- The Governor General of Canada
The contents of this Register are intended for research purposes only. The heraldic emblems found in the Register may not be reproduced in any form or in any media without the written consent of the Canadian Heraldic Authority and/or the recipient.
Janet Edna Merivale Austin
Vancouver, British Columbia
Registration of Arms
March 15, 2013
Vol. VI, p. 217
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Blazon
Arms
Azure on a chevron engrailed between three Latin crosses Or, three roses Gules barbed Vert seeded Or;
Crest
Issuant from a wreath of dwarf poinciana flowers proper, a demi-lion Or charged on its shoulder with three gouttes de poix and holding in its dexter paw a Latin cross erablé Gules;
Motto
MENS CONSCIA RECTI;
Symbolism
Arms
The arms and crest are based on an 1852 grant by the English Kings of Arms to the Right Reverend William Piercy Austin, Bishop of Guyana (1807-1892) and to other descendents of his grandfather Col. Thomas Austin (d. 1806). In this version of the arms, the blue field represents the service of Ms. Austin’s late father, Grey Howick Merivale Austin, as an officer in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. The three wild roses represent the Province of Alberta, where the late Mr. Austin had resided for most of his life. The passion crosses commemorate the service of Bishop Austin to the Church of England in the Caribbean and South America and his term as prelate of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George.
Crest
The cross of maple leaves indicates that these arms belong to a Canadian branch of Col. Thomas Austin’s descendents; in addition, the maple leaves on the arms of the cross represent Ms. Austin’s father’s four Canadian-born children and four Canadian-born grandchildren. The three black drops honour her father’s long career as a petroleum geologist. The wreath of Dwarf Poinciana flowers, the floral emblem of Barbados, represents her late father’s Barbadian origins.
Motto
Meaning “A mind conscious of rectitude,” this Latin phrase was first used by William Piercy Austin.