GARTER KING OF ARMS
By instituting the office of Garter in 1415 just before sailing for France,
Henry V created two precedents. It was the first time a king of arms was
specially appointed for the service of an order of chivalry, and it was the first
time that the holder of a particular title was designated as ex officio doyen of
the office of arms. Previously now one, now another officer was 'roy
d'armes d'Angleterre', though it is not clear whether this primacy was
acquired by seniority or by royal favour. Six doyens have been identified:
Andrew Windsor (Norroy), c. 1339; William Vaillant, c. 1358; Chandos,
1377; John Lake (March and Norroy), c. 1394; John Faucon, c. 1395; and
Richard Bruges (Lancaster), c. 1412.
Official arms in use by c. 1520: Argent, a cross gules & on a chief azure a crown
enclosed in a Garter between a lion passant guardant and a fleur de lis, all or.
For a time under Henry VII the Garter enclosed a Tudor rose instead of
the crown, and under Barker and the two Dethicks a dove azure, with one
wing open, was added in the dexter canton.
1. WILLIAM BRUGES

Bruges
Chester, pat. 7 June 1398.
Guyenne, king, probably appd between 21 March and 9 April 1413.
Garter, c. 30 June 1415.
S. of Richard Bruges, Lancaster; b. c. 1375. Appd Chester 1398 and as
such from 1399 was attached to Henry, Prince of Wales. Guyenne king on
Henry V's accession; Garter shortly before 4 July 1415. As Garter was at once
king of arms of the Order and ex officio head of the officers of arms in England.
Unfortunately, his rights in the latter capacity were not clearly defined and
the consequent uncertainty was at the back of the long drawn out troubles
between later Garters and the provincial kings. See H. & H., p. 63 etc.
The first or almost the first herald to specialize in diplomatic work; mainly
so employed alike as Chester, Guyenne and Garter; under Henry VI hardly
a year in which he was not sent on at least one foreign mission.
D. 9 March 1450; lived at Kentish Town, but burd in St George's, Stamford,
to which he was a great benefactor, giving large sums for its rebuilding and
bequeathing vestments and other valuable ornaments; also provided for
glazing the windows with figures of Edward III and the Founder K.G.s.
Granted arms to Drapers' Co. 1439; commissioned 'Bruges's Book' containing coloured drawings of King Edward and the original K.G.s with
St George and Bruges himself (C.E.M.R.A., p. 83); painted c. 1430, this may
have had some connection with the founding of the Order of the Golden
Fleece.
His dau. and heir Katherine married John Smert. See below Garter (2).
(Rees-Jones, The Order of St George, etc.)
Arms: Nine pieces of ermine & ermines. Crest: A woman's head in a
hood or cowl. Badge: A circular towel or torse of twisted cloth with knotted
ends. (Seal & signets.)
2. JOHN SMERT

Smert
Guyenne, herald, 1444 (?).
Garter, cr. 28 March, pat. 3 April 1450.
Son-in-law of William Bruges, Garter; parentage unknown, but owned
land in Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, and family may have been of that
county; said to have been a lawyer; probably the 'Guyan pursevant' sent
to Burgundy 1444, and the Guyenne herald sent on various missions 1449;
named Guyenne in pat. as Garter 1450; much employed as diplomat especially
in Scotland and Burgundy; attended marriage of Princess Margaret to
Charles the Bold 1468; 1469 Garter mission to Duke of Burgundy; 1475
sent to defy King Louis before King Edward embarked for France, and took
back overtures resulting in Treaty of Picquigny (Commines' account of this
mission confuses him with Bellengier, q.v.); d. 1478 shortly before 6 July
when Wrythe appd Garter.
Granted arms to Girdlers', Tallow Chandlers' and Glovers' Companies
and to two individuals.
Arms: Quarterly, (1 & 4) argent, a chevron between 3 pheons sable
(Smert); (2 & 3) checky of 9 pieces ermine & sable ermined argent (Bruges).
Crest (of Bruges): A woman's (or friar's?) head in a cowl. Badge: A pheon
sable ermined argent.
3. JOHN WRYTHE

