Survey of London Monograph 16, College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street. Originally published by Guild & School of Handicraft, London, 1963.
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Walter H Godfrey, Anthony Wagner, 'Clarenceux King of Arms', in Survey of London Monograph 16, College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street( London, 1963), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/bk16/pp74-101 [accessed 23 November 2024].
Walter H Godfrey, Anthony Wagner, 'Clarenceux King of Arms', in Survey of London Monograph 16, College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street( London, 1963), British History Online, accessed November 23, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/bk16/pp74-101.
Walter H Godfrey, Anthony Wagner. "Clarenceux King of Arms". Survey of London Monograph 16, College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street. (London, 1963), , British History Online. Web. 23 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/bk16/pp74-101.
CLARENCEUX KING OF ARMS
Clarenceux, meaning the inhabitants of Clarence, that is the domains of the Earls of Clare, is first known in connection with a king of arms c. 1334 in the person of Andrew 'Clarencell (orum) rex heraldus'.
Clarenceux's province has always been the southern part of England, and at least from the sixteenth century has included all England from the river Trent southwards. In Henry IV's reign this province was apparently ruled by Leicester, but by 1420 Clarenceux was accepted as the southern king's name of office. He is the senior of the provincial kings.
The name Clarenceux is sometimes given to Clarence herald, q.v.
Official arms in use by c. 1500: Argent, a cross gules, & on a chief gules a lion passant guardant crowned with an open crown or.
The lion's crown was sometimes omitted and sometimes argent, while Hawley, Hervy, Cooke, Lee and Camden added a fleur de lis azure in the canton.
1. ANDREW...
Clarenceux, c. 1334.
Named as Andrew 'Clarencell' (? Clarencellus or Clarencellorum) rex heraldus' in Wardrobe Account, 19 June 1334 (B.M. MS. Add. 46350). Note that he is there linked with 'sociis suis fac' menestra' sua' coram Regem'.
2. RICHARD SPENSER
Herald, marshal of the southern province, c. 1383.
As 'Heraud Mariscall del Suth' sent overseas 16 September 1383 (French roll, 7 Ric. II, m. 23); perhaps the 'Marescallus Heraldus' sent to Ireland Michaelmas Term, 18 Ric. II, 1394 (Anstis, Reg. Garter, 1, 466–7).
3. WILLIAM HORSLEY
Guyenne, herald, temp Hen. V.
Clarenceux, c. 1419.
Attended Chapter of Heralds at Rouen 5 January 1420, as 'Guillaume Horseley autrement dit Clarenceux Roi d'armes des Clarenceux'.
Some lists call him Leopard herald and Ireland king temp. Hen. V. Lant only names him as Guyenne and Clarenceux.
Arms: Checky of 9 pieces azure & or with an escallop or in dexter chief.
4. JOHN COSOUN
Arundel, c. 1413.
Mowbray, c. 1416.
Clarenceux, c. 1425.
In 1413 Arundel herald was sent to Portugal; this must be 'John Cosoun Arundell Herowd' who attended Thomas, Earl of Arundel at Harfleur and on his fatal illness October 1415. Thereafter was engaged by John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, and was called Mowbray. He became Clarenceux c. 1425; d. 6 February 1428, and was buried in St Olave's, Hart St (brass). His widow appears as 'Emma Clarenceux' in 1429 and his s. as 'Richardus Arundel filius Johannis Clarenceux Regis Armorum' in 1426.
Lant, who took Mowbray to be John's personal surname and attributed to him the arms of Mowbray differenced, lists him as successively Cadran and Rouge Croix pursuivants and Exeter herald, statements which seem to be pure imagination. See Rouge Croix (6).
('The Lost Brass of John Clarenceux, 1428', in Trans. Mon. Brass Soc., ix, 301.)
Arms: Gules, a lion argent in a border gobony or & azure.
5. ROGER LEGH or LYGH
Wallingford, temp. Hen. V.
Rouge Croix, 8 Hen. V.
Gloucester, herald, c. 22 February 1431.
Clarenceux, cr. 8 May 1435.
Said to have been Wallingford, Rouge Croix and Chester; the last impossible; the pursuivantships uncorroborated; was really Gloucester, herald to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester 1414–47. A protection dat. 22 February 1431 calls him Roger Lygh alias Gloucester, herald, and another of 4 March 1436, 'Rogerus Legh de Londonia Heraud, alias dictus Rogerus Gloucestre, alias dictus Rogerus Gloucestre de Newynton in Comitatu Surriae, alias dictus Rogerus Clarenceux Rex Armorum de Newynton in Comitatu Surriae, Heraud'; he was then about to accompany the Duke of York to France.
Probably the Gloucester herald who with Lancaster received the royal largess at St George's Feast, 1426 and who in 1427 carried the Garter livery to the Duke of Coimbra in Portugal. Sent to France in 1432 and in September he and de Fugiers, Segret pursuivant to Sir John Fastolf, were robbed on their way from Rouen to Dieppe; Clarenceux 1435; to Scotland March 1436 and later accompanied Duke of York to Normandy; to Normandy again 1441 and to Scotland 1451; 1453 sent with John Newport to invest kings of Aragon and Poland with the Garter.
D. in or shortly before 1460; p.s. 30 November 1460, says he died in great penury and his widow Margaret was living on charity.
Thirteen patents of arms known to have been given by him 1440–50. That to May 1440 peculiar in that arms are to be borne by grantee, his heirs and his assigns.
Among books in Benolt bequest is 'a booke of Visitation of many shires wit Lond. and princes painted wit men of armes, made by Roger Legh als. Clarenceux King of armes' (H. & H., p. 150). The volume was soon broken up and the four sections have now been identified as the Military roll ('many shires', MSS. Harl. 4205 and Add. 45133—see C.E.M.R.A., p. 93); the Aldermen (or Vis'n) of London (Guildhall Library—C.E.M.R.A., p. 96); the figures of kings of England ('princes', Harl. 4205) and the figures of parliamentary roll bannerets ('men of armes') ibid.; all were executed in the 1440's, the Aldermen by the same hand which limned Bruges' Book.
Arms: Legh sealed with a shield of (argent), 3 anchors (sable) impaling... barruly (or 3 gemels)...on a chief...3 saltires.
Lant mis-attributes the 3 anchors to Hawkeslowe & gives Legh, Ermine on a chevron sable 3 bezants.
6. WILLIAM HAWKESLOWE
Wallingford, temp. Hen. VI.
Bluemantle, temp. Hen. VI.
Leopard, temp. Hen. VI.
Guyenne, king, temp. Ed. IV.
Clarenceux, c. 1461.
Said to have been Wallingford, Bluemantle and Leopard temp. Hen. VI and Guyenne king temp. Ed. IV; cannot have been Guyenne king for that title was in Wrexworth from 1445 to 1463 or later. (Can he have been Guyenne herald?) Appd Clarenceux between December 1460 and November 1461. Sent to Scotland 1461 to bring back Sir Andrew Ogard's young son who had been taken there by Queen Margaret (Cal. Doc. Scot., iv; Rymer, xi, 481); on 1475 expedition to France; drowned in Spanish Seas 1476, requiem at St Mary Somerset 7 May; d. in debt and Edward IV ordered provision to be made for his widow and children, p.s. 26 February 1478.
Made over a dozen grants of arms between 1461 and 1475 including Upholders', Carpenters', Cooks', Fletchers', Brewers' and Freemasons' Companies. Benolt possessed 'A book of visitation of many shires with London & other noble records made by William Hawkeslowe alias Clarencieux king of arms, painted with men of arms'.
Arms: on official seal: ..., a sun or molet of 8 points throughout...in a border ermine. Crest: A lion statant guardant.... Counterseal: A lion passant guardant.
(Barnard, Edward IV's French Expedition of 1475, p. 135; Welch, Coat Armour of London Livery Companies, passim; Hearne, Curious Discourses, 1, 145; Misc. Gen. & Her., 4s, v, 122, 270–2; H. & H., pp. 77, 111–12, 150; R. & C, p. 66.)
