Cloth Seal, Davison Coat of Arms on Crowned Shield, Image & Found by Lloyd Draper.
Found near the town of Lewiston, county of Niagara in New York, USA, 38mm diameter.
Bird, wings addorsed, on coronet over shield bearing a fesse wavy with three cinquefoils above and three below.
"I am sending photos of some lead seals found near the town of Lewiston, county of Niagara in New York, USA. The site is in an area of British Army occupation from the mid 1700s until the end of the War of 1812. There were also a few two part bale seals found in the same site. All of these have some gilding still on them and the backs are all blank with a mold mark on each. The back which is shown has a Union Jack roughly scratched into it as can be seen. I neglected to photograph with measurements, but are roughly the size of an American half dollar. The first three have coat of arms from King Georges I, II,and III. The last two are of unidentified shield and symbols. Maybe you can help me identify the purpose of these and how they were used and why found in USA. Much appreciation for any information."
More information has been provided by VoronX of the Flags Forum
"I don't know much of the subtleties of shield shape and the crown, but It seems to correspond to "Davison".
From An alphabetical dictionary of coats of arms belonging to families ..., Volume 1 By John Woody Papworth, p. 757:
Or a fess wavy betw six cinquefoils gu Davison Newcastle on Tyne Davison Lanton and Swarland Northumberland Davison Piero point near Farnham Surrey
also:
http://heraldry.100.vg/2010/10/20/Davison-lastname-origin-genealogy-heraldry/
http://www.sandmartyn.freeserve.co.uk/Heraldry/roll01/lhsnc.html (twice, Davison and Railph Cocke, 1/3 way down page)
The area of Niagara is where many Loyalists fled during the American Revolutionary War."
More information from Lloyd:-
"I Just visited a fellow detectorist in town who has found a number of artefacts from the Revolutionary War period in a site which is the only known Rev. War site in our town. It is known as Brant's Spring and was a watering hole for Butler's Rangers and others traveling in this area on their way to Fort Niagara. He has three seals the size of mine. Two are identical to each other and have the inscription Albert Davison, Broker, London and the other has a shield like mine , only smaller, with the six cinquefoils separated by the banner three above and three below with the crown and raven on top. All three in beautiful shape. These may confirm the information in your e-mail that the crest was from the family of Davison. My seals were found about three miles out from these, along the same route that was normally traveled in that time. A Butler's Ranger button had been found near my site and may indicate another Rev. War period site, which. could date my seals to that period as opposed to War of 1812 period. I think that my King George seals date prior to the dropping of the House of Hanover from his shield and would likely indicate Rev. War material."
