Pike Surname DNA Project

Pike Family Coats of Arms

Several different coats of arms have been used by various Pike and Pyke families. This page attempts to gather information about each such coat of arms. If you have information that can help, then please contact David Pike at dapike@mun.ca.

The book "Heraldry of Fish - Notices of the Principal Families Bearing Fish in Their Arms" written in 1842 by Thomas Moule has an interesting chapter "The Pike, or Luce, and Flying Fish" starting on page 49. This book can be seen online at this link.

Coat of Arms Information

The first image to the left is the coat of arms that the Pike Family Association adopted in 1902. It is said to have been brought to Massachusetts with John Pike when he settled there in 1635. John and his descendants belong to our DNA Project's "Group 1". The inscription reads "L'Amour, La Vertu & La Paix".
Records of the PFA give the heraldic description as "He Beareth Argent. Chevron Gules between Three Crescent Vert, Crest three pikes proper one erect the two Salttire Ways by the name of Pike"
Subsequent records of the PFA cite Weaver's "Visitation of Somerset" (page 64) as referring to "Pikes Ash in Martock and of Moorlinch, also called West Bridgewater, Arms Per pale Az. & Sa. over all three crescents Or." The PFA records then state that this coat of arms belonged to Sir Richard Pyke who was alive in the 8th year of the reign of King Richard II (i.e. 1385).
The wax seal shown in the second image to the left was found on a document dated 10 January 1718 and signed by Thomas Pike, Merchant of Poole, Dorset. Specifically, the seal appears as part of Thomas' signature, right after he wrote "Thos" and just before he wrote "Pike". Thomas and/or his brothers are likely ancestors of the Pikes who settled in Conception Bay, Newfoundland and are now in our DNA Project's "Group 2".
The document can be found at the Dorset History Centre with reference number D.1/2495. The photo of the wax seal is used here with the permission of the DHC. If you should happen to know the whereabouts of the ring that left this impression, please contact me at dapike@mun.ca.

Image credits: Pike Family Association, David Pike

This is the coat of arms of George Pyke of Meldreth, Cambridgeshire, who died in 1658.
Image credits: Posts at Rootschat.

The coat of arms of George Pyke (likely the son of George Pyke of Meldreth, Cambridgeshire, whose arms are shown above). This monument is located in the Church of St Augustine of Canterbury in Birdbrook, Essex.
A larger version of the photo to the left is available here.
Image credits: John Whitworth and www.essexchurches.info.

I don't yet have a photo of this coat. The coat of arms of John Pykes of Bristol, as described in The Visitation of Gloucestershire 1623 is:
Quarterly 1 and 4, Gules, three piles in point wavy issuing from the chief argent within a bordure of the last, a mullet for difference; 2 and 3, The quarterly coat of THORNE as above.
The reference to THORNE is to the coat of arms of the THORNE family (John's father-in-law was Nicholas Thorne).
John's son Nicholas left a will written in 1632 in which he states "I give to my sonne Walter my ringe of gold wherewith I seale graven with my armes"

Coat of arms from Devon.
To view a larger image of this coat of arms, click here. Image credits: Eddie Geoghegan.

Coat of arms from Mayo, Ireland.
Records of the PFA give the heraldic description as: "Ar. three trefoils slipped vert, crest a pike, naiant, ppr."
To view a larger image of this coat of arms, click here. Image credits: Eddie Geoghegan.
This coat appears to be substantially similar to the one described on page 659 of the book "Armorial Families: A Directory of Some Gentlemen of Coat-Armour, Showing Which Arms in Use at the Moment are Borne by Legal Authority" written by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies in 1899 as follows:
RICHARD NICHOLSON PIKE, R.N., Gentleman. Born May 18, 1880, being the elder son of the late Major Richard James Pike, 12th Regiment, Justice of the Peace, of Glendarary (who died 1891), by his wife Mary Emily, second daughter of the late Charles Todd-Naylor, Esquire. Armorial bearings--He bears for Arms: Per pale or and argent, on a chevron azure, between three trefoils slipped vert, an escallop of the second. Upon the escutcheon is placed a helmet befitting his degree, with a mantling azure and or; and for his Crest, upon a wreath of the colours, an arm embowed in armour, gauntleted, grasping a broken pike all proper, and charged with an escallop azure. Motto--"Vrai à la fin." Seat--Glendarary, Achill Sound, Westport, in the county of Mayo.