7. SIR THOMAS HOLME
Falcon, pursuivant, temp. Hen. VI.
Rouge Croix, c. 19 May 1457.
Windsor, c. Easter term 1461.
Norroy, appd c. Easter 1464, p.s. 23 September, pat. 8 October 1467.
Clarenceux, pat. 1 August 1476, confirmed 17 February 1484, resd 4 January 1485, reappd pat. 1 May 1487.
Of Walden, Essex; said to have been Falcon; successively Rouge Croix, Windsor, Norroy and Clarenceux; Marshal of the North by 1 September 1462; 11 July 1471, surety for good behaviour of Water, Chester; appd Clarenceux 1476 and confirmed 1484, but resd 4 January 1485; apparently unemployed next two years, during which time John More, Norroy (see pp. 106, 288) may have supplied his place with the title of Normandy; reappd by pat. 1 May 1487; 1482 Alms Knight of Windsor, pat. 29 March; d. 1493, will dat. 13 July, pr. 10 June 1494 (P.C.C. Vox); desired to be burd in Holme Chapel, St Paul's Cathedral.
In all posts frequently employed as diplomat; sent repeatedly to Scotland, Burgundy and France, also to Brittany and Denmark.
Granted arms to several London companies; in grant to Parish Clerks, 16 July 1482, he 'annulled & damned' as ultra vires earlier grant of same arms made by Bellinger, Ireland.
Godfather of Thomas Wriothesley. Bequeathed all his books of arms, records and monuments to successors as Clarenceux, but at least one is now in British Museum, Harl. 4205.
(Barnard, Edward IV's French Expedition of 1475, pp. 136–7; Cal. Doc. Scot., iv, 1283, etc.; Misc. Gen. & Her., 5 s, x, 80; H.C.E.C., no. 63, pl. xxxvi; H. & H., p. 75; R. & C., pp. 10 n., 66; C.E.M.R.A., p. 146, etc.; Fellowes, The Military Knights of Windsor, p. 10.)
Arms: Quarterly, (1 & 4) barry of 8 pieces azure & or, on a canton argent a chaplet of roses gules; (2 & 3) argent, a chevron azure in a border engrailed sable with a crescent or on the chevron. Crest: A bridge or tower with 2 arches. Motto: Sobrement, Sobrement, or Sobrement Serve and Dueld.
In MS. Harl. 4205 his shield is encircled with a Garter.
8. ROGER MACHADO
Leicester, herald, c. April 1483.
Richmond, herald, c. 1484, king of arms, between 22 August and 30 October 1485.
Norroy, appd Christmas 1485, p.s. 8 March 1486, sole Norroy from More's death 22 April 1491.
Clarenceux, Michaelmas 1493, pat. 24 January 1494.
Origin obscure; early said to be a Breton, but name is Portuguese or Spanish and his French is odd; perhaps child of Portuguese father settled at Brest (? dried cod trade with Portugal).
First appears as Leicester herald at funeral of Edward IV April 1483; and December following on Crown business at Calais; perhaps the Leicester who attended the marriage of Richard, Duke of York January 1478; 1484–5 working for Marquis of Dorset in Low Countries, probably on Henry of Richmond's behalf; said to have been Richmond herald to Henry before Bosworth; 21 September 1485, as Roger Machado alias Richmond herald, appd searcher of Customs at Southampton; Richmond king by October 1485; appd Norroy Christmas 1485; as More was Norroy 1478–91 this appointment must be reversionary or, more probably, acting (was More disabled, e.g. by age or sickness, or displaced?), for rota of waiting at Court November 1487 names Richmond but not Norroy; sole Norroy 1491; 1493 Clarenceux; both as Norroy and Clarenceux used style of Richmond either alone or with Norroy or Clarenceux; 1504 declined Gartership in favour of Wriothesley and was granted 20 mks p.a. from Garter's salary; d. 6 May 1510.
An accomplished diplomat; employed 1486–1502 on many foreign missions, some of great delicacy. Owing to preoccupation with such missions (? and his wine business) agreed for Garters Wrythe and Wriothesley to conduct his heraldic business at home; no visitations known to have been made by him; no grants of arms known by him as Norroy; 1494–1505 nearly forty patents were issued in his name as Clarenceux, but in absence of the originals uncertain whether made by him himself or by Wriothesley on his behalf; 1507–10 seven patents issued jointly by him and Wriothesley. On his connection with disputes about the Office books see H. & H., passim and R. & C., p. 9.
As searcher of Customs 1485 lived at Southampton; wine importer at least 1484–99.
(See also D.N.B.; Rolls Series 10 (Memorials of King Henry VII), 24 (Letters and Papers... Ric. III and Hen. VII) and 60 (Materials for History of Hen. VII): H. & H., passim; C.E.M.R.A., pp. 92, 95.)
Arms: Quarterly, (1 & 4) gules, 5 axes (machado in Spanish & Portuguese), 2, 1, 2, argent; (2 & 3)..., a bend engoulée of 2 lion heads....Crest: 5 (?ostrich feathers).
9. CHRISTOPHER CARLILL
Carlisle, herald, c. Michaelmas 1486.
Norroy, pat. 21 February 1494.
Clarenceux, nom. 4 November 1510, did not pass pat.
Said to have been s. of Sir William Carlill and brother both of Joan, Garter Barker's mother, and of Charles and Thomas Carlill, pursuivants.
Appears often as Carlisle from 2 to 9 Hen. VII, and the fact that he is sometimes called pursuivant suggests that he was previously a pursuivant by the same title.
Norroy 1494; 4 November 1510, had a p.s. to be Clarenceux, but d. 8 January 1511, without passing his pat. December 1510 was living at Richmond but burd at Brentford. His wife, née Malory, d. 13 August 1507, and was burd in the Grey Friars as 'Alicia Carlelle alias Norre'.
Both as Carlisle and as Norroy was sent on several missions to Scotland, France and Flanders.
It was perhaps he who made c. 1490 an uncommonly interesting Vis'n of the north (H. & H., pp. 106–7; Surtees Soc., vol. 144).
Arms: Argent, on a chevron between 3 corbies sable, beaks & legs gules, 3 estoiles or. Crest: A corbie rising as in the arms.
10. THOMAS BENOLT
Berwick, temp. Ed. IV.
Rouge Croix, temp. Ed. IV.
Windsor, pat. 6 May 1504.
Norroy, p.s. 7, pat. 20 November 1510.
Clarenceux, p.s. 16, pat. 30 January 1511.
Native of Calais, his mother being sister of Machado's friend John Meautis. Lant lists him as Berwick and Rouge Croix but that seems to be an invention; was successively Windsor, Norroy and Clarenceux; d. 8 May 1534; burd in St Helen's, Bishopsgate.
Prominent as herald-diplomat; constantly employed abroad 1505–33; consequently agreed with Garter Wriothesley July 1511 that latter should act as his deputy at home. But 1530, finding Garter was taking advantage of him, obtained from the King a commission restraining Garter and enjoining all local authorities to give him every assistance when on visitation. His hand thus strengthened he visited no less than fourteen counties 1530–1, while South Wales and Hereford and the London churches were visited by deputies. For an account of the Benolt-Wriothesley controversy see Wagner, H. & H., chaps. 2, 9 and 10.
In spite of his diplomatic activity Benolt collected more than a hundred books and manuscripts, mostly heraldic. These he bequeathed to his friend Thomas Hawley, then Carlisle, with the proviso that after his death they were to pass from Clarenceux to Clarenceux.
(D.N.B.; Misc. Gen. & Her., 5 s, viii, 257; Excerpta Hist., p. 133; L. T. A.; R. & C., pp. 67–8; H. & H., pp. 110 sqq. and App. F.)
Arms: Argent, a chevron engrailed sable between 3 roundels gules & on a chief azure a lion passant guardant between 2 crosses formy fitchy or. Crest: A griffin's head & wings ermine. Motto: Servir.
(Wriothesley's Roll of Grants, 53; etc.)
