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1852 Letter, Concerning a Coat of Arms of the Jameson Family |
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| My dear Sir I send you a posy or sketch of our Coat of Arms, as I had it from your Grandfather at Alloa. It was given to him by the Rev Dr Jon. Jameson Edinb, a cultivated Antiquary on his time. I have only altered a little the rigging of the galley & attached an explana tory Memorandum Believe one 20th October 1852 Memo the 'arms' sketch here Sine Metu ad Littora Tendit |
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On October 20, 1852, a Wm. W. Jameson, sent a James Jameson Sr., a letter (transcription on the left) that included a drawing of a coat of arms he had received from James' grandfather, apparently given to him (the grandfather) by a Rev. Dr. John Jameson, of Edinburgh, "a cultivated Antiquary of his time." Mr. Wm. W. Jamieson, then goes on as to a description of this Coat of Arms, with crest and motto, and how it came about.
This letter is from a photocopy in the personal collection of Rupert Jameson, a descendant in the John Jameson (1773-1851) branch of the Dublin Jameson Whiskey family. The originals of this letter are not known. We know from a subsequent 1905 document (which can be found here) that the James Jameson mentioned in this letter was James Jameson (1821-1889) of Airfield, Dublin, Ireland, and that the Wm. W. Jameson who wrote this letter would have been his older brother William W. Jameson (1818-1896), both of whom were sons of James Jameson (1781-1847) of Montrose, Dublin, and grandsons of John Jameson (1740-1823), of Alloa, Scotland. All of whom are in keeping (exactly) with the details of the letter. The Rev. Dr. John Jameson, of Edinburgh, the "cultivated Antiquary of his time," is undoubtedly John Jamieson (1759-1838), who's most important work is the Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language. It does not appear that he has any 'family' connection with any of the Jamesons in the letter. It seems a little odd that William, the author of this letter does not refer to James the recipient, as his brother, or for that matter present any of this in a more casual way one might think would be normal for two closely related siblings, living in the same city. Perhaps there is a missing element or a larger explanation not immediately apparent. It might be worth noting, that the Whiskey Jameson family has not, as far as anyone knows, used the three anchor design arms as their own. When any arms have been used, which includes arms used by a cousin, George Jameson (1854-1936), as well as arms granted to and used by another brother, Reverend John Jameson (1816-1872), as well as his sons, James Francis Jameson (1848-1896) and Maurice Eyre Francis Bellingham Jameson (1888-1950); all have always used the arms with a blue background, a gold saltire and three ships and a horn design. The Whiskey Company's logo however, has used a coat of arms with the three anchor design, but that logo did not appear until the mid 1900s and may have been more likely of a marketing tool then a family record. Although this letter was in the hands of descendants of the John (1773-1851) branch of this Dublin Jameson family, there is nothing specific in the letter itself to say that it concerns that particular family, Dublin, Alloa, or anywhere else for that matter. |
