DEVONPORT COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL |
ARMS: Per fesse Azure and Argent in chief a Naval Crown encircled by two Branches of Oak in saltire slipped Or and in base a Ship in frame proper. Motto 'PRORSUM SEMPER HONESTE' - Ever forward in uprightness. |
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In 1690 the Admiralty gave a contract to Robert Waters from Portsmouth to build a stone dock at Point Froward on the east bank of the Hamoaze at the mouth of the River Tamar. Plymouth Dock, as Devonport was originally called, began around 1700 as a small settlement to house workers employed on the new naval base that was being built around Waters' dock. By 1811 the population of Plymouth Dock had grown and the residents resented the fact that its name made it sound like an adjunct of Plymouth. In 1823 a petition to King George IV requested the town should be renamed, and suggested "Devonport", to which the king agreed. Devonport was first incorporated as a municipal borough in 1837 and became a county borough in 1889. Devonport was one of the "Three Towns" (along with Plymouth and East Stonehouse); that were merged in 1914 to form what would become in 1928 the City of Plymouth. |
PAIGNTON URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL |
ARMS: Barry wavy of six Argent and Azure a representation of the Coverdale Tower Or. Motto 'SEMPER ACCEPTUS' - Ever welcome. |
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Against a background representing the sea is the tower of the episcopal palace built by Osbertus, first Norman Bishop of Exeter. The tower is adjacent to Paignton Parish Church and is named after Bishop Miles Coverdale, who published an English translation of the Bible in 1536. Coverdale was Bishop of Exeter between 1551 and 1553 and is reputed to have lived in the tower. |
TORQUAY BOROUGH COUNCIL |
ARMS: Ermine three Bendlets Azure a Ship in full sail proper colours flying Gules a Chief wavy of the last thereon a Pale Argent charged with a castllated Gateway on a Mount proper the vane of the fourth between two wings of the fifth. Motto 'SALUS ET FELICITAS' - Health and Happiness. |
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The wings appear to be derived from the arms of the Ridgeway family, Earls of Londonderry, who held the Manor of Tor Mohun on which the sea-side resort was largely built. In 1876 the Local Board of Health obtained the sanction of Government to alter the name of the district from Tormoham to Torquay. The gateway refers to that of Torre Abbey and the other emblems represent the town's historic naval and maritime associations. |
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