Blazons & Genealogy Notes

Or, a pale gu. in chief two frets, and in base another counterchanged. Crest—A beacon fired ppr.

Origin, Meaning and Family History of the Boak Name

<h3>Boak Origin:</h3>
<p>England, Germany</p>
<h3>Origins of Boak:</h3>
<p>This common surname noted with over fifty different spellings, acquires from the pre 5th century Olde German and after that in an Anglo-Saxon word “baecc.”  It represents a water source, or as a name especially for a person who resided or worked by a river.  The different spellings of the new surname which records from the early 13th century, contain as Bach, Bache, Bak, Bake, Balk, Balck, Batch, Beck, Bock, Boak, Boake, Beckmann, Becker, Bacher, Pach, Pachman, Ubach, and much more.  The name is noted in almost every European country but is most famous in Germany and England.  It is a fact in the latter country that most of the early documentation appeared.  England was the first country to adopt ancestral surnames as we know them today, for all its people.  Original surname records in other countries where they exist, frequently relate only to the royalty or ministry.  Amongst these very early English records are those of Robert de Basche, an observer at the Assize Court of the town of Stafford in the year 1199, and Mary Boake who married Thomas Eason at St Mary at Hill, the in the city of London in 1645. In Germany Heinrich Bach noted as being the bishop of the town of Villingen in 1447.  Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) the famous German writer, was the musical administrator to Prince Leopold of Kothen in 1716, and after that musical manager for the city of Leipzig from 1728 to his death.</p>
<h3>Variations:</h3>
<p>More common variations are: Bowak, came in Philadelphia in, Boyak, Boakh, in, Boako, Boaky, Boaka, Bouak, Boiak.</p>
<h3>Scotland:</h3>
<p>The surname Boak first appeared in Berwickshire an old district of Scotland, directly part of the Scottish Borders Cabinet Area, found in the eastern part of the Borders in the Country of Scotland, where they held a family seat from old times, long before the Norman Invasion in 1066.</p>
<h3>England:</h3>
<p>The very first recording spelling of the family was shown to be that of Reiner de Bache, dated about 1212,  in the “rolls of the county of Lincolnshire,” England.   The origin of surnames during this period became a necessity with the introduction of personal taxation.  It came to be known as Poll Tax in England.  Surnames all over the country began to develop, with unique and shocking spelling varieties of the original one. </p>
<h3>Ireland:</h3>
<p>Many of the people with surname Boak had moved to Ireland during the 17th century.  </p>
<h3>United States of America:</h3>
<p>Some of the people with the surname Boak who arrived in the United States in the 19th century included Letitia Boak, who arrived in New York in the year 1841.  Antony Boak came to Philadelphia in the year 1872.</p>
<p>Here is the population distribution of the last name Boak: United States 966; England 441; Canada 222; Australia 217; Scotland 151; New Zealand 19; Indonesia 10; Malaysia 3; India 2; Kuwait 2.</p>
<h3>Notable People:</h3>
<p>Chester Robert Boak (June 1935–November 1983) was an American professional baseball player who played in ten Major League Baseball games over two seasons for the 1960 Kansas City Sports and five more for the 1961 Washington Senators.  </p>
<p>John Boak (June 1837-October 1876) was a Scottish cricket player.  He was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm fast.  He was born in Edinburgh and got an early education at the Royal High School.  He made his only first-class debut for Middlesex against the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord’s in 1873.  In his only first-class match, he added 19 runs at a batting average of 9.50, with a high score of 11. </p>
<p>Keith Boak is a British film and television manager, who was famous for his work on a famous drama series.  He now lives and works in the United States.</p>
<p>Travis Boak (born 1 August 1988) is an Australian rules football player and is the 63rd director of the Port Adelaide Football Club which plays in the Australian Football League (AFL).  </p>

Boak Coat of Arms Meaning

The three main devices (symbols) in the Boak blazon are the fret, beacon and pale. The two main tinctures (colors) are or and gules.

The bright yellow colour frequently found in coats of arms is known to heralds as Or, or sometimes simply as Gold.¹Boutell’s Heraldry, J.P. Brooke-Little, Warne, (revised Edition) London 1970, P 27. Along with, argent, or silver it forms the two “metals” of heraldry – one of the guidelines of heraldic design is that silver objects should not be placed upon gold fields and vice versa ²A Complete Guide to Heraldry, A.C. Fox-Davies, Bonanza (re-print of 1909 Edition), New York, 1978, P85. The yellow colour is often associated with the Sun, and the zodiacal sign of Leo.³Understanding Signs & Symbols – Heraldry, S. Oliver & G. Croton, Quantum, London, 2013, P53.

Red in heraldry is given the name Gules, sometimes said to be the “martyr’s colour”⁴The Symbolisms of Heraldry, W. Cecil Wade, George Redway, London, 1898 P36. The colour is also associated with Mars, the red planet, and the zodiacal sign Aries ⁵Understanding Signs & Symbols – Heraldry, S. Oliver & G. Croton, Quantum, London, 2013, P53. Later heralds of a more poetical nature would sometimes refer to the colour as ruby, after the precious stone.⁶A Complete Guide to Heraldry, A.C. Fox-Davies, Bonanza (re-print of 1909 Edition), New York, 1978, P77.

The fret is a striking charge, often occupying the whole of the field and being two instersecting diagonal lines interlaced with the outline of a square. ⁷A Glossary of Terms used in British Heraldry, J.H. Parker, Oxford, 1894, Entry:Fret It is believed to be derived from the image of a fishing net, which it does indeed resemble, and hence Wade believes that it should signify persuasion, although other writers regard it separately as the “the heraldic true lovers knot” ⁸The Symbolisms of Heraldry, W. Cecil Wade, George Redway, London, 1898 P118

The Beacon is an iron basket raised on a post used for signalling in the event of peril or invasion and can be borne in flames or empty. A similar device, used more prosaically as a street light is the cresset. ⁹A Glossary of Terms used in British Heraldry, J.H. Parker, Oxford, 1894, Entry:Beacon Either device, for reasons that should be quite clear are to be regarded as emblems of “one who is watchful”. ¹⁰The Symbolisms of Heraldry, W. Cecil Wade, George Redway, London, 1898 P116

The Pale is one of the major, so called ordinaries, significant objects that extend across the entire field of the shield. The pale being a broad vertical band up the centre of the shield ¹¹A Glossary of Terms used in British Heraldry, J.H. Parker, Oxford, 1894, Entry:Pale. In origin, the word probably has its roots in the same place as palisade, a defensive wall made of closely space upright timbers. Indeed, it is possible that the original “pales” arose where a wooden shield was constructed of vertical planks painted in different hues ¹²A Complete Guide to Heraldry, A.C. Fox-Davies, Bonanza (re-print of 1909 Edition), New York, 1978, Chapter 1. This is perhaps why Wade, a writer on Heraldic Symbology suggested that denotes “military strength and fortitude” ¹³The Symbolisms of Heraldry, W. Cecil Wade, George Redway, London, 1898 P47.