The Coat of Arms first appears in 1337 when it was granted to Sir John de Coggeshall, b. 1302, d. 1361, by King Edward III, who knighted Sir John in 1337.  The exact date of the ceremony is not known.  The Arms that Sir John chose were a cross between four escallops.  The choice of a sable cross on a white or silver field is of great significance, denoting service in the Crusades (1092-1297).  From these dates it is certain that John himself did not see service, but that he was knighted during his term of duty as Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire and chose his arms in memory of an ancestor who was in Palestine.  Ralph Coggeshalle was in Jerusalem when that city was besieged by Saladin.  One can conjecture that John was in some way connected with Ralph, and chose his arms in his memory.

 The Crest was procured by John Coggeshall of Fornham St. Geneovese on 5 September 1575 of Robert Cooke Clarancieux, Duke of Clarence, this being a buck couchant, sable horned and elved or mantled gu dubbed silver.  The motto chosen denoted valiance and courage:  "Nec Sperno Nec Timeo" means "Neither do I despise nor fear."

 Research has found many instances of Cogswells using the Arms and/or Crest, and thus establishes the change of surname as being recognized by the College of Heralds  

Taken from "The Search for a Heritage" by Alan & Mickey Cogswell