Grants of arms have been made to worthy applicants since the 15th century and the practice continues to this day. These arms are described in Burke’s General Armory with the formal description known as a blazon. Over the centuries many families have simply assumed arms and crests belonging to other families usually without authority and without demonstrating relationship between the families. Arms are granted to a specific family and not to those with the same surname, The UK Society of Genealogists and other bodies take the view that the erroneous and widespread practice of adopting arms of a family of the same surname extracted from the General Armory is much to be deplored.

In the case of some surnames, and ‘Scholes’ is one of these, Burke is not able to identify the particular family entitled to the arms. As recorded in Burke, blazon of arms is as follows:

Arms: Lozengy sableand argent on a sinister cantonof the first an annulet or.

Crest: A cross crowden sable.

Fig12. Blazon of Arms

Fig13: Coat of Arms

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