According to tradition, the armiger’s surname is Anglicized French, and the original immigrant to North America was of Huguenot extraction.

His paternal line can be definitively traced to the Chesapeake Bay region circa 1685, but conclusive genealogical proof connecting the family to their European origin is as yet undiscovered. The armiger’s direct female ancestors were predominantly of Scots-Irish descent.

The three portcullises form a cant on the armiger’s surname (a few gates). The bull represents farming and animal husbandry as historically practiced (through vocation or avocation) by the armiger and his forbearers.

The woodcock forming the crest is found in the wooded upland environs of the armiger’s home, and is much admired for its travelling stamina and wariness, as well as prized as a wing shooting quarry by the armiger.

The motto is translated "One needs to form one's own judgement", or more idiomatically "Think for yourself".