1. The Brass Plate in Stoke Gabriel Church.
	Most Churchwards, at some time or other, find their way to Stoke Gabriel in Devon, and in the church is a splendid stained glass window dedicated to the long association between the Churchward family and the village. Underneath the window is an equally splendid brass plate recording the fact - complete with a "coat of arms". All this is due to Frederick Churchward (1839-1923). "Squire Fred", as he was affectionately known, had been a successful banker until his retirement in 1906 - after which he took over Hill House in Stoke Gabriel. He was not a direct-line descendant of the Hill House family but, by that time, most of the family had emigrated and he was probably the only one left who could afford to keep the place. In the event he quickly bought himself into the affections of the villagers as their "Squire" and spent a good deal of money on improving Hill House and many other aspects of village life.
In 1966 an uncle of mine sent a rubbing of this plate to The College of Arms for an explanation. Once his palm had been crossed with silver, Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms was extremely dismissive about Fred's plate. People who have been granted arms are allowed to bear one crest, but the plate shows no less than three - unheard ofin heraldic terms. His only suggestion was that one quartering is that of the Goodridge family of Totnes and the motto - "Ales Volat Propriis" - is that used by the Tufton family. Some years later, a member of the Stoke Gabriel Churchward family told me that the plate contained a composite collection of the quarterings of some of the armigerous families into which the Churchwards of Hill House had married. They include the Rolfes; the Sladens; the Liewellyns and the Domvilles. The last named family being illegitimately descended from Henry the Second through the courtesy of his child's nurse.
2. The Arms of the Dimond-Churchward Family.
(NOTE: The above sample is taken from a set of drinks coasters - received as a well-meant Christmas present from a non-Churchward relative).	Several commercial organisations, when challenged to produce a coat of arms for any given surname, will usually find one - however obscure. So it is with the Churchward surname, and the coat of arms which is always 'found" is that granted to the Revd. Marcus Dimond Dimond-Churchward (1837-1916), Clerk Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral. They were granted to him and his descendants, and also to the other descendants of his late father - James Dimond-Churchward (1780-1838). The story starts with the father - who was born James Dimond, the third son of Faby Dimond and Mary (nee Churchward) - the only sister of James Churchward of Stoke Gabriel. In James Churchward's will of 1813 lands were left to James Dimond on condition that he changed his name to Churchward. On 22nd February 1817, James Dimond was permitted by a Royal Licence to take the name Churchward. The end result was the hyphenated Dimond-Churchward.
James Dimond-Churchward and his wife Catherine had eleven children, of whom six did not survive infancy. Of the remaining five, two daughters married and so lost the surname, two did not marry, and Marcus Dimond Dimond Churchward also did not marry. Any descendants would therefore not bear either the Dimond or the Dimond-Churchward name. The official description of the Dimond-Churchward arms is as follows: Blazoned Gules on a Fess Argent a Fleur de Lys between two Lozenges of the first in chief a Stag trippant of the second. Crest: On a Wreath of the Colours in front of a Stag's Head couped proper three Lozenges conjoined Gules each charged with a Fleur de Lys Or. Motto: Suavitier in Modo.	Hand painted version by Lady Mary Julia Churchward