Wrythe
Antelope, temp. Henry V (sic).
Rouge Croix, temp. Hen. V (sic).
Falcon, herald, c. 1473.
Norroy, p.s. 23, pat. 25 January, cr. 2 February 1477.
Garter, pat. 6 July 1478, resd 4 January, resumed office 22 August 1485.
Father of Sir Thomas Wriothesley, Garter, and William Wriothesley,
York; grandfather of Thomas, Earl of Southampton and of Charles
Wriothesley, Windsor; father-in-law of John Minne (? York).
Origin of this, one of most prominent families in history of College,
uncertain; Elizabethan pedigrees deriving them from an early family of
Wriothesley are dismissed by serious students (see, e.g. J. H. Round, Peerage
and Family History, p. 141). Garter probably s. of William Wrythe, M.P.
for Cricklade and Receiver to John, Duke of Somerset (father of Lady
Margaret Beaufort).
Said to have been Antelope and Rouge Croix under Henry V (sic), and
Leopard temp. Henry VI, but no evidence for pursuivantships and was
Faucon, not Leopard herald. As 'John Wrethe otherwise called Fauken
herod' witnessed 1476 will of Christian (Hall), w. of T. Holme, Clarenceux;
also called Faucon in pat. of Norroy; without doubt the Faucon who occurs
February 1474 (Sandford, p. 234 n.; etc.) and was later sent to Burgundy;
Norroy from January 1477 and Garter 18 months later; sent to Scotland
1479, 1480 and (accompanied by Northumberland) 1482, and to France
1483; appointment confirmed pat. 30 November 1483; resd 4 January 1485
(reason unknown), but resumed place on Henry VII's accession; appointment again confirmed pat. 13 February 1486, with back pay from preceding
22 August; additional £40 a year pat. 10 July 1486; in Act of Resumption
1 Hen. VII his salary expressly exempted; missions to Maximilian 1486,
Ireland 1488 and Brittany 1489; Garter mission to Maximilian 1491
(H.C.E.C., pl. xi; Brit. Arch. Assoc. J., xxvi (1870), 121 etc.), 1491–4 missions
to Brittany, Burgundy, Calais, France, etc.; d. 1504 (will dat. 25 March,
pr. 30 April); burd St Giles', Cripplegate (Stow, Survey (1633), p. 313).
Sir Thomas calls him Knight, but not so styled in any contemporary
document, nor in his will.
Said by Spelman to have invented and 'propagated' temp. Ed. IV system
of cadency stigmata (Aspilogia, ed. Bysshe, p. 140; 'Medieval Treatises on
English Heraldry', Antiquaries J., xxxiii, 172).
Citizen and Draper of London 1484.
Garter at Richard III's incorporation of the heralds and grant of Coldharbour 2 March 1484, confiscation of which by Henry VII led indirectly
to disputes as to the disposal of the office books.
Machado (Norroy and Clarenceux) found it convenient to arrange with
Wrythe that the latter should undertake his heraldic duties at home and thus
laid seeds of the later Garter v. provincials controversy. In 1499 they obtained
joint licence to make visitations, but are not known to have made any.
Among MSS. compiled wholly or in part by him are 'Wrythe's Book',
'Wrythe's Book of Knights' and 'Wrythe's Garter Book' (C.E.M.R.A.,
pp. 108, 120, 122), but several other MSS. in College and British Museum
appear to contain entries in his hand, and some of the additions in 'Ballard's
Book' (ibid. p. 111), which he bought from Ballard's widow in 1490, may also
be his.
Though his will refers to his father's lands in Cricklade, etc., foundation of
his fortune was probably his marriage to Barbara (d. 1480), dau. and heiress
of January de Dunstanville or de Castlecombe (Wiltshire), by which marriage their descendants quartered: (2) argent fretty gules, a border engrailed
sable & over all on a canton gules a lion passant or (Castlecombe); (3) argent,
a pale of fusils gules in a border azure bezanty (Lusthill, for Barbara's great-grandmother).
(See also Anstis, Reg. Garter, 1, 355 etc.; D.N.B.; Introduction to Charles
Wriothesley's Chronicle, ed. Wm. D. Hamilton, Camden Soc., N.S. xi;
H. & H. and R. & C., passim.)
Arms: Had no paternal arms & tried (1) azure, a fess between 3 doves
argent in a border or (Coll. of Arms MS. L. 1, fo. 674), and (2) azure,
3 doves argent in a royal tressure or (Wall's Book, fo. ccxxii).
As Garter used: Azure, a cross or between 4 doves close argent, beaks &
legs gules (seal, etc.). Crest: On a torse or & azure a dove close argent, beak
& legs gules, crowned or (seal; Wall's Book, 16b). Badge: (sometimes used
as crest): A 'bugle' (buffalo) head erased sable goutty, horned, ringed &
crowned or.
Originally the birds were doves, chosen in reference to the fourteenthcentury theory that heralds should relinquish their paternal arms and take
doves or other bearings alluding to their office (see 'Grants of Arms to
Heralds', Misc. Gen. & Her., 5 s, x, 57). It has been suggested that the
College based their coat on Wrythe's but the converse is more likely. In
two of Sir Thomas Wriothesley's MSS., however, the birds are eagles; in
Coll. of Arms, Vinc. MS. 152, p. 61 ('Wriothesley's Crosses', no. 17) they are
expressly tricked 'close eagles' and in Coll. of Arms MS. L. 10, p. 103 the
coat is included in an ordinary of eagles. The earls of Southampton on the
other hand, descended from William Wriothesley, at least from the first
half of the seventeenth century were credited with falcons (e.g. Yorke, Union
of Honour, 1641) in supposed allusion to Wrythe's heraldship.
4. SIR THOMAS WRYTHE alias WRIOTHESLEY