On his brass in Great St Helen's this coat, but without the crosslets, quarters 2 & 3. Quarterly, (i & iv) argent, 3 bars wavy sable, on a chief gules 3 larks or; (ii & iii) argent, a bend between 2 martlets gules. (Survey of London, ix, pl. 38, 39; cf. Coll. of Arms MS. SML. 64, p. 262; Wall's Book of Arms, fo. 19b.)
11. THOMAS TONGE
York, p.s. 26, pat. 30 April 1513.
Norroy, pat. 20 October, cr. 1 November 1522.
Clarenceux, p.s. 27 May, pat. 7 June, cr. 2 August 1534.
Said to have been Antelope and Rouge Croix temp. Hen. VI and Richmond temp. Ed. IV (sic!); no reliable information before appointment as York April 1513; September 1513 attached to Earl of Surrey's Scottish Expedition (Webber's Flodden; Balfour Paul, Heraldry in Relation to Scottish History and Art, pp. 94–5); 1519 attended Sir Thomas Boleyn on embassy to France; 1520 at Field of Cloth of Gold; 1522 other foreign missions; 1522 Norroy; c. 1530 Commissioner of Sewers Greenwich to Gravesend; 1530 Vis'n of northern counties, made virtute officii without special commission (Surtees Soc., xli, 1863); 1533 Garter mission to Anne de Montmorency; 1534 Clarenceux; d. 1536, will dat. 19 March, pr. 4 April, P.C.C. 34 Hogen; burd St Mary Overy, Southwark, M.I.
His widow 'Susan Clarencieux' or 'Clarentia anicula', née White, survived him nearly thirty years (First Lady of the Privy Chamber to Queen Mary).
(See also N. & Q., 25 November 1939, pp. 388–9.)
Arms: Azure, a bend cotised between 6 martlets or (Tonge), impaling or, a chevron gules between 3 popinjays vert, beaks, legs & collars gules, in a border azure bezanty (White), Motto: Espoer en Dieu ('The Tonge Plaque', in Victoria and Albert Museum; Soc. Antiq. Heraldic Exhib., 1894, pl. xli). Badge: Out of clouds in chief a cubit arm reaching down & holding a grapnel with broken cord, all proper, sleeve gules (Coll. of Arms MS. B. 18 at end).
12. THOMAS HAWLEY or HALLEY
Rouge Croix, p.s. 26, pat. 29 August 1509.
Carlisle, cr. 1 November, 1514, pat. 30 January 1515.
Norroy, pat. 15 June, cr. 2 August 1534.
Clarenceux, p.s. 18 April, pat. 19 May 1536.
Groom porter of the Chamber to Queen Margaret of Scotland (dau. of Henry VII), 1503–7; said to have been Rose Blanche but merely called 'messenger of the Chamber' in pat. of Rouge Croix 1509; later Carlisle, Norroy and Clarenceux; d. at his house in the Barbican 22 August 1557; burd St Giles', Cripplegate, at the door of his pew.
Throughout career largely employed as diplomat, especially on Scottish affairs. As Rouge Croix took to James IV the English challenge to Flodden Field and carried back news of the victory to Henry VIII; promoted to Carlisle for services on that occasion.
1530 visited London churches as Benolt's deputy; 1534 agreed to share with Garter Wriothesley profits on grants of arms, funerals, etc. in Norroy's province; 1538 conducted case against Thomas Miller, Lancaster. Named William Hervy his executor and left him his books, most of which Benolt had bequeathed to him; some now in College. Terms of Benolt's bequest suggest that Hawley was his marshal.
Vis'n commission issued 2 July 1541, and confirmed 28 June 1552, and 19 March 1555. No copy of any Vis'n by Hawley in the College, but B.M. MS. Add. 7098 contains what purports to be copies of Vis'n entries made by him in Essex, Surrey, Hampshire and elsewhere in 1553 with later additions.
(D.N.B.; L.T.A., vols. ii-vi passim; Acts of the Lords of Council (Scotland) in Public Affairs, 1501–34, p. 175, etc.; Balfour Paul, Heraldry in relation to Scottish History and Art, pp. 94–5; H. & H.; R. & C.; Hist. MSS. Comm., 6th Rep., p. 301.)
Arms: Vert, a saltire engrailed argent.
13. WILLIAM HERVY
Hampnes, p.s. 5, pat. 25 February 1541.
Bluemantle, pat. 18 June 1544, salary from Lady Day 1543.
Somerset, nom. July, ps. 21, pat. 28 September 1545.
Norroy, p.s. 27 January, pat. 4 February 1550.
Clarenceux, pat. 6 September, cr. 21 November 1557.
8 December 1540, sent with despatches to Bishop Gardiner in Germany; appd Hampnes soon after, then Bluemantle, Somerset, Norroy and Clarenceux. As pursuivant mainly employed in France and the Low Countries, but also sent to Denmark and Spain and several times to Germany. August 1553 attached to army against the Scots; June 1557 declared war against France at Rheims. 15 June 1552, Vis'n commission as Norroy; visited Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland and Cumberland; Vis'n commission as Clarenceux 28 July 1558; 1558–66 visited in person or by deputy fifteen southern counties. Citizen and Skinner of London; d. at Thame 27 February 1567, while on Vis'n of Oxfordshire; burd there. Several of his MSS. in the College.
According to J. J. Howard (1561 Visitation of Suffolk, p. iii) he was reputed a learned and laborious genealogist; laborious he certainly was but some of his pedigrees have since been exploded.
(D.N.B.; Surtees Soc., vol. 122, pp. xviii n., xxiii sqq.; Machyn's Diary, passim; etc.)
Arms: Or, a chevron between 3 leopard faces gules.
14. ROBERT COOKE
Rose, cr. 25 January 1562.
Chester, pat. 29 January, cr. 8 February 1562.
Clarenceux, nom. March, pat. 21, R. wt. 26 May 1567.
M.A. St John's College, Cambridge; said to have been brought up by Sir Edmund Brudenell, genealogist; afterwards servant to Lord Robert Dudley. Creation as Rose a mere form for pat. of Chester passed four days later, and promotion to Clarenceux followed five years after. Acting Garter 1584–6 between the two Dethicks.
His meteoric promotion and the financial success of his application to business must have roused the jealousy of his colleagues and their attacks on his character, both private and professional, must be discounted.
A skilful herald painter; Walpole thought he painted the portraits of Henry VII and others at Cockfield Hall, Suffolk. As genealogist suffered from the shortcomings of his age, and many of his pedigrees have been demolished by modern critics. Energetic as Vis'n officer; visited four counties as Hervy's deputy and twenty-six as Clarenceux, nineteen of them personally. Ralph Brooke alleged he made 500 grants of arms, but that may be an exaggeration. Compiled an English Baronage (Royal MS. 18, C. 17, etc.) and wrote treatise on the granting of arms and other studies. Left large collection of manuscripts on heraldry and the like, including copies of ten or twelve medieval rolls of arms mostly by his own hand. Many of his MSS. were bought for the College on his death.
D. at Hanworth August 1593; burd there. His dau. and heiress Catherine was wife of John Woodnoth of Shavington, Cheshire.
(D.N.B.; Athenae Cantab.; Walpole, Anecdotes of Painters, ed. Dallaway, 1, 176 n.; J. H. Round, Peerage and Pedigree; Peerage and Family History; and Family Origins, passim; C.E.M.R.A., p. 140; R. & C., pp. 69–71; etc.)
Arms: Gules, a cinquefoil ermine in an orle of crosses crosslet fitchy argent. Crest: A dexter hand in armour proper joined to a wing or & holding a sword erect proper entwined with a branch of (? olive) vert. (Granted 1577.)
15. RICHARD LEE or LEIGH
Portcullis, pat. 22, cr. 30 March 1571.
Richmond, nom. 1584, signet 26 May, pat. 2, cr. 10 June 1585.
Clarenceux, docquet 8, pat. 11, cr. 18 May 1594.
