House Rappe

The Swedish noble house Rappe is represented in the present Lord of Coley's personal arms by the silver horse on black. In Swedish heraldic practice this is a "speaking" motif: a black horse is described as a *rapp*, making the device both distinctive and historically appropriate for the name.

The introduced noble house Rappe was ennobled in the late seventeenth century and introduced at the Riddarhuset as no. 1284. While that introduced *adlig* line eventually became extinct in the male line in Sweden, the family's story continues in a higher dignity through a later elevation: the baronial house Rappe (no. 287). This is the branch that carries the lineage forward into the modern period.

For the Coley–Vachell narrative the key connection runs through Hedvig Leijoncrona (1698–1770), daughter of the Swedish envoy Christoffer Leijoncrona and Françoise Vachell of Coley Park, Reading. Hedvig married Lieutenant Erik Rappe (1695–1737), and their descendants anchor the best-documented Swedish continuation of the Vachell line. It is this same family context that frames the later nineteenth-century baronesses of the Rappe line who appear elsewhere on this site.

Further Reading:

• Riddarhuset (MINERVA): Rappe (no. 1284) and Rappe (no. 287).
• Elgenstierna, Gustaf (ed.). Den introducerade svenska adelns ättartavlor.
• Adelsvapen-Wiki: Rappe nr 1284; Rappe nr 287.