Wriothesley
Wallingford, cr. 1 October 1489.
Garter, pat. 26 January 1505.
Of Cricklade and of Colatford, near Castlecombe, Wiltshire; b. Colatford;
eldest s. of John Wrythe, Garter, by Barbara de Castlecombe or de Dunstanville, and godson of Thomas Holme, Clarenceux; after becoming Garter he
and his brother William adopted name of Wriothesley which was retained
by their descendants; in 1509 in pat. to Richard Weynman called himself
'Thomas Wry the alias Wryothesley', but by 1519 (pat. to John Wylkynson
alias Harlyn) he had dropped the Wry the and called himself simply 'Thomas
Wryotesley'.
1489 Wallingford, pursuivant to Prince Arthur and later Prince Henry;
1491 accompanied his father to Brittany. On Wrythe's death 1504 Machado
declined the Gartership on the score of age and weakness and in consideration
of 20 mks a year deducted from Garter's salary moved the King to appoint
Wriothesley over the heads of all the officers in ordinary. Appd Garter as
Thomas Wrythe, but 9 October 1509 obtained new pat. as 'Thomas
Wriotesley alias Writh filius Johannis Wriotesley alias Writhe'.
Attended Henry VIII on Thérouanne expedition 1513, Field of Cloth of
Gold 1520 and meeting with Francis I at Calais 1532; attended Princess
Mary to France on her marriage to Louis XII 1514.
Garter missions to Guido Ubaldi, Duke of Urbino, and Philip of Castile
1503, Ferdinand of Austria 1523 (H.C.E.C., pl. xi; Brit. Arch. Assoc. J., xxvi
(1870), 121 etc.) and Francis of France 1527.
May 1534 was 'worn out with age & grievous decay'; d. 24 November
following; burd St Giles', Cripplegate.
Citizen and Draper of London by patrimony 1504. Knighted 5 December
1523, by Archduke Ferdinand at Nuremberg.
Portrait in Westminster Tournament roll (Dallaway, Inquiries, pl. 9).
On becoming Garter built a great house, 'Garter House', in Red Cross St,
Cripplegate (Stow, Survey, 1, 302–3).
His s. Charles, Windsor herald.
His second wife, Agnes née Ingleby, was widow of Robert Warcop who
was probably related to Leonard Warcop, Carlisle.
Machado and Benolt being mainly occupied on diplomatic work
Wriothesley was free to concentrate on home affairs. He renewed his
father's arrangement with Machado and made similar agreements with
Benolt, 5 July 1511, and with Norroys Yonge, 4 February 1511, Wall and
Hawley, 2 August 1534. Benolt's foreign duties having diminished or ceased
towards 1530 he found Wriothesley's virtual monopoly of grants and visitations irksome and an encroachment on his own rights; hence the Visitation
Commission of 1530 and the long controversy between them and their
respective successors—see H. & H., chs. viii–x. Benolt also complained that
after the heralds were ejected from Coldharbour, Wriothesley and his father
retained books belonging to the whole office (ibid. p. 94, etc.).
Unlike his predecessors and some other heralds he does not seem to have
been sent on any foreign missions except the essentially ceremonial Garter
missions. This may be due to no more than the availability of such accomplished diplomats as Machado and Benolt. In the other branches of a
herald's duties 'there is no question of his competence.... Numerous painted
books & rolls of arms, & books of precedents & pedigrees compiled by [or
for] him, show a comprehensive love & knowledge of the subject' (H. & H.,
p. 86). Among the products of his workshop are 'Prince Arthur's Book'
(Coll. of Arms, Vinc. MS. 15; H.C.E.C., no. 108), 'The Book of Standards' (I. 2, De Walden Library, Banners, Standards and Badges), L. 8, 9, 10
and 12 and M. 7, 10 and 14 and 1st M. 17 in the College; MSS. 476 and 443,
'Wriothesley's Roll of Grants' (H. & H., pp. 90–1) at the Society of Antiquaries; and at the British Museum, Add. 5530, Harl. 1074 and 1417, three
ex-Clumber MSS. Add. 45131–2–3 and Egerton 1713 'Willement's Roll'
(Coat of Arms, iv, 153). These include inter alia armorials of the letters
E, H, P, R and S, ordinaries of chevrons, crosses, fesses, lions and other
charges as well as of crests and beasts (supporters). Other MSS. from his
workshop are in the Bodleian and various private collections. On their
dispersal see R. & C., p. 10 etc.
(See also Anstis, Reg. Garter, 1, 367–73; Camden Soc. edit. of Charles
Wriothesley's Chronicle; D.N.B.; H. & H. and R. & C., passim; J. H. Round,
Peerage and Pedigree, 1, 38, and Peerage and Family History, p. 141.)
Arms: His father's cross & birds quartering Castlecombe & Lusthill.
Crest: the bull's head (H.C.E.C., pl. xxi). In two of his MSS. the birds
are identified as eagles. Motto: Humble et Serviceable.
It is said that he placed a demi-garter about his arms in memory of his
descent from Sir Robert Dunstanville who is supposed to have been a K.G.
(Anstis, Reg. Garter, 1, 155). No example of this has been found.
5. THOMAS WALL

Wall
Rouge Croix, p.s. 4, cr. 5, pat. 11 May 1521.
Windsor, p.s. 25 November 1524, pat. 24 October 1525.
Garter, p.s. 8, pat. 9, cr. 25 December 1534, acting Garter from preceding Michaelmas.
S. of Thomas Wall, Norroy; said to have been Berwick but not so named
in pat. of Rouge Croix, 1521; later Windsor and Garter, both promotions
per saltum; 1521 in France; 1523 summoned city of Orleans to surrender;
1527 sent to Margaret of Savoy about threats of war with Emperor; 1529
attached to embassy to the Emperor and November in Italy; 1535 Garter
mission to James V of Scotland; sometimes miscalled Knight; d. 27 June 1536.
Compiled two valuable armorials; (1) 'Wall's Book of Arms' (Coll. of
Arms, Anstis MS. B. 1, now Anstis MS. 679) compiled in 1530, but with
a few later additions by Wall and others, is in blazon only and includes some
crests (printed The Ancestor, xi, xii); (2) 'The Great Alphabet', Coll. of
Arms MS. L. 1, has blazon and painted shields but no crests.
Compiled and signed the catalogue of Benolt's bequest (H. & H., pp.
150–7). Translated 'The Order of Knyghthode' from the French (Hare's
MS. I. 197 in Coll. of Arms). Owned Coll. of Arms MS. M. 16.
His report on the 1528 mission is in Cotton MS. Galba B. ix, fos. 58–9,
and on the 1529 embassy in Add. 35838, fos. 24–30. He owned B.M. MS.
Arundel 59, a copy of Hoccleve's 'De Regimine Principum', etc.
Arms: See Thomas Wall Norroy (17).
6. SIR CHRISTOPHER BARKER

Barker
Lisle, pursuivant to Sir Charles Brandon, cr. 1513.
Suffolk, herald to Sir Charles Brandon, cr. 1 February 1517.
Richmond, cr. 1 November 1522.
Norroy, cr. June 1536.
Garter, cr. 9, p. s. 11, pat. 15 July 1536.
S. of William Barker, of Stokesley, Yorkshire, by Joan, sister of Norroy
Carlill. His second wife, Ellen, aunt of Norroy Dalton. Lant's statement
that he was Calais and Rouge Dragon belied by Barker's own summary of
his career: 'Lysley pourcevant to Duke of Suffolk, after Suffolk heraulde,
after Richemond harould, after that Norroy kyng of Armes, after that
Gartier principall King of armes' (Coll. of Arms MS. M. 9, 118b). Presumably appd Lisle and Suffolk respectively soon after Brandon's creation
as Viscount Lisle, May 1513, and as Duke of Suffolk, February 1514. 1522
transferred to royal service as Richmond; later Norroy and Garter. Attached
to several foreign missions 1515–44. Said to have been knighted 23 September
1545; certainly made K. B. at Edward VI's coronation 1547. Master of
Vintners' Co. D. at his house in Paternoster Row, 2 January 1550.
As Garter tried to restore peace to the College and refrained from interfering with the provincial kings. His collections in College, British Museum
and Bodleian.
(D. N. B., etc.)
Arms: Argent, 3 bear's heads erased gules muzzled or with three roundels
gules in chief. Crest: From a torse or & azure a bear's head erased or muzzled
azure, the neck per pale or & azure, all between 2 wings respectively azure
& or. Badge: A bear's head erased gules muzzled or. (Seal: Col. Topog. &
Gen., 111, 75.)
7. SIR GILBERT DETHICK