B. c. 1531, second s. of Roger Lee of Aston, Staffordshire, a cadet of Lee of Lee Hall, co. Cheshire; Portcullis 1571, thence Richmond and Clarenceux; visited as Cooke's deputy Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire and Oxford University 1574–5, Shropshire 1584 and Lincolnshire 1592; added to 1566 Vis'n of Cheshire; while on Vis'n of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire made Church Notes in those counties (Bodl. MS. Wood 14 Dx.; Coll. of Arms MS. E. 18); Coll. of Arms MS. R. 37 bought by him 1570 'at the howse of Mr Smarte latte Sword bearer of London'; part of the contents were collected by him; d. unmarried 24 September 1597 in Philpot Lane, London; burd St Alphege's, London Wall (M.I.). On his death the College bought 'at their great charges' the books, rolls and records then in his custody together with those of Clarenceux Cooke. As Vis'n officer reputed industrious but unreliable.
Arms: Argent, a fess between 3 crescents sable with fleur de lis gules for difference.
(D.N.B.; J. H. Round, Family Origins, p. 60; and Peerage and Family History, p. 292, etc.)
16. WILLIAM CAMDEN
Richmond, cr. 22 October 1597.
Clarenceux, cr. 23 October 1597, pat. 6 June 1599.
Called 'the Learned'; b. London 21 May 1551, s. of Sampson Camden, Painter Stainer, of Lichfield. Second Master of Westminster School 1575, Head Master 1593–1610. Member of Inner Temple; Prebendary of Salisbury; Master of Painter-Stainers' Company; founded the Camden Professorship of History at Oxford. Member of the original Society of Antiquaries, some of his papers being in Hearne's Curious Discourses (1720). D. Chislehurst 9 November 1623; burd Westminster Abbey (M.I.).
Author of Britannia (1586), etc., Remaines concerning Britaine (1605), Annals of Queen Elizabeth (1615, 1627), and other works. Left number of books and manuscripts on heraldry to his successors as Clarenceux.
Appd Clarenceux 1597, having been cr. Richmond for form's sake the previous day. Very active in his new office and visited, by deputies, twenty counties between 1612 and 1623. Not unnaturally his appointment displeased some of the other heralds. Ralph Brooke, York, was particularly aggrieved, and in 1599 he made a violent attack on the Britannia in his Discoverie of Errours. Camden replied in the 5th, 1600, edition of Britannia, but Brooke's counter-attack was not printed until 1724.
(D.N.B.; Thomas Moule, Bibliotheca Heraldica; Nicolas, Life of Aug. Vincent; R. & C.; etc.)
Arms: Or, a fess engrailed between 6 crosses crosslet fitchy sable. Crest: An equilateral triangle pierced or charged with 3 estoiles gules. Motto: Pondere non Numero.
17. SIR RICHARD ST GEORGE
Berwick, cr. 22 April 1602.
Windsor, cr. 22 April, p.s. November, pat. 18 December 1602.
Norroy, docquet 28 January 1604, pat. 24 January 1607.
Clarenceux, pat. 17, R. wt. 21, cr. 23 December 1623.
Family long seated at Hatley St George, Cambridgeshire; second s. of Francis St George of the same; educ. St John's College, Cambridge, matric. 1569; 1602 applied for place of Norroy but College protested at intrusion of an outsider learned though he was; nevertheless, appd Berwick and immediately after Windsor 1602 and nom. Norroy 1604 when Segar nom. Garter; Clarenceux 1623 vice Camden; Kt. 28 September 1616; admitted Gray's Inn 3 March 1617; d. at his house, High Holborn, London, 17 May 1635; burd in chancel St Andrew's, Holborn.
Able and active as herald; intimate with Camden, Cotton, Spelman and other leading antiquaries; member of revived but short-lived Society of Antiquaries.
1611–15 as Norroy visited personally eight counties and 1634 as Clarenceux twelve counties in person or by deputy. Appd Randle Holme his deputy for Cheshire, Lancashire and North Wales (Coll. of Arms MS. R. 21, 162) and 1615 Richard Lister of Wakefield and Thomas Hodgson of York deputies for West Riding (Coll. of Arms MS. Heralds, vii, 271).
Many of his MS. collections now in College, see H. St George Garter (15); some in British Museum (e.g. Lans. 861–2–3) and others in Bodleian, Caius College, Cambridge, Trinity College, Dublin, and in private collections.
Married Elizabeth St John of Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire, and supplied genealogical material for St John monuments there and window in Battersea Church.
His third s. Henry became Garter and was father of two Garters and one Ulster; his fourth s. George was ancestor of the Lords St George, and his fifth s. Richard of the Baronets of Woodsgift. Coote, Rose Rouge, was also descended from him, while Owen and Devenish, both York heralds, were connected with the family by marriage.
Arms: Argent, a chief azure & over all a lion rampant gules crowned or. Crest: A demi-lion as in the Arms. Motto: Firmitas in Coelo.
18. SIR WILLIAM LE NEVE
Mowbray, R. wt. 24, cr. 29 June 1624.
York, pat. 24 November, R. wt. 9 December 1625.
Norroy, signet December 1633, pat. 3, cr. 4 January 1634.
Clarenceux, docquet 19, pat. 22, R. wt. 29 June, cr. 8 July 1635.
S. and heir of William Neve, of Aslacton, Norfolk; b. Aslacton; baptized there 1 July 1592; said to have been educ. Norwich School and Caius College, Cambridge, but not so; resumed (?assumed) name of Le Neve, as did Peter (pedigree in Norfolk Archaeology, 11, 369).
13 May 1618, accused of making scocheons for funeral of Robert Wolmer, of Flixton, Suffolk, but Commissioners for E.M. found he had done nothing to detriment of officers of arms and complimented him on his zeal for armory (Coll. of Arms MS. I. 25, 23 b); Mowbray 1624; York seventeen months later and thence Norroy and Clarenceux; 1625 and 1629 sent to France; 1633 attended coronation of Charles I at Edinburgh; 1639 accompanied Earl of Arundel to France; Kt. 23 April 1634; Hon. LL.D. Ox. 1642; remained with the King till February 1644 when, owing to ill-health he went abroad, appointing Owen, Philipot and Dugdale his deputies; estates and office sequestered by Parliament which intruded successively Squibb, Bysshe and Ryley; though still legally Clarenceux, was found insane 22 October 1658 when Walker appointed to execute office then estimated to be worth £400 a year; again found insane March 1661 when office held to be void and Bysshe appointed; d. in asylum at Hoxton; burd in St Benet's, Paul's Wharf, 15 August 1661.
Had Vis'n commission January 1636 but did not visit.
Of singular industry and ability and great skill as a herald, but as York perpetrated pedigree tracing the Russells back to the Conquest (J. H. Round, Peerage and Family History, p. 250).
Owned some Wriothesleyana and some Dethick MSS., Coll. of Arms MSS. WA to WZ and W&, 25 volumes given to the College by Walker 1657 contain Le Neve's copies of many documents of varied heraldic interest (R. & C., pp. 11, 33). Made additions in Coll. of Arms MSS., R. 36–7.
Arms confirmed & crest granted 1627: Argent, on a cross sable 5 fleurs de lis argent. Crest: From a crown or a lily argent, stalk & leaves vert.
18 A. ARTHUR SQUIBB
Clarenceux, appd by Parliamentary Commissioners 13 August and vote of Parliament 20 October 1646.
Of St Margaret's, Westminster, 'Knolle', parish of Shepton Montague, Somerset, and Henley Park, parish of Ash, Surrey; b. 1578; eldest s. of William Squibb of Winterbourne Whitchurch, Dorset; clerk in the Exchequer c. 1611, Teller 1626–46; Clarenceux 1650 through influence of his son-in-law John Glynne, one of the Parliamentary Commissioners exercising heraldic functions of Constable and Marshal; the place said to be worth £400 p.a.; d. 22 May 1650; burd Ash, Surrey.
Anthony à Wood stigmatized him as 'a pityful herald', but what little evidence survives belies that and suggests he was a sound herald with good taste in armory, and active defender of his official prerogatives.
