What is said to be the earliest recorded  Hunt coat-of-arms is described in ancient heraldic records as:-

Shield: Argent . A buglehorn or,  stringed gules, on a chief azure; three mullet pierced or.

Crest: A buglehorn as in the arms.

In translation this would be:-

Shield: White background, a hunting horn  of gold with a red strap or string, a blue bar at the top of the shield and on it,  three gold stars with holes in their centers. 

Crest: A hunting horn the same as  that on the shield.

Symbolism; the white background symbolizes peace and sincerity. The buglehorn represents high pursuits and in this case refers to the name itself.  The Mullets suggest a divine quality bestowed,

The Motto associated with the coat-of-arms is

 

“Cor nobyle – Cor immobyle”

meaning

“A heart noble – a mind determined.”

 

Hunt is a nickname for a Huntsman, from the Old English “Hunta” The name is also to be found in the Norman French form “Le Hunte” as early as the 13^th century.

The name in Devon goes back to the 16^th Century and other branches at that time were in Shropshire London and East Anglia as well as in the Midlands & South-west.

Notable bearers of the name were

• Thomas Hunt,  three times Mayor of Exeter in the sixteenth century, 

• Henry Hunt, the famous political reformer  (1773 – 1835) whose magnificent oratory was in full flood to a group of unarmed civilians when the events - later known as the "Peterloo Massacre” - took place in 1819.

• James Leigh Hunt (1784 – 1859) ,  the romantic poet is remembered for his friendship with Keats and Shelley as well as Byron and Lamb.

In this century, history was made by Brigadier Sir John Hunt who - together with Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing Norgay - led the successful Mount Everest climb in 1953, news coming on the day of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

 

 Source unknown. October 1998.