Dethick
Hampnes, p. s. 14, cr. 16, pat. 18 June 1536.
Rouge Croix, appd December 1540.
Richmond, cr. 25 December 1540, p. s. 5 February, pat. 8 March 1541.
Norroy, p. ss. January, March and 11 August, pat. 16 August 1547.
Garter, cr. 20, p. s. 21, pat. 29 April 1550.
The Dethicks are one of the most prominent families in the history of the
College. Not only were Sir Gilbert, his sons Nicholas and William, and his
great-grandson Henry all heralds, but the Commonwealth pursuivants
Watson and Exton married Dethicks, and Laurence Cromp's aunt Elizabeth
was wife of a Dethick.
Sir Gilbert, probably born c. 1500, claimed descent from and used arms
of Dethick of Dethick Hall, Derbyshire, but was s. of Robert Derrick, a
yeoman armourer, of Dutch or German birth, employed in the Greenwich
armoury. Gilbert and his brothers Derick and Matthew were made denizens
by Act of Parliament, 34 Hen. VIII (1542–3).
Apparently in the King's service as courier even before he became
Hampnes in 1536; afterwards Rouge Croix, Richmond and Norroy and
finally Garter. Kt. 31 March 1551; d. 3 October 1584; burd in St Benet's,
Paul's Wharf, aged 84 according to Sir William's M. I. in Old St Paul's.
Throughout his 48 years as herald (34½ as Garter) was frequently employed
abroad, usually on the Continent, but sometimes in Scotland. At siege of
Musselburgh 1547 was nearly shot by the Scots.
A member of the original Society of Antiquaries and reputed a good
scholar. Remains of his collections in British Museum and Caius College,
Cambridge, suggest he was sound armorist and genealogist; certainly skilled
diplomat. His services were rewarded by Henry VIII by the gift of a house
and an acre of ground at Poplar, where his descendants lived for some
200 years. Under Elizabeth he and the Queen regularly exchanged New
Year gifts. During his Gartership he is said to have made over 140 grants
of arms alone and forty more jointly with the provincial kings.
(D.N.B.; B. M. MSS.; etc.)
Arms: Quarterly, (1 & 4) argent, a fess vairy gules & or between 3 bougets
sable, with a molet on a crescent for difference (Dethick); (2) argent, a chief gules
& on a bend over all azure 3 scocheons argent each charged with a chief gules
(Allestree); (3) or, a bend gules & a canton argent goutty sable. Crest: A nag's
head argent differenced as the arms. Motto: Mors Aut Victoria Laeta.
These arms & quarterings belong to Dethick of Dethick Hall. Sir Gilbert
sealed with the first coat only. The gravestone of Sir Gilbert's brother
Matthew in York Minster is said to bear 3 bougets, sans fess (Noble).
1584. 18 months' vacancy. See below (8). Robert Cooke, see Clarenceux
(14), acted as Garter.
8. SIR WILLIAM DETHICK

Dethick
Rouge Croix, cr. 9, pat. 11 February 1567.
York, pat. 24, cr. 25 March 1570.
Garter, pat. 21 April 1586, sworn 22 April 1587.
B. c. 1542, second s. and eventually heir of Sir Gilbert; educ. St John's
College, Cambridge; later member of Gray's Inn; 1564, three years before
he became Rouge Croix, accompanied his father on Garter mission to
France, and went on several later Garter missions.
On Sir Gilbert's death, in spite of opposition and after interregnum of
18 months during which Cooke acted, was appointed Garter. As York he
had transgressed by granting or confirming arms under his own seal, and
now he fraudulently procured the insertion in his patent of a clause unprecedented for Garter, empowering him to make visitations.
Member of the original Society of Antiquaries, which used to meet in his
chambers in the College. His professional qualifications were high and at
the time of his promotion he was esteemed the most skilful herald of his day.
Unfortunately, was arrogant and passionate and constantly in trouble both
with his colleagues and with others. In the result his deposition was inevitable
and in January 1604 a bill passed the Signet Office for appointing Segar Garter.
Dethick, however, resisted and it was not until 10 December 1606, on the
grant of £200 a year with total exemption from taxation, that he surrendered
his office. D. 1612; burd St Paul's Cathedral (M. I.); Kt. 13 May 1603.
Owned many Wriothesley manuscripts, some of which with some of his
own and his father's collections were later acquired by the College, while
others are in the British Museum, Caius College, Cambridge, and elsewhere.
Among his descendants were Henry Dethick, Richmond, Anne wife of John
Watson, Bluemantle, and Elizabeth wife of Everard Exton, Rouge Dragon.
(D.N.B.; Anstis, Reg. Garter, 1, 386 sqq.; H. & H., pp. 93, 109, and R. & C.,
pp. 10, etc.; etc.)
Arms: Quarterly with a crescent over all; (1) Dethick; (2) Allestree, both
as Sir Gilbert; (3) or, a chevron gules & canton ermine (Stafford); (4) ermine,
a chevron engrailed azure between 3 pinks gules slipped vert (Peterson, for
his mother).
9. SIR WILLIAM SEGAR