(See 'A Dorset King of Arms' by H. S. London and G. D. Squibb, FF.S.A., Proc. Dorset Nat. Hist. Soc., lxviii, 54–65.)
Arms: Or, 3 bulls passant (or statant) sable, horns & hooves gules.
18 B. EDWARD BYSSHE (1650). See Garter (12 A).
18C. GEORGE OWEN
Rouge Croix, docquet 28 February, pat. 2 March, R. wt. and cr. 26 July 1626.
York, R. wt. 29 December 1633, pat. 3 January, cr. 4 January 1634.
Clarenceux, nom. 1657, but appt not completed.
Norroy, intruded c. September 1658, pat. 25 February 1659.
York, resumed at Restoration, resd June or July 1663.
B. at Henllys, co. Pembroke, eldest s. of George Owen of Henllys by his mistress (later second wife) Anne Obiled; 1624 attended the King at Cambridge, Hon. M.A.; Rouge Croix 1626 and York 1634; 1633–4 deputy for Clarenceux on Vis'ns of Essex, Sussex, Worcestershire and Bedfordshire; 1639 attended Earl of Arundel against Scottish Covenanters; in Civil War at first followed the King to Oxford; Hon. LL.D. 12 April 1643; August 1643 summoned City of Gloucester to surrender; 26 February 1645 appd deputy Clarenceux when Sir W. Le Neve went abroad; 1646 deserted to Parliament, admitted as York by Parliamentary Commissioners at Court Marshal 13 August, thereafter very active in cause of Parliament; October 1657 obtained Cromwell's p.s. to be Clarenceux whereupon prolonged arguments with Bysshe and Ryley, and c. September 1658 Ryley and Owen were appd respectively Clarenceux and Norroy having agreed to share their profits with Bysshe; 1659 appt as Norroy confirmed by Richard Cromwell; at Restoration reverted to York and attended coronation as such; June or July 1663 resigned in favour of his son-in-law John Wingfield; retired to Pembrokeshire and d. there 23 May 1665.
Made considerable collection of professional MSS., whence Ashmole copied many items.
Compiled inter alia Golden Grove pedigree of Earls of Carbery (in College) and list of fees due to officers of arms (Bodley MS. Ashm. 840).
Married Rebecca Dayrell, sister-in-law of Sir H. St George senior; his dau. and heiress married John Wingfield. Probably uncle of George Owen, Somerset.
Arms: Gules, a boar argent, armed, bristled, collared & chained or chained to a holly bush proper on a mount vert.
(See 'George Owen, York Herald', by H. S. London, Trans. Cymmrodorion Soc. (1946), p. 79, etc.)
18D. WILLIAM RYLEY
Rose Rouge, R. wt. 26, cr. 31 July 1630.
Bluemantle, signet August, pat. 4, cr. 6 September 1633.
Lancaster, pat. 11 November 1641.
Norroy, intruded 20 August, confirmed by Parliament 20 October 1646, pat. 16 July 1647.
Clarenceux, intruded c. September 1658, pat. 25 February 1659.
Lancaster, resumed 1660.
Supposed to be native of Accrington, Lancashire; 1625 Clerk in Tower Record Office under Sir John Borough; 1630 Rose Rouge; 28 November 1631 attended case of Reay v. Ramsay in Court of Chivalry and wrote account of the proceedings; 1633 Bluemantle; 1634 Vis'ns of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire as deputy for R. St George; 1641 Lancaster. In Civil War attended the King for a time, but apparently lukewarm, and July 1643 was sent back to London to look after records in Tower and College; did best to keep in with both sides; attended zealously at College; 20 August 1646 nom. Norroy by Parliamentary Commissioners of Constable and Marshal; confirmed by Parliament 20 October; 1658 Clarenceux before Cromwell's death having come to terms with Bysshe and Owen for sharing profits. At Restoration reverted to Lancaster; proclaimed Charles II at Westminster 8 May 1660, borrowing for the occasion tabard from James I's achievements in Westminster Abbey; 1661 Assistant Registrar Coronation Claims Commission; 1663 Vis'n of Middlesex as Bysshe's deputy. D. July 1667, burd in East Cloister, Westminster Abbey.
His MS. collections passed to his eldest son 'young Will Ryley', on whose death many were bought by Sir Joseph Williamson, and are now in Public Record Office; these include Report of the Reay v. Ramsay trial; collection of Scottish Acts and Ordinances. In British Museum are 'A Collection of Arguments in several cases of Heraldry' (MS. Harl. 4991) and 'Vindication of the Sovereignty of the British Seas' (MS. Harl. 4314 (1)).
Eldest s. William, Clerk in Tower Record Office, applied unsuccessfully for place in College before and after Restoration. Dau. Dorothy wife of George Barkham, the intruded Lancaster. John Ryley, the portrait-painter, supposed to be his son (see D.N.B.), but no clear evidence.
(See also John E. Bailey, The Troubles of William Ryley (1879), privately printed; R. E. Chester Waters, Genealogical Collections of the Chesters of Chicheley, 1, 169, 173–81; both need revision.)
Arms granted to him while Bluemantle: Sable, on a pile or 3 crosses formy fitchy at the foot sable. Crest: A demi-dragon or holding a cross as in the arms.
19. SIR EDWARD BYSSHE (1661). See Garter (12 A).
20. SIR HENRY ST GEORGE (1680). See Garter (15).
21. SIR JOHN VANBRUGH.
Carlisle, nom. c. April, R. wt. 14, cr. 25 June 1703.
Clarenceux, nom. before 7 January, pat. 29 March, cr. 3 April 1704.
Garter, E.M. wt. 22 August, signet 20 October 1715, appointment not completed.
Celebrated architect and dramatist. B. 1664; baptised in parents' house 24 January 1664, by rector of St Nicholas Acon; eldest surviving s. of Giles Vanbrugh, sugar-baker, of London and Chester, by Elizabeth youngest dau. and coheiress of Sir Dudley Carleton of Imber Court, Surrey; his grandfather a Protestant refugee from Ghent; educ. King's School, Chester, and France; commissioned 13th Foot; in gratitude for work as architect of Castle Howard, Earl of Carlisle, D.E.M., nominated him Carlisle 1703 and Clarenceux 1704 in spite of protests from College; 1706 Garter mission to Hanover vice St George; Kt. 9 September 1714; 1715 nom. Garter vice St George but Anstis entered caveat on strength of his reversionary patent and at length 1719 obtained favourable decision; in interval Vanbrugh acted as Garter, signing patents as 'Clarenceux King of arms nominated Garter'; resd for £2000 9 February 1725, in favour of Knox Ward; d. 25 March 1726 at Whitehall; burd in family vault St Stephen's, Walbrook.
Knew nothing of heraldry and genealogy; ridiculed both and neglected official duties; Dale lived in his chambers in College.
Member of Kit-Cat Club.
Portraits in College and National Portrait Gallery.
(See also 'Sir John Vanbrugh' by Laurence Whistler, 1938.)
Arms exemplified 24 April 1714: Quarterly, (1 & 4) gules, on a fess or 3 barrulets vert, in chief a demi-lion argent issuing from the fess (Vanbrugh); (2 & 3) argent, on a bend sable 3 voided lozenges argent (Carleton). Crest: From a bridge of 3 arches reversed or, a demi-lion argent.
22. KNOX WARD
Clarenceux, pat. 9, R. wt. 13 June 1726.
Of Hackney, Middlesex, and Wolverston Hall, near Ipswich, Suffolk; b. c. 1703; s. of the notorious John Ward of Hackney, Merchant, sometime M.P. for Ipswich, who when put in the pillory insisted on his s. standing beside him; educ. New College, Oxford, matric. 1721 aged 18; 1726 bought place of Clarenceux from Vanbrugh for £3000 (?£2000) though he had 'no genius to Heraldry' (Coll. of Arms MS. SML. 65, p. 112); d. at Wolverston Hall 30 September 1741, aged 38; burd in church there.