Coat of arms from Essex.
Records of the PFA give the heraldic description as: "Sa. on a pale ar., three crosses formee, gu. within a bordure, engr. of the second."
To view a larger image of this coat of arms, click here. Image credits: Eddie Geoghegan.

Coat of arms from Scotland.
Image credits: www.coats-of-arms.com.

Coat of Arms	Information
	The first image to the left is the coat of arms that the Pike Family Association adopted in 1902. It is said to have been brought to Massachusetts with John Pike when he settled there in 1635. John and his descendants belong to our DNA Project's "Group 1". The inscription reads "L'Amour, La Vertu & La Paix". Records of the PFA give the heraldic description as "He Beareth Argent. Chevron Gules between Three Crescent Vert, Crest three pikes proper one erect the two Salttire Ways by the name of Pike" Subsequent records of the PFA cite Weaver's "Visitation of Somerset" (page 64) as referring to "Pikes Ash in Martock and of Moorlinch, also called West Bridgewater, Arms Per pale Az. & Sa. over all three crescents Or." The PFA records then state that this coat of arms belonged to Sir Richard Pyke who was alive in the 8th year of the reign of King Richard II (i.e. 1385). The wax seal shown in the second image to the left was found on a document dated 10 January 1718 and signed by Thomas Pike, Merchant of Poole, Dorset. Specifically, the seal appears as part of Thomas' signature, right after he wrote "Thos" and just before he wrote "Pike". Thomas and/or his brothers are likely ancestors of the Pikes who settled in Conception Bay, Newfoundland and are now in our DNA Project's "Group 2". The document can be found at the Dorset History Centre with reference number D.1/2495. The photo of the wax seal is used here with the permission of the DHC. If you should happen to know the whereabouts of the ring that left this impression, please contact me at dapike@mun.ca. Image credits: Pike Family Association, David Pike
	This is the coat of arms of George Pyke of Meldreth, Cambridgeshire, who died in 1658. Image credits: Posts at Rootschat.
	The coat of arms of George Pyke (likely the son of George Pyke of Meldreth, Cambridgeshire, whose arms are shown above). This monument is located in the Church of St Augustine of Canterbury in Birdbrook, Essex. A larger version of the photo to the left is available here. Image credits: John Whitworth and www.essexchurches.info.
I don't yet have a photo of this coat.	The coat of arms of John Pykes of Bristol, as described in The Visitation of Gloucestershire 1623 is: Quarterly 1 and 4, Gules, three piles in point wavy issuing from the chief argent within a bordure of the last, a mullet for difference; 2 and 3, The quarterly coat of THORNE as above. The reference to THORNE is to the coat of arms of the THORNE family (John's father-in-law was Nicholas Thorne). John's son Nicholas left a will written in 1632 in which he states "I give to my sonne Walter my ringe of gold wherewith I seale graven with my armes"
	Coat of arms from Devon. To view a larger image of this coat of arms, click here. Image credits: Eddie Geoghegan.
	Coat of arms from Mayo, Ireland. Records of the PFA give the heraldic description as: "Ar. three trefoils slipped vert, crest a pike, naiant, ppr." To view a larger image of this coat of arms, click here. Image credits: Eddie Geoghegan. This coat appears to be substantially similar to the one described on page 659 of the book "Armorial Families: A Directory of Some Gentlemen of Coat-Armour, Showing Which Arms in Use at the Moment are Borne by Legal Authority" written by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies in 1899 as follows: RICHARD NICHOLSON PIKE, R.N., Gentleman. Born May 18, 1880, being the elder son of the late Major Richard James Pike, 12th Regiment, Justice of the Peace, of Glendarary (who died 1891), by his wife Mary Emily, second daughter of the late Charles Todd-Naylor, Esquire. Armorial bearings--He bears for Arms: Per pale or and argent, on a chevron azure, between three trefoils slipped vert, an escallop of the second. Upon the escutcheon is placed a helmet befitting his degree, with a mantling azure and or; and for his Crest, upon a wreath of the colours, an arm embowed in armour, gauntleted, grasping a broken pike all proper, and charged with an escallop azure. Motto--"Vrai à la fin." Seat--Glendarary, Achill Sound, Westport, in the county of Mayo.
	Coat of arms from Essex. Records of the PFA give the heraldic description as: "Sa. on a pale ar., three crosses formee, gu. within a bordure, engr. of the second." To view a larger image of this coat of arms, click here. Image credits: Eddie Geoghegan.
	Coat of arms from Scotland. Image credits: www.coats-of-arms.com.

Last Modified: Monday, 20 March 2023, 10:37:24 NDT