Segar
Portcullis, signet 26 May, pat. 4, cr. 10 June 1585.
Somerset, bill 25 December 1588, signet 4, pat. 8 January, cr. 4 February 1589.
Norroy, cr. 23 October 1597, pat. 2 July 1602.
Garter, signet January 1604, new signet and pat. 17 January 1607.
Of High Holborn, London, parish of St Giles Cripplegate, and later of
Richmond, Surrey; descended from a Dutchman of Arnhem who settled in
England temp. Hen. VII; s. of Francis Segar and Anne Sherard; bred a
scrivener; servant to Sir Thomas Heneage; Portcullis 1585; 1586 attended
Earl of Leicester in United Provinces; 1588 Somerset; 1596 attached to
Garter mission to France; 1597 Norroy, place having been vacant four years;
June 1603 deputy Garter on mission to Denmark; 1604 nom. Garter on
decision, 26 January, to deprive Sir Wm. Dethick; thereafter acted as Garter
but appointment not effective until after Dethick resd 10 December 1606;
Kt. 5 November 1616; 30 December 1616, sent to Marshalsea for allowing
himself to be trapped by Ralph Brooke into certifying arms of Aragon with
a canton of Brabant as those of Gregory Brandon, London hangman; soon
released; 1 March 1617, admitted Gray's Inn; Garter missions to two princes
of Orange, Maurice 1612 and Henry 1627; represented by H. St George on
mission to Gustavus Adolphus 1627 and by Philipot on that to Elector
Charles 1633; d. Richmond 13 (? 10) December 1633; burd in chancel,
Richmond church.
Father of Thomas Segar, Bluemantle, and of Penelope, wife of N. Charles;
great-grandfather of Simon Segar, author of Honores Anglicani, etc.
Published works and MS. collections testify to his skill and industry.
Published: The Booke of Honor and Armes (anon. 1590); Honor, Military and
Civil (1602), partly copied from preceding.
B.M. MS. Harl. 6085 is a beautifully written and illuminated MS. of the
arms and badges of the kings of England dedicated to James I, 1604, probably
his own work; a similar list in Coll. of Arms MS. L. 14 'Misc. Curiosa' looks
like a draft for Harl. 6085. Add. 8933, also in B. M., is a Treatise on Heraldry
and Arms. For other MSS. see D.N.B.
Segar's Roll so called because original was in his custody 1605 (C.E.M.R.A.,
p. 18).
For Round's strictures on his pedigree of Weston see Family Origins, p. 103.
Arms: Quarterly, (1 & 4) azure, a millrind cross argent (Segar); (2 & 3)
or, a chevron between 3 molets azure (Crakenthorpe). Crest: A caduceus
crowned & erect or entwined with 3 serpents vert & between 2 wings
respectively or & argent. Motto: Arte et Ingenio.
10. SIR JOHN BOROUGH

Borough
Mowbray, sworn June 1623.
Norroy, pat. 18, cr. 23 December 1623.
Garter, pat. 27 December 1633, cr. 4 January 1634.
Said to be s. of a 'Dutchman' (Athen. Oxon. iv, Fasti c. 62), but not so
though his grandmother was a Brabanter. S. of John Borough, of Sandwich,
by dau. of Robert Denne of Dennehill, Kent; admitted to Gray's Inn and
entered Tower Record Office c. 1612; Keeper 1623; much employed by the
Earl of Arundel who sent him to Venice in 1621 to bring Lady Arundel
home (Mary Hervey, Life of Thomas Earl of Arundel, p. 200, etc.).
Mowbray in June and Norroy December 1623; Garter 1633; Kt. 17 July
1624. Secretary of the embassy to the Emperor 1636 and Clerk of the
Council on 1640 expedition against the Covenanters. Followed the King to
Oxford; d. there 21 October 1643; burd in Christ Church Cathedral.
Author of The Soveraignty of the British Seas (1651, etc.) and many important letters and memoranda among the State Papers and in the British
Museum, etc.
(D.N.B., etc.)
The controversy between Garter and the provincial kings, dormant under
Segar, was revived by Borough, who as Norroy induced Sir Richard
St George to join him in taking out a joint commission to visit all England,
with a clause reserving Garter's rights; the pat. bore date 25 December 1633;
when Borough was already Garter designate. Borough's rights as Norroy
under this commission should have lapsed on his becoming Garter, but he
obtained a confirmation of it by sign manual and in fact he and St George
visited, by deputies, no less than thirteen southern counties and one northern
before St George's death in 1635 (R. & C., pp. 73, etc.).
Arms: Or, on a cross gules 5 pierced molets gold. Crest: A dove standing
on a serpent nowed, all proper.
(Confirmed by Segar to Garter's father.)
11. SIR HENRY ST GEORGE

