Correspondence between the College of Arms and Barnes Wallis regarding his coat of arms

Correspondence related to Barnes Wallis' coat of arms and family tree. Barnes Wallis applied for a grant of arms and crest by letters patent following his knighthood, as was his right. The correspondence is mainly between Sir Anthony Wagner, Garter Principal King of Arms of the College of Arms, and Barnes Wallis though there is some correspondence between the Garter's Private Secretary and Barnes Wallace and Barnes Wallace and members of his family.

The file includes two black and white and two colour photographs of Barnes Wallis' coat of arms; a copy of a black and white drawing of an adapted version of the coat of arms to be engraved into stone; and a black and white photograph of the back of Barnes Wallis' father's pocket watch, which Barnes Wallis had engraved with his coat of arms.

Barnes Wallis' coat of arms includes symbolic representations of a bomb and a dam; a Welsh dragon and Irish shamrock to represent Wallis' lineage, and Icarus combined with a book to denote learning. It also includes the motto 'Spernit Humum Fugiente Penna', taken from Odes III.2.24 of Horace. This was suggested for inclusion by Barnes Wallis himself and translates as 'Severed from the earth with fleeting wing'.

There is also a small black and white portrait of the Reverend John Eyre, Wallis' great great great maternal grandfather, on the back of which is a handwritten sketch of Eyre's descendants.

The file also includes a copy of the Knights Bachelor supplement 1967/68, which lists the Knights Bachelors created since the last issue, of which Barnes Wallis is one.