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Clan Thompson Society
Clan Thompson
Society
Clan Thompson
Society
FAQS
What is an honourable community?
This may seem a stupid question at this point, but.......were Thom(p)sons ever a clan?
Can MacTavish claim Thom(p)sons?
Question: Is it Thompson or Thomson?
Answer: Standardization of the spelling of surnames (orthography) came much later than most people realize. Thomson and Thompson are the same name and it is only from the mid-18th century that those north of the Forth and Clyde tended to stick to Thomson while those further south and in England moved towards Thompson as the standard. These are generalizations only. Prior to this time you can find legal documents with a man's name spelled as Thomson and Thompson on the same page.
Question: What is an honourable community?
Answer: In brief, an honourable community is a Scottish group recognized as such by Lyon, sharing the same name, and behaving in a way similar to that of a clan that descends from a common ancestor -- even though it does not have a common ancestor. There will be arms believed by Lyon to be the stem arms of the family name, even though no one bears them today, and anyone of the name seeking a grant will, in normal circumstances, receive a differenced version of those stem arms.
Question: What is a clan?
Answer: The official word from Lyon Office is --
The clan
system is closely bound up with Scottish heraldry. The best definition of a clan
provided by a heraldic authority is contained in Nisbet's "System of Heraldry", published
in 1722: ‘A social group consisting of an aggregate of distinct erected families
actually descended, or accepting themselves as descendants of a common ancestor,
and which has been received by the Sovereign through its Supreme Officer of Honour,
the Lord Lyon, as an honourable