St George
Rose, wt. for tabard 11 December 1609, cr. May 1610.
Bluemantle, docquet 10, pat. 18, cr. 23 December 1611.
Richmond, signet February, pat. 11, cr. 23 March 1616.
Norroy, docquet 19, pat. 24, R. wt. 28 June 1635.
Garter, appd late 1643, pat. 6 April 1644.
Third but eldest surviving s. of Sir Richard St George, Clarenceux;
b. Hatley St George 27 January 1581; employed in College c. March 1609;
Rose, alias Rose Rouge, December 1609; 1611 bought out Patten, Bluemantle; 1616 Richmond; 3 March 1618 admitted Gray's Inn; 1625 to France
with Wm. Le Neve to conduct Queen Henrietta Maria to England; 1627
deputy for Segar on Garter mission to Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, who
knighted him in camp at Darsau, Prussia, 23 September 1627 and gave him
augmentation of arms; Norroy 1635; suspended and fined by E. M. April
1639 for forging father's signature on a faked grant of arms, but restored
with pardon under Great Seal 6 April 1640, the King expressly approving
the E. M's action (Cal. S. P. Dom. 1639, pp. 2, 9; cf. Philipot, Somerset);
attended King to Oxford in Civil War; D. Med., Oxford, 9 May 1643;
Garter late 1643; d. Brasenose College, Oxford, 5 November 1644; burd
Christ Church Cathedral.
Attended his father 1611 Vis'n of Derbyshire and 1613 of Cheshire;
1619–23 Vis'n of Cambridgeshire, Devonshire and Cornwall, Wiltshire,
Dorset and Somerset for Camden and 1633–5 London for his father.
No Vis'n as Norroy.
Compiled 'Catalogue of the Nobility of England, 1628'.
His collections passed to his s. Sir Henry St George q. v.
Married Mary Dayrell, of Lillingston Dayrell, whose sister Rebecca was
wife of George Owen, York. Two of his sons, Thomas and Henry, became
Garter, and another, Richard, was Ulster 1660–83. His dau. Frances was
mother of Elizabeth Tucker, wife of Devenish, Norroy, 1700–4.
Arms: As his father with an augmentation of the arms of Sweden granted
by King Gustavus Adolphus by pat. 26 September 1627, viz. On a canton
or, a scocheon azure charged with 3 crowns or. Crest and Motto: As his
father.
12. SIR EDWARD WALKER

Walker
Blanch Lyon, R. wt. 24 May 1635.
Rouge Dragon, pat. 19 May, cr. 5 June 1637.
Chester, pat. 31 January, cr. 8 February 1638.
Norroy, appd late 1643, signet April, pat. 14 June 1644.
Garter, sworn 17 January, pat. 26 February, cr. 25 March 1645.
B. 24 January 1611, at Roobers, in Nether Stowey, Somerset; second s.
of Edward Walker of Roobers; employed first in Office of Purveyance;
1633 entered service of Earl of Arundel, E. M.; 1635 Blanch Lyon; thence
Rouge Dragon and Chester; 1636 attended Arundel on mission to Ratisbon
(account written by Crowne); 1639 Secretary for War on Arundel's expedition against the Scots; 1640 Paymaster of Carlisle garrison.
During Civil War in almost constant attendance on Charles I and later
on Charles II in exile. Clerk Extraordinary of Privy Council, Secretary to
Council of War, Receiver-General of the King's moneys and Secretary for
War; 1643 Norroy; 1 November 1644, Hon. M. A., Oxford; 1645 Garter,
and Kt. 2 February; 1657 proposed amalgamation of offices of Clarenceux
and Norroy with Garter (Coll. of Arms MS. SML. 64, p. 83); 1649–60
several Garter missions for Charles II in exile.
1660 resumed place at College (Bysshe ejected), Clerk of the Council,
member of Gray's Inn; 1660–1 acting Clarenceux owing to Le Neve's
lunacy (R. wt. 20 July 1660); petitioned unsuccessfully for patent constituting him and succeeding Garters kings of arms for all H. M. plantations in
America; 1663 Garter mission to Brandenburg (represented by H. and T.
St George respectively on missions to Sweden and Saxony in 1668); 1675
bought Shakespeare's house, New Place, Stratford-on-Avon; d. Whitehall
20 February 1677; burd Lady (or Clopton) Chapel, Stratford, M.I.
Only child, Barbara, married Sir John Clopton, of Clopton, near Stratford; their third s. Hugh became Rouge Dragon.
Faithful and valuable servant to Charles I and II, and able herald, but in
1653 Sir Edward Nicholas found him importunate, ambitious and foolish,
studying only his own ends; Lord Clarendon's opinion similar (D. N. B.
citing Nicholas Papers, ii, 11, and Cal. Clarendon Papers, ii, 222, 346). In
latter years arrogant and truculent, presuming on his services to the King
and often at odds with the E. M. and the provincial kings.
Besides historical works (see D. N. B.) wrote An Account of the Coronation
of Charles II (printed 1820).
Many of his collections now in College, including 48 original patents of
arms (given 1673), 25 great volumes, WA to W&, containing W. Le Neve's
copies of a wide range of documents of heraldic interest (given 1677), two
docquet books of his grants, and 'Walker's Arms of Nobility', paintings of
the arms of peers. To successors as Garter bequeathed two books on the
Order, two volumes of arms of the nobility and a Book of the Coronation.
Portraits in the College (by Wm. Dobson) and at Shakespeare's birthplace.
Arms: (1) As Blanch Lyon, etc.; argent, a chevron anchored (i.e. tipped
with a short cross-bar & ring) between 3 crescents sable, a crescent for
difference on the chevron. (2) Quartering of augmentation & crest granted
by Charles I 1 November 1648; argent, on a cross gules a greyhound courant
argent collared or. Crest: A greyhound courant argent, its collar gules
charged with 3 gold crowns. (3) Quartering of augmentation granted by
Charles II 8 February 1650; Argent, on a cross gules 5 leopard faces or.
The leopard faces and greyhounds are royal badges.
Bookstamp shows a shield of the 1650 augmentation quartering Walker
(sans difference) supported in front of a greyhound sejant erect & affronté,
collared, the whole in a riband inscribed Loyauté Mon Honneur.
Badge epitomizing his career: Out of a king of arms' crown a garb or
supported by a blanch lyon & a rouge dragon.
12A. SIR EDWARD BYSSHE

