[Illustration] The Copes appear in the character of civil servants
of the crown in the reign of Richard II. and Henry IV., and were
rewarded with large grants of land in the counties of Northampton
and Buckingham. Hardwick and Hanwell, both in the neighbourhood of
Banbury, were subsequently the family seats, and are noticed by
Leland, who calls the latter "a very pleasant and gallant house."
Towards the end of the seventeenth century the family appear to have
been established at Bramshill, traditionally said to have been built
for Henry Prince of Wales, eldest son of King James I.
See Wotton's Baronetage i. p. 112; and Beesley's History of Banbury,
p. 190.
ARMS.--_Argent, on a chevron azure between three roses gules,
slipped and leaved vert, as many fleurs-de-lis or_. The original
coat was, _Argent, a boar passant sable_, which William Cope,
Cofferer to Henry VII., abandoned for _Argent, three coffers sable_,
allusive to his office; but he afterwards had assigned to him the
present arms alluding to the royal badges of the crown.
Present Representative, the Rev. Sir William Henry Cope, 12th
Baronet.