A Little Family History

So while we were staying on the Queen Mary we found a store called Scottish Heritage that was dedicated to all things Scottish. They had a giant book of surnames and if your surname was in that book, they could trace your history and find the very first Coat of Arms that was filed for your name. It is guaranteed by the Historical Research Center of Scotland who holds the filings for all the Coat of Arms ever registered. It cost us two dollars to view the McElwee Coat of Arms and would be another $48. For family history's sake Andy decided we should get it along with the history printed on an official certificate and signed with an official signature by someone from the Historical Research Center. So for those of you who are interested, this is the McElwee Coat of Arms.It really was interesting the story that the guy who worked there told. He, by the way, was definitely Scottish. He had the thick eyebrows, the accent, and even dressed a little funny. He said how the idea of a coat of arms belonged to one man and then when he died his sons inherited his coat of arms, but because there was more than one son and the original coat of arms was registered to the father, each of the sons had to make a change, even if it was small, to be able to register it in their names. Over time thousands of changes have been made and created all the various different coat of arms we see today. The coat of arms kept on registration is the coat of arms that was first registered to the first person who carried that name.

So even though there may be many different coat of armms associated with the last name McElwee, this particular coat of arms is the first one registered under that name. Another interesting fact that you can see just by looking at this picture is that McElwee is an Irish name not Scottish. I was not aware of this, though my family members who do geneology might have been.

There is a history written underneath of the coat of arms that I will copy here. I don't understand some of it because it is written with a little of the old spelling in it.

The surname McElwee derives ultimately from the Gaelic Mac Giolla Bhuidhe, from "bhuidhe", meaning "yellow, fair", and "giolla", meaning "youth". This sept name has also been anglicized as MacGilloway or McEvoy since the shortened version in the spoken Irish is Mac a'bhuidhe. The sept's homeland was in the northern province of Ulster, Ireland in the counties of Donegal and Derry, and it is here that the majority of the bearers of the name are to be found. Records of the surname in Irelanddate back to the twelth century, when Con Mac Giolla Bhuidhe was abbot of Mungret. In some instances, McElwee can also be an anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic MacShealbhaigh, "Son of Selbach. Sealbach Mac Shealbhaich is the hero of the folktale of the Balievolan Glassrig, and records of this surname in Scotland date back to the thirteenth century.

References include the marriage of Charlotte McLewee and George Brown in the church of St. Mary, Newington, Surrey, on September 7th, 1815. The marriage of William McElwee and Anne Elliot took place in Inishkeel, Co. Donegal, on October 28th, 1845. Thomas McElwee married Mary Ann Smith in Tralee, Co. Kerry,on January 31st, 1846. Catherine McElwee married James McCready in Ardara, Co. Donegal, on the 17th of November 1856. Eunice Woodford McLewee, daughter of Thomas McLewee and Mary Ann Thompson, was born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, on January 12th, 1858. Eliza McElwee, daughter of Thomas McElwee and Maryann Hassan, was born in Maghera, Co. Derry, on January27th, 1864.

BLAZON OF ARMS: Sable, a fesse between two chevrons argent.

TRANSLATION: Sable (black) denotes Constancy and Wisdom. Argent (white) symbolizes the moon and signifies Peace and Sincerity. The fesse recalls the ancient Military Belt and Girdle of Honour, and the chevrons signify Protection. They were granted as a reward for Notable Enterprise.

CREST: A parrot feeding on a cherry tree proper.

MOTTO: Perserverando.

TRANSLATION: By perservering.

ORIGIN: IRELAND

This is a full picture of the frame that we purchased with the Coat of Arms and history.