from
Scotland on the same
ship following the
American Revolutionary
War. John and Mary were
residing in South
Carolina for the birth
of at least three of
their children: John
(jr) (1800-1838), Neill
(1802-1875) and Flora
(1805-18??), and in
particular Marlborough
District for son Neill.
John and Mary settled
finally in Appling
County,
Georgia, in the late
1810's.
In
designing the arms for
his ancestor John
Campbell, Mr Campbell
tried to think of things
which were unique about
his family - where they
lived and their
occupation, etc. He was
looking for a simple
differencing technique
to use with the Gyronny
of eight Or and Sable
which of course
symbolized Clan
Campbell. The family has
lived in south Georgia
and Florida
for the past 200 years
and in particular in
Harmony area located in
the southwestern corner
of Madison County,
Florida since the
1840's. The primary
occupation of the
Campbell males up though
the mid 1900's has been
farming.
Mr Campbell
wanted an object or
objects which would
define who they were,
but he did not want an
everyday 'commercial'
object like an
alligator, palm tree,
flamingo, etc. Mr
Campbell remembered that
the Strachur arms have a
galley in the 'first'.
That give him an idea.
Use an object to
identify where the
family lived and place
it in the 'first'.
The
glossy ibis (Plegadis
falcinellas) is
indigenous to south
Georgia and Florida
which is where the
family lived. So Mr
Campbell used four
glossy ibises' heads
erased in the 'first'.
For the crest a glossy
ibis sable. And for the
motto 'In Harmony'.
Sir
Malcolm Innes of
Edingight, then Lord
Lyon, thought this
design made good
heraldic sense for
Donald Campbell's
ancestor John Campbell's
arms. Thus, Lyon used
his suggested design for
the arms of his
great-great-great-great-grandfather
John Campbell: Gyronny
of eight Or and Sable,
the first charged with
four ibises' heads
erased of the second.
|