Married July 1729 Elizabeth Nettleton and same year was sued by a Miss Holt of Hackney for breach of promise; sued as Knox Ward, Esq., and case dismissed on his plea that he was improperly described because by his pat. Clarencieux was part of his name. 1732 Miss Holt sued him again as Ward Clarencieux and was awarded £2000 damages (2 Strange 850, 937).
(See also N. & Q., 2 s. vii (1859), 433–4, 507; Topographer, II (1790), 247–8; Pope, Dunciad, iii, 34.)
Arms: Ermine, a cross flory between 4 annulets azure, a label gules in the first quarter. Crest: A wolf's head erased per fess or & azure. (Granted, without the label, to his father 1722.)
23. STEPHEN MARTIN LEAKE (1741). See Garter (18).
24. CHARLES TOWNLEY (1754). See Garter (19).
25. THOMAS BROWNE (1773). See Garter (20).
26. RALPH BIGLAND (1774). See Garter (21).
27. ISAAC HEARD (1780). See Garter (22).
28. THOMAS LOCK
Rouge Dragon, pat. 23 November, salary from 10 October 1763.
Lancaster, pat. 10 November 1774.
Norroy, pat. 8 November, salary from 27 September 1781.
Clarenceux, pat. 18 May, salary from 1 March 1784.
Of Warnford, Hampshire, and Newington, Surrey; b. Warnford 18 July 1730, s. of John Lock; sometime Major Surrey Militia; bought Sherriff's place of Rouge Dragon for £300, 1763; later Lancaster and Norroy; finally Clarenceux in which place he claimed to have cleared £340 in 1784 and £490 in 1788; d. at Newington Butts 24 February 1803; burd at Warnford.
Arms granted 1767: Per fess azure & or, a pale counterchanged & 3 falcons or collared gules; a martlet for difference. Crest: A falcon as in the arms with a padlock sable hanging from its beak.
29. GEORGE HARRISON
Bluemantle, pat. 6 May 1767.
Windsor, pat. 11 November, salary from 30 June 1774.
Norroy, E.M. wt. 27 April, pat. 22 May, salary from 18 May 1784.
Clarenceux, E.M. wt. 25 February, pat. 19 March 1803, salary from 24 February, resd 13 May 1820.
B. 15 September 1740, younger s. of William Harrison of St John's, Westminster, and Hendon, Middlesex. Probably educ. at Westminster School. Successively Bluemantle, Windsor, Norroy and Clarenceux; resd 13 May 1820; d. 16 April 1821; burd at Hendon.
Having no issue left his fortune to nephew D. C. Rogers, father of G. H. Rogers-Harrison, q.v.
(Gent. Mag., xciii (1823, ii), pp. 471–2.)
Arms granted 25 March 1768: Azure, 3 demi-lions rampant erased or each crowned with an eastern crown argent. Crest: Out of a mural crown azure a demi-lion or crowned with an eastern crown argent & holding in the paws a laurel garland adorned with 4 damask roses proper. Motto: Absque Virtute Nihil.
30. SIR GEORGE NAYLER (1820). See Garter (23).
31. RALPH BIGLAND (1822). See Garter (24).
32. WILLIAM WOODS (1831). See Garter (25).
33. EDMUND LODGE, K.H., F.S.A.
Bluemantle, pat. 22 February 1782, salary from 24 December 1781.
Lancaster, E.M. wt. 7 September, pat. 29 October, salary from 11 July 1793.
Norroy, pat. 11 June, salary from 7 May 1822.
Clarenceux, E.M. wt. 17, Gazette 23, pat. 30 July, salary from 16 July 1838.
Of Bloomsbury Square, Middlesex, and Carshalton, Surrey; b. Poland St, London, 13 June 1756, s. of Rev. Edmund Lodge, sometime Vicar of Carshalton; Cornet King's Own Dragoons 1772–3; Bluemantle 1783; F.S.A. 1787; Lancaster 1793 on Townley's resignation; thence Norroy and Clarenceux; K.H. 1832; d. s.p. Bloomsbury Square, 16 January 1839, aged 82; burd in St George's, Bloomsbury. The College bought from his executors 13 volumes of pedigrees, extracts from parish registers and wills and heraldic collections.
'A pioneer of social and biographical history and of the study of historical portraiture' (R. & C., p. 45). Wrote the memoirs in Portraits of Illustrious Personages (1821). Also published inter alia: Illustrations of British History... (1731); Life of Sir Julius Caesar (1810); The Genealogy of the existing British Peerage (1832, 1849, 1859). His share in 'Lodge's Peerage' did not go beyond the title-page.
(D.N.B.; Gent. Mag., N.S. xi (1839, 1), pp. 433–4; etc.)
Arms granted 12 June 1822: Azure, within a bordure flory a lion rampant argent, on a canton argent a rose gules. Crest: A demi-lion holding in the dexter paw a cross crosslet fitchy gules & charged on the shoulder with a rose gules. The roses allude 'to the badge of the Royal House of Lancaster by whom his office of Lancaster Herald was instituted'.
34. JOSEPH HAWKER, F.S.A.
Rouge Croix, pat. 14 April, salary from 3 February 1794.
Richmond, Gazette 5, pat. 12 May, salary from 5 April 1803.
Norroy, E.M. wt. 18, Gazette 23, pat. 31 July, salary from 17 June 1838.
Clarenceux, E.M. wt. 18, invested 29 January, pat. 4 February, salary from 16 January 1839.
Clerk in Bank of England 1792–1834; successively Rouge Croix, Richmond, Norroy and Clarenceux; F.S.A. 1807; d. 10 April 1846, aged 80, in Alfred Place, Bedford Square; burd Marylebone. A zealous and active officer; bequeathed £250 and some MS. collections to the College.
Arms granted 7 June 1821: Sable, a fess engrailed or between 3 sparrowhawks argent, beaks, legs & bells or. Crest: A sparrow-hawk proper, beak, legs & bells gold, the dexter claw supporting a spear erect proper with a banner flowing to the sinister gules charged with a portcullis or. Motto: Pro Rege et Patria.
35. FRANCIS MARTIN, F.S.A.
Bluemantle, pat. 17 June, salary from 25 January 1797.
Windsor, E.M. wt. 30 March, Gazette 13, pat. 24 April, salary from 25 March 1819.
Norroy, E.M. wt. 19, Gazette 29 January, pat. 5 February, salary from 18 January 1839.
Clarenceux, E.M. wt. 14, Gazette 18, pat. 28 April, salary from 10 April 1846.
Of Cambridgeshire and of Pattentown, Kirk Andrews, co. Cumberland; b. c. 1767, third but eldest surviving s. of Francis Martin, Secretary of the Bank of England, by Margaret Pearce of Cressage, co. Shropshire; Bluemantle 1797 and thence Windsor, Norroy and Clarenceux; F.S.A. 1801; d. unmarried at the College 3 June 1848, aged 81; burd Kensal Green Cemetery.
His pursuivant's tabard with the electoral bonnet of 1801 altered to the crown of 1814, is in the London Museum.
Arms granted 1817: Quarterly, (1 & 4) argent, 2 bars engrailed gules & in chief a mantle azure lined ermine, in allusion to his pursuivantship, between 2 roses gules (Martin); (2 & 3) per pale indented or & azure, on a fess ermine between 3 pelicans with wings raised & pecking their breasts counterchanged 3 annulets sable (Pearce). Crest: On a tree-stump eradicated or a marten-cat sejant erect proper with collar & chain & holding in its forepaws a flaming cresset proper. Motto: Poursuivant Mon Devoir.
On bookplates as Windsor, Norroy and Clarenceux he set the above shield on a representation of his tabard.
36. JAMES PULMAN, F.S.A.
Portcullis, Gazette 1, pat. 4 June, salary from 9 May 1822.
Richmond, E.M. wt. 19, Gazette 23 July, pat. 1 August, salary from 18 July 1838.
Norroy, E.M. wt. 14, Gazette 18, pat. 30 April, salary from 14 April 1846.