Bysshe
Garter, intruded c. 1643, confirmed by Parliament 20 October 1646, deposed 1660.
Clarenceux, appd by Parliament 12 June 1650, resd 1658. Appd pat. 10 March 1661.
Eldest s. of Edward Bysshe, of Smallfield Place, Burstow, Surrey; b. there
1615; M. P. for different Surrey constituencies 1640–68. Although a member
of the committee which in 1640 declared the court martial illegal, became
1645 a commissioner for executing offices of Constable and Marshal. Took
covenant 1643 and invaded office of Garter; confirmed therein by Parliament
20 October 1646; 1650 also Clarenceux, but relinquished that place to Ryley
1658. At Restoration was ejected from Gartership, but soon after appd
Clarenceux in place of Le Neve; Kt. 20 April 1661; d. 15 December 1679;
burd in St Olave's Jewry. In latter years was frequently at odds both with
E. M. and with his colleagues, especially Walker.
A good antiquary, friend of Dugdale and Dodsworth; took little interest
in genealogies and the Vis'ns he made 1662–77 (18 counties) were bitterly
criticized by his colleagues; was however a keen and skilled armorist as shown
by his annotated edition (1654) of the treatises of Upton, Johannes de Bado
Aureo and Spelman.
(Commons' and Lords' Journals; Dallaway, Inquiries; Thomas Moule, Bibliotheca Heraldica, and Sarcastic Notices of the Long Parliament; R. & C.; etc.)
Arms: Or, a chevron between 3 roses gules; with many quarterings.
Crest: A hind (biche) tripping argent. Motto: Prudens Simpliciter.
(Seal, Bookplate, 1634 Vis'n of Sussex.)
This was adopted by Sir Edward's father in 1623 in lieu of arms confirmed
by Camden 1 October 1617: Quarterly, (1 & 4) per fess embattled argent
& ermine with 3 leopard faces in chief gules (Bysshe); (2 & 3) per saltire or
& azure, 2 roses gules and 2 fleurs de lis or (Burstow). Crest: In a mural
crown or, a sword erect argent, hilted or, piercing a leopard's face gules.
(Harl. Soc. vol. 76, p. 29.)
13. SIR WILLIAM DUGDALE

Dugdale
Blanch Lyon, cr. 24 September 1638.
Rouge Croix, signet 14, pat. 16, cr. 18 March 1640.
Chester, pat. 16 April 1644, cr. 25 March 1645.
Norroy, pat. 18 June, sworn 10 August 1660.
Garter, pat. 26 April, cr. 24 May, sworn 1 June 1677.
Of Blythe Hall, Warwickshire; perhaps the most famous of all the members
of the College; born 12 September 1605, at Shustoke, Warwickshire, s. and
heir of John Dugdale, whilom bursar of St John's College, Oxford. From
boyhood devoted himself to antiquarian studies, encouraged first by his
father, later by Sir Symon Archer and other antiquaries of the day and still
later by his friend and patron Sir Christopher Hatton through whose influence
he was appd Blanch Lyon in 1638. About the same time, foreseeing the
coming troubles, he, Hatton, Sir Edward Dering and Sir Thomas Shirley
formed a new society 'Antiquitas rediviva'. How far their ambitious programme was carried out we know not, but among its fruits were (1) 'The
Book of Drafts', paintings of monuments, etc. collected by Dugdale in
1640–1 at Hatton's expense, (2) 'The Book of Seals', published 1950 as
'Sir Christopher Hatton's Book of Seals', and (3) a most valuable series of
facsimiles of rolls of arms, now Soc. Antiq. MS. 664 (C. E. M. R. A., p. xxi,
etc.; Arch. Cant., 1, 50, etc.).
At the Civil War Dugdale accompanied the King to Oxford (M. A. 1642).
His estate was thereupon sequestered by Parliament, but he was allowed to
compound for it in 1646. Later he was able to visit London from time to
time and although not acting as a herald had chambers in the College at
least from 1653.
This enforced respite from official duties enabled him to concentrate on
the Monasticon Anglicanum (1655, 1661, 1673, in collaboration with Roger
Dodsworth) and The Antiquities of Warwickshire (1656). Those and The
Baronage of England (1675–6), though probably the best known, are by no
means his only works, see Sir William Dugdale, 1605–86; A List of his Printed
Works (Warwick, 1953), which also lists his manuscript remains.
At the Restoration appd Norroy and 1677 Garter; admitted to Gray's Inn
1660; Kt. 25 May 1677; d. at Blythe Hall 10 February 1686; burd at Shustoke
(M.I.).
As Norroy 1662–6 visited personally all ten English counties in his province,
usually with Gregory King as clerk and painter; also visited Shropshire 1662
as Bysshe's deputy and 1670 deputed Chaloner and Sandford to visit Flintshire.
A great benefactor to the College; besides presenting copies of his own
works and some important MSS. he was instrumental in persuading several
collectors to give it many books and manuscripts.
His only surviving s. John, afterwards Norroy, was appointed deputy
Garter 1684, and his dau. Elizabeth married Elias Ashmole. His last descendant in the direct male line was John Dugdale, Mowbray.
For further particulars see D. N. B.; Hamper's Life... of Sir Wm. Dugdale
(1827); R. & C., and other sources listed in the pamphlet cited above.
Arms: Argent, a millrind cross gules with a roundel gules in the dexter
canton. Crest: A griffin's head & wings or. Motto: Pestis Patriae Pigrities.
14. SIR THOMAS ST GEORGE

St George
Somerset, pat. 12 July, sworn 10 August 1660.
Norroy, signet January 1680.
Garter, signet February, pat. 11 March, R. wt. 22, cr. 24, sworn 26 April 1686.
Of Woodford, Essex; b. 1615, eldest s. of Sir Henry St George; Somerset
1660, thence Norroy and Garter; 1669 deputy for Walker on Garter mission
to Dresden; Kt. 1 June 1669; 1691 attended King William when he invested
Duke of Zell at the Hague, but deputed Gregory King on Garter missions
to Berlin 1690, Dresden 1693 and Hanover 1701; 1693 a commissioner for
rebuilding St Paul's Cathedral; d. in College 6 March 1703, aged 87; burd
in churchyard, Woodford, Essex (altar tomb). His dau. Eleanor was mother
of Thomas Coote, Rose Rouge, 1702.
At his death his very valuable MS. collections were bought by Peter
Le Neve and with Le Neve's additions were sold 1731. A few have since
come to the College; others are in the British Museum and other collections.
Anstis says he was 'a person of many gentlemanlike qualities' (Reg.
Garter, 1, 421), but Gibbon, Bluemantle, says that having given £1000 to
be made Garter he proved himself very ignorant and much a knave (Coll.
of Arms M.S. O.A. I, 298 b).
Arms: As his father Garter (11).
15. SIR HENRY ST GEORGE

