One of the Earl's ancestors is buried in Westminster Abbey in London. I seem
to remember there was a depiction of the creature from the badge above his
grave, but it really didn't do anything to settle the argument over whether
it is a lion or a talbot.
The carvings depicted at http://www.hubcom.co.uk/channel/pugin/PugAtow.htm
are definitely hounds.
The coat of arms on the original Talbot factory from 1903 looks virtually
the same as that on the Rootes Sunbeam badge.
http://www.petrie.starway.net.au/~sunbeam/factories/barlby.htm
Russ Maddock
Brisbane, Australia
-----Original Message-----
From: OldeAlp(at)aol.com <OldeAlp(at)aol.com>
To: alpines(at)autox.team.net <alpines(at)autox.team.net>
Date: Friday, 26 February 1999 10:54
Subject: nave plate motif`
>The hubcap badges used on Sunbeam Talbot Mark 2s and 3s and the "proper"
>Alpines of '53-'55 vintage are 1 3/8" in diameter. The originals had two
>studs each but the replacements only have a center stud.
>
>They are available to members of STAR for 5 and a half British pounds
(about
>nine yankee dollars) each. As I recall, there is a 20% surcharge for
>nonmembers. This is of course plus packing and shipping.
>
>
>The background of the crest is this:
>
>In 1902, the Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot put up the money to begin
British
>manufacture of the French car, Clement. In return for his largesse, the
>family name and crest - "a Talbot hound surmounted by a coronet" would be
used
>on the cars built both in London and in Paris.
>
>Several years ago, Paul Johnson of the San Diego club undertook a research
>project into heraldry (amazing what he found in the public library) and the
>Talbot hound. The dog appeared in the crests of quite a few aristocratic
>families in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Talbot hounds were a
treasured
>sporting and hunting dog. Alas, in the early 1900s, The Royal Kennel Club
>removed the Talbot hound from its lists as none had been registered for a
>number of years. As a distinctive breed, they are now considered extinct.
>
>So, yeah, the dog in our crests started looking more lionly as it was
>redesigned over the years, probably by people who didn't know of its
origin.
>
>
>"Ole" Olson
>
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