Clarenceux, E.M. wt. 8, Gazette 14, pat. 17 June, salary from 3 June 1848.
Of Parliament Place, Westminster, and later of East Hill, Wandsworth; b. Ottery St Mary, Devonshire, 23 May 1783, youngest s. of Thomas Pulman of Ottery St Mary; friend and Secretary to Sir Isaac Heard, Garter; F.S.A. 1812; Secretary to Garter mission to Madrid 1815; 1822 Portcullis on Heard's death, thence Richmond, Norroy and Clarenceux; 27 November 1822 Messenger of the Order of the Bath; 1834 Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod; 1819 Deputy Bath King of Arms; d. at East Hill, Wandsworth, 29 October 1859.
Surviving both Heard and Beltz he inherited their collections and bequeathed them together with his own collections to the College, 219 volumes in all, see R. & C., pp. 42–3. A most curious item is the 'Armorial Général du Royaume d'Hayti', recording the arms of Henry Christophe, the negro emperor of Hayti (1811) and his nobility.
Arms granted 14 March 1822: Paly of 6 pieces or & vair, on a chief gules 3 boar heads erased argent. Crest: An otter sejant & looking backwards proper, collared gemel gules, supporting a bulrush proper. Motto: Sapias et Caetera Mitte.
37. ROBERT LAURIE
Rouge Croix, pat. 11 September, salary from 4 June 1823.
Windsor, E.M. wt. 26, Gazette 29 January, pat. 6 February, salary from 19 January 1839.
Norroy, E.M. wt. 29 June, Gazette 5, pat. 10 July, salary from 22 June 1849.
Clarenceux, pat. 26 November, salary from 29 October 1859.
B. Somers Town, St Pancras, 22 March 1806, sixth s. of John Laurie, truss and artificial limb maker of St Bartholomew's Close, London, and of Hadley, Middlesex; Rouge Croix 1823; thence Windsor, Norroy and Clarenceux; d. 13 January 1882, leaving over £42,000. Treasurer and a generous benefactor to the College.
In 1869 had attended sixty-three chapters out of seventy-two, in spite of bad health.
His mother, Frances Williams, illegitimate dau. of Sir John Guise, Bt., of Highnam Court, Gloucestershire (Coll. of Arms MS. 14 D. 14, 191), was sister of Charlotte Wilkes Williams, wife of Sir George Nayler. His brother George married Nayler's younger dau. and coheiress Charlotte, and in 1864 her sister Frances gave her father's History of the Sovereigns of the Order of the Bath to Clarenceux who presented it to the College.
Arms granted 1839: Argent, on a pile sable a silver cup with 2 branches of laurel issuing therefrom proper, a fleur de lis for difference. Crest: Out of a mural crown or the stump of an oak-tree sprouting out leaves proper. Motto: Virtus Semper Viridis.
38. WALTER ASTON BLOUNT
Arundel, E.M. wt. 28 June, R. wt. 19 July 1830.
Blanc Coursier, 22 November 1831.
Chester, E.M. wt. 12, pat. 25 November, salary from 4 November 1834.
Norroy, E.M. wt. 9, Gazette 28 November, pat. 2 December, salary from 8 November 1859.
Clarenceux, pat. 21 March, salary from 13 January 1882.
B. 17 February 1807, s. and heir of Edward Blount of Shabbington, Buckinghamshire. Successively Arundel, Chester, Norroy and Clarenceux; Genealogist of the Order of the Bath and Blanc Coursier herald 22 November 1831; d. unmarried 9 February 1894, leaving Shabbington to his nephew Sir Walter Blount, Bt., of Sodington.
Arms: Barry wavy or and sable, a crescent for difference. Crest: A sun charged with a gauntlet proper. Motto: Lux Tua Vita Mea.
39. GEORGE EDWARD COKAYNE, formerly ADAMS, F.S.A.
Rouge Dragon, pat. 10 December, salary from 24 November 1859.
Lancaster, pat. 1 January 1870, salary from 2 November 1869.
Norroy, Gazette 23, pat. 29 June, salary from 21 March 1882.
Clarenceux, pat. 7 March, salary from 9 February 1894.
'G.E.C.' was b. 20 April 1825, youngest s. of William Adams, of Thorpe, Surrey, and Dummer Grange, Hampshire, by Mary Anne Cokayne, dau. and senior coheiress of fifth Viscount Cullen. Assumed by R.L. 15 August 1873 under his mother's will name and arms of Cokayne.
Barrister Lincoln's Inn; F.S.A. 1866; successively Rouge Dragon, Lancaster, Norroy and Clarenceux; d. Roehampton 6 August 1911.
His second s., Brian Ibrican, was cr. Baron Cullen of Ashbourne 1920.
Essentially a student, devoted his latter years to compilation and publication of The Complete Peerage and The Complete Baronetage; frequent contributor to the Genealogist and other periodicals; bequeathed valuable collection of printed books to the College.
1869 Collen deposed that Cokayne was a frequent attendant at the College but 'amuses himself' and 'does not enter into pedigrees'—had substantial private income and did little private business. Cokayne's own evidence of some interest.
His uniform coatee, etc. and also his crown are in the London Museum on loan from Lord Cullen of Ashbourne. The crown has the London hallmark for 1838 so must have been made for Hawker on his appointment as Norroy.
(D.N.B.; Genealogist, N.S. xxviii; Burke's Peerage sub Cullen of Ashbourne; etc.)
Arms: (1) Of Adams: Or, on a cross between 4 martlets sable 5 molets or. Crest: A martlet sable with a molet or in its beak. Motto: Cruce Duce. (2) Of Cokayne, exemplified 1873: Argent, 3 cocks gules with legs, beaks, etc. sable. Crest: A cock's head erased as in the arms. Motto: Virtus in Arduis.
40. SIR WILLIAM HENRY WELDON, K.C.V.O., F.S.A.
Rouge Dragon, E.M. wt. 4, pat. 27 January, salary from 1 January 1870.
Windsor, pat. 20 April, salary from 2 March 1880.
Norroy, pat. 10 March, salary from 7 March 1894.
Clarenceux, pat. 15 September, salary from 6 August 1911.
Of Park Hill, parish of Aston, West Riding of Yorkshire, and Shiplakeon-Thames; b. Wath-upon-Dearn, W. Riding, 8 April 1837, s. of William Weldon of Bramley Hall, Handsworth; sometime in Inniskilling Dragoons and Captain 18th Hussars; later managed a circus; Rouge Dragon 1870 and thence Windsor, Norroy and Clarenceux; F.S.A. 1895; Deputy Garter during Sir A. Woods' latter years; 23 July 1904, on Scott-Gatty's first appearance as Garter in the House of Lords, Modern Society said he did not make such a favourable impression on the ladies as Weldon used to do as Woods' deputy; 1902 C.V.O.; 1904–11 E.M's Secretary; Clarenceux 1911; K.C.V.O. 1919; d. 25 August 1919, at Shiplake-on-Thames, aged 82.
His portrait in College. 1906 gave College splendid painted volume of Arms attributed to English Cardinals by Dom Anselm Baker. Mr M. R. TrappesLomax has three or more volumes, 'Chaos', of his miscellaneous collections containing besides heraldic and genealogical matters many, often entertaining notes, about his colleagues.
Arms: (1) Granted 1891: Per fess argent & gules, on a pale a demi-lion rampant couped in chief & a cinquefoil in base, all counterchanged. Crest: A demi-lion argent goutty gules resting his left paw on 2 silver S's linked as in a herald's collar. Motto: Bien Fait.
(2) Arms altered 1907: Per fess argent & gules, in chief a demi-lion rampant issuant & in base a cinquefoil counterchanged.
(3) Badge granted 1908: Two S's linked & ensigned with the crown of a king of arms, all or.
41. CHARLES HAROLD ATHILL, M.V.O., F.S.A.
Bluemantle, Gazette 24, pat. 28 July, salary from 23 March 1882.
Richmond, pat. 5 July, salary from 1 April 1889.
Norroy, pat. 23 January, salary from 22 January 1919.
