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Toronto, Ontario
Grant of Arms
February 15, 2005
Vol. IV, p. 422
Arms of William Livesay Beverley HeathBlazonGules on a cross Argent voided throughout of the field, an infantry officer’s sword hilt in chief Argent, on a chief double arched Argent a torteau between two billets fesswise Gules; SymbolismThe double arch of the chief creates an implied heart below it, which represents big-heartedness and the qualities of courage and of love – of wife, children, grandchildren, family, friends, country, church, and God. The infantry officer’s sword symbolizes his military service and involvement in the Royal Canadian Military Institute. It is placed with the point down, in remembrance of the sacrifice of friends and ancestors in the service of their ideals. The outline of a cross, in one sense, is a reference to the arms of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem of which Mr. Heath is a member. In another, it is a reference to his Christian faith and service in various lay capacities in the Anglican Church of Canada. The chief is double arched to suggest a bridge, and refers to his former (and ancestral) business of international trade brokerage, connecting two worlds. The billets placed horizontally – to symbolize shipping containers – sustain this allusion. The roundel is a reference, firstly, to the ha’penny Condor trade token created in 1794 by Mr. Heath’s ancestor Charles Heath of Colchester, Essex, and, secondly, to the fact that Mr. Heath’s prosperity enabled his son, and thus his descendants, to enter both military and commercial service. |
CrestBlazonA wolf’s head erased proper gorged with a coronet of maple leaves and trillium flowers, holding in its mouth a broken spear Gules; SymbolismThe crest contains a wolf’s head, a symbol traditionally used by the family in their English heritage. The wolf represents the Heath family’s irrepressible nature and enthusiasm for life – an energy that “breaks the spear” of those who would attack or diminish it. Yet that energy is here “tamed” to the benefit of the whole community. The collar is an Ontario coronet, an element in the crest of the Royal Canadian Military Institute and is chosen in part to represent his involvement in that grant. More importantly, it alludes to the lengthy public service of Mr. Heath’s ancestors to the province of Upper Canada, now Ontario, since 1836. |
MottoBlazonDUM SPIRO SPERO; SymbolismThe Latin phrase means "While I breathe, I hope". |
BackgroundCanada Gazette InformationThe announcement of the letters patent was made on June 11, 2005 in Volume 139, page 2034 of the Canada Gazette.  |
Additional InformationCreator(s)Original concept of Robert Black, assisted by the Heralds of the Canadian Heraldic Authority PainterDavid Farrar CalligrapherDoris Wionzek Recipient TypeIndividual |