Pottinger Coat of Arms
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Pottinger coat of arms (England)
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A Coat of Arms is also sometimes referred to as Heraldry - a Code of Arms - Family Seal - Family Shield - Family Crest - Wappen - Escudo or Crest

(You have to be careful when researching a coat of arms. I found out (after purchasing a copy of the Pottinger COA) that they do not belong to a family or anyone with the surname, but instead they were granted to an individual for their service to the community, and then they were passed down the male line of the family (alterations had to be made concerning woman, because shields and helmets are considered symbols of war, women are not allowed to use them on their COA). There could be several different designs within one surname).

Spelling variations of this family name include: Pottinger, Potinger, Pottingal, Pottingale and others.
First found in Berkshire (Celtic: Bearroc), in southern England; a county first mentioned in the year 860, and often disputed between the Anglo Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex, where they were seated from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.
Where did the English Pottinger family come from? What is the English coat of arms/family crest? When did the Pottinger family first arrive in the United States? Where did the various branches of the family go? What is the history of the family name?
The history of the Pottinger family begins with those Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain from whom the name was first formed. The name Pottinger began when someone in that family worked as a maker and seller of soup which is derived from the Old French word potagier, which meant "maker and seller of pottage." Pottage is a thick soup or broth. The original bearer of this surname may very well have been an itinerant peddler traveling with a fair. It was common to have food sellers traveling with medieval fairs; pottage was a popular food stuff to be found at these events. A good literary example of this type of trade appears in the beginning of Thomas Hardy's book The Mayor of Casterbridge, where the "furmity woman" precipitates the events of the novel by selling soup laced with alcohol to Henchard, who in later years becomes the Mayor of the title of the book.

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Pottinger has been recorded under many different variations, including Pottinger, Pottenger, Potinger, Pottingal, Pottingale and others.
First found in Berkshire (Celtic: Bearroc), in southern England; a county first mentioned in the year 860, and often disputed between the Anglo Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex, where they were seated from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.
For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Pottinger or a variant listed above: John Pottinger, who arrived in Maryland in 1684; Jane Pottinger and her husband, who settled in Virginia in 1729; and Jane Pottinger, who came to Philadelphia in 1774.
Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: John Pottenger, who arrived in Maryland in 1684; Jane Pottenger and her husband, who settled in Virginia in 1729; and Jane Pottenger, who came to Philadelphia in 1774.
The surname of POTTINGER was an English occupational name for a maker or seller of potage, a thick soup or stew. The name was originally derived from the Old French word POTAGIER, and was brought into England in the wake of the Norman Invasion of 1086. From the knowledge of herbs the potager gradually became looked upon as a medicine man or herbalist. The earliest of the name on record appears to be Walter le Potager, who was documented in 1303, and John le Potager was recorded in County Somerset, during the reign of Edward III (1327-1377). Simon de Potager appears in County York in 1400. Many factors contributed to the establishment of a surname system. For generations after the Norman Conquest of 1066 a very few dynasts and magnates passed on hereditary surnames, but the main of the population, with a wide choice of first-names out of Celtic, Old English, Norman and Latin, avoided ambiguity without the need for a second name. As society became more stabilized, there was property to leave in wills, the towns and villages grew and the labels that had served to distinguish a handful of folk in a friendly village were not adequate for a teeming slum where perhaps most of the householders were engaged in the same monotonous trade, so not even their occupations could distinguish them, and some first names were gaining a tiresome popularity, especially Thomas after 1170. The hereditary principle in surnames gained currency first in the South, and the poorer folk were slower to apply it. By the 14th century however, most of the population had acquired a second name. Later instances of the name mention Simon Potinger of Hampshire, registered at Oxford University in 1575, and Benjamin Pottinger and Elizabeth Dance were married at St. George's, Hanover Square, London in 1762. John Bostock and Anne Pottenger were wed at the same church in 1776. The associated coat of arms is recorded in Sir Bernard Burkes General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884.


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Another version of Pottinger coat of arms
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