Clarenceux, pat. 22 September, salary from 25 August 1919.
B. 1853, fourth s. of George Athill, of Bridge Place, Kent. Successively Bluemantle, Richmond, Norroy and Clarenceux; M.V.O. 1911; F.S.A. 1891; d. Sevenoaks, Kent, 22 November 1922.
(Antiquaries J. (1923), p. 303; Genealogist, N.S. xxix, 127.)
Arms: (1) As Bluemantle: Argent, on a chevron sable 3 crescents or. Crest: From a crown 3 ostrich feathers. Motto: Crescam ut Prosim. (Bookplate.)
(2) As Richmond, granted 1891: Argent, on a chevron double cotised sable 3 crescents or. Crest: From a torse 3 ostrich feathers argent stuck through 3 annulets or interlaced in fess. Motto as above.
(3) As Norroy, granted 1919: Argent, on a chevron cotised sable 3 crescents or. Crest: Out of a coronet of a king of arms proper 3 ostrich feathers argent.
42. WILLIAM ALEXANDER LINDSAY, C.V.O., F.S.A.
Portcullis, pat. 3 January 1883, salary from 1 September 1882.
Windsor, pat. 12 March, salary from 10 March 1894.
Norroy, pat. 26 September, salary from 22 September 1919.
Clarenceux, pat. 12 December, salary from 27 November 1922.
B. 8 June 1846, eldest s. of Hon. Colin Lindsay (s. of James, Earl of Crawford and Balcarres) by Lady Frances, dau. and coheiress of Wm. Forward Howard, Earl of Wicklow, K.P.; educ. Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge; Barrister Middle Temple 1873, practised as peerage counsel, Q.C. 1897, Bencher 1906; F.S.A. 1889; C.V.O. 1924; J.P. and D.L. for Devonshire.
Portcullis 1883 and thence Windsor, Norroy and Clarenceux. A learned and scholarly antiquary. Author of books and articles on Earldom of Mar, Stewart and Guelph pedigrees, etc.; contributor to Halsbury's Laws of England and Encyclopaedia Britannica. Prepared c. 1890 a great pedigree of Stewart which Round considered the 'standard authority on the subject' (Peerage and Family History, p. 125).
D. 13 September 1926, aged 80; burd Brompton Cemetery.
Arms matriculated Lyon Register 1871, recorded Coll. Arm. 1897: Quarterly, (1 & 4) gules, a fess checky argent & azure (Lindsay); (2) or, a lion gules & ribbon over all sable (Abernethy); (3) quarterly, (i & iv) gules, a bend between 6 crosses crosslet fitchy argent (Howard); (ii & iii) argent, a lion gules (Forward). Crest: From an antique coronet or a swan's neck & wings proper. Motto: Endure Fort.
43. GORDON AMBROSE DE LISLE LEE, C.B., C.V.O.
Bluemantle, pat. 23 August, salary from 5 July 1889.
York, pat. 28 November, salary from 12 September 1905.
Norroy, pat. 15 December, salary from 12 December 1922.
Clarenceux, pat. 5 October, salary from 13 September 1926.
Second s. of Dr Frederick George Lee, one time Vicar of All Saints', Lambeth, author of The History of Thame, etc., whose unfounded claim to descent from the Lees, earls of Lichfield, was exposed in the Genealogist, vols. ix, x, xi—see also H. & G., iii, 113; Hist. of Thame, p. 635.
B. at Fountain Hall, Aberdeen, 11 July 1863; educ. Westminster; 1885–9 worked as artist and designer; Bluemantle 1889; later York, Norroy and Clarenceux; E.M's Secretary 1911; C.B. 1920; C.V.O. 1926; d. at Kew 12 September 1927.
Authority on Japanese art; author of notes on Japanese heraldry; edited The Episcopal Arms of England and Wales (1906); superintended heraldry and ceremonial in several plays and operas; contributed papers to the Genealogist, vols. iv and vii.
Arms: (1) As Bluemantle: Argent, a fess between 3 crescents sable.
(2) Granted 1893: Argent, on a fess couped between 3 crescents sable 3 hawk's lures or. Crest: A falcon or with a hawk's lure sable entwined about its body, legs gules, & bells or, preying on an eagle's leg in fess azure erased at the thigh, claws to the sinister. Motto: Fide et Constantia.
44. SIR ARTHUR WILLIAM STEUART COCHRANE, K.C.V.O.
Rouge Croix, pat. 3 October, salary from 8 January 1904.
Chester, pat. 25 October, salary from 29 September 1915.
Norroy, pat. 9 October, salary from 5 October 1926.
Clarenceux, pat. 26 July 1928, salary from 12 September 1927.
B. 27 April 1872, s. of Rev. David Crawford Cochrane, Master of Etwall Hospital, Derbyshire; a wine-merchant in early life and for a time Secretary to Scott-Gatty, Garter; Rouge Croix 1904; at his death 11 January 1954, had been a member of the College for nearly fifty years; adviser on heraldry to the Admiralty Committee on Ships' Badges 1936; M.V.O. 1911; C.V.O. 1931; K.C.V.O. 1937.
Had a keen wit and a flair for producing happy and original designs for arms and badges; also known as writer of short stories.
(Who's Who; The Times, 16 October 1926, 13 and 15 January 1954; etc.)
Arms: Per pale or & gules, 2 crosses trefly dimidiated & issuing from the dexter & sinister flanks counterchanged. Crest: A horse passant argent with a gold crown about its neck. Motto: Virtute et Labore. (Designed by Cochrane and granted 25 November 1925.)
45. ARCHIBALD GEORGE BLOMEFIELD RUSSELL, C.V.O., F.S.A.
Rouge Croix, pat. 10 November, salary from 25 October 1915.
Lancaster, pat. 21 April, salary from 17 March 1922.
Clarenceux, pat. 5 April, salary from 11 January 1954.
Of Scarbank House, Swanage; b. 20 June 1879, fourth s. of Captain Theodosius Stuart Russell, Chief Constable of West Riding, Yorkshire; educ. Eton and Christ Church, Oxford; Rouge Croix 1915, thence Lancaster and Clarenceux; employed in Colonial Office 1917–18, Secretary British Embassy, Madrid, 1918–19; E.M's Secretary 1928–44; F.S.A. 1923; M.V.O. 1929; C.V.O. 1945; d. London 30 November 1955.
Collector and fine judge of drawings and prints; expert on work of William Blake; also keen entomologist.
Published The Letters of William Blake (1906); The Engravings of William Blake (1912); and other works on art; also 'Description of the Rous Roll' (1917), and other papers in Burlington Magazine.
Arms granted 1917: Argent, a lion sable & on a chief sable 2 roses argent. Crest: A goat statant argent horns & hooves or, in its mouth a rose argent, slipped & leaved vert. Motto: che sara sara. Badge granted 1924: A pineapple or.
46. SIR JOHN DUNAMACE HEATON-ARMSTRONG, M.V.O.
Rouge Dragon, pat. 3 April, salary from 14 January 1922.
Chester, pat. 14 October, salary from 9 October 1926.
Clarenceux, pat. 20 January 1956, salary from 30 November 1955.
B. 21 February 1888, s. of William Charles Heaton-Armstrong, Lord of the Manor of Roscrea; Barrister Inner Temple 1912; served Indian Cavalry and R.A.F.V.R.; Rouge Dragon 1922 and later Chester; Inspector of R.A.F. Badges 1936; M.V.O. 1937; Kt. 1953.
Arms: Quarterly, (1 & 4) gules, 3 dexter arms embowed in armour argent, the hands closed proper (Armstrong); (2 & 3) vert, a lion argent (Heaton). Crests: (1) For Armstrong, a dexter arm in armour, the hand grasping an armed leg couped at the thigh and bleeding, all proper; (2) for Heaton, a lion crowned, plain collared and chained, all proper. Motto: Vi Et Armis.
Badge granted 1940: A dexter arm embowed in armour argent enfiled with an astral crown or, the hand proper grasping a sword fessways gules hilted gold.