St George
Richmond, pat. 18 June, sworn 10 August 1660.
Norroy, pat. 27 April, cr. 24 May 1677.
Clarenceux, pat. 28 January 1680, salary from Michaelmas 1679.
Garter, pat. 16, R. wt. 18, cr. 25 June, salary from Easter 1703.
The last of the St Georges to hold office in the College; b. July 1625 in
St Andrew's parish, Hertford; third but second surviving s. of Sir Henry
St George; Richmond at Restoration, thence Norroy, Clarenceux and
Garter; deputy for Walker on Garter mission to Stockholm 1669; deputy
Garter between Walker's death and Dugdale's appointment; Kt. 25 May
1677; 1693 a commissioner for rebuilding St Paul's Cathedral; d. at College
1715 aged 91; burd 18 Aug. in St Benet's, Paul's Wharf.
Anstis (according to Noble, p. 354, but not in Coll. of Arms, MS. O.A.
or Reg. Garter) called him 'a timorous animal, governed by every creature,
minding only his iron chest & the contents of it'; while Hearne says he was
incommunicative, sordid and of little learning (Collections, v, 98). Nevertheless, whatever his shortcomings, as Clarenceux he was active in Vis'ns,
twelve counties being visited between 1681 and 1700; four of these he visited
in person assisted by King and Dale; the others were visited by deputies,
King being one in each case; the profits of six of these, amounting to £530,
he presented as a contribution towards rebuilding the College.
On his death the College recovered with difficulty from his executors
certain books belonging to it. The rest were sold by the executors to Lord
Percival, later Earl of Egmont, and in 1738 more than 200 MS. volumes
from his collections were sold by auction. Of these fourteen volumes were
given to the College by J. G. Teed in 1846; others are among the Lansdowne
MSS. in the British Museum and in the Knight collection at Caius College,
Cambridge; yet others were bought by Sir Anthony Wagner from the
Phillipps collection (R. & C., pp. 38–9).
Lady St George, née Elizabeth Wingfield, was second cousin of John
Wingfield, York.
Arms: As his father Garter (11).
16. JOHN ANSTIS

Anstis
Carlisle, nom. 17 May 1707, title changed to Norfolk next day.
Norfolk, nom. 18 May 1707, but not created.
Garter, reversionary pat. 2 April 1714 (p. s. 7 February, renewed 25 March 1714),
sworn 29 April 1719.
One of the most learned members of the College. Born in Cornwall 1669,
s. of John Anstis of Duloe and Lunna, in St Neots; educ. Exeter College,
Oxford; M.P. for different Cornish constituencies 1702–22; Bencher Middle
Temple 1722. In 1700 the E.M. ordered him to be given access to the library
and records of the College. 1707 nom. first Carlisle, then Norfolk, but not
created by either title. In 1714 obtained a reversionary pat. of the Gartership,
but when this fell vacant in 1715 Vanbrugh was nominated. Although in
prison as a suspected Jacobite Anstis claimed the office under the 1714 pat.
Decision at length given in his favour (20 April 1718) and he took the oath
as Garter April 1719. In 1727 obtained a new pat. appointing him and his s.
joint Garters. D. at Mortlake, Surrey, 4 March 1744; burd at Duloe.
Mainly at his instigation that Order of the Bath was instituted in 1725,
in which year he published Observations... on the Knighthood of the Bath.
Previously published on The Curia Militaris, The Honor of Earl Marshal and
The Form of the Installation of the Garter, but his most important work is The
Register of the Order of the Garter (2 vols., 1724), which in addition to the
register itself contains much valuable information on heralds and heraldry.
His large MS. collections now dispersed in British Museum, Coll. of Arms, etc.
(D.N.B.; Maclean, Trigg Minor, 1, 67; etc.)
Arms: Argent, a cross raguly gules between 4 doves azure, beaks and legs
gules. Crest: 5 ostrich feathers argent in a king of arms' coronet or. Motto:
arma nobilitant genus.
These were granted by Ward, Clarenceux, 31 January 1741, to the elder
Anstis and his posterity on the motion of the younger Anstis and without
the elder's knowledge. Neither father nor son used personal arms on their
official seals as Garter.
(Misc. Gen. & Her., 5 s, x, 3.)
17. JOHN ANSTIS, LL.D., F.S.A.

Anstis
Blanc Coursier, 14 January 1726.
Garter, concurrent pat. with his father 9 June 1727; sworn 18 June 1730; sole
Garter from 4 March 1744.
B. in London 1708, eldest s. of John Anstis Garter (16); educ. Corpus Christi
College, Oxford; Genealogist of the Order of the Bath May 1725, and
14 January 1726, Blanc Coursier Herald, an office annexed to that of
Genealogist; F.S.A. 1736; LL.D., Oxford 1749; Bencher Middle Temple 1749.
Sole Garter 1744. D. 5 December 1754, at Mortlake; burd at Duloe.
Generally considered a man of ability, but Warburton (London and
Middlesex Illustrated), perhaps out of spite, said he was 'only remarkable for
knowing nothing whatever of the matter' (heraldry).
His tabard and other insignia as Blanc Coursier and Garter are in the
Victoria and Albert Museum. Blanc Coursier's tabard is emblazoned with
the arms of the Duke of Cumberland, then First and Principal Companion
of the Order of the Bath.
Arms: As his father. 10 March 1744, he was granted quarterings for
Smith and Cudlip, and in the Grant Book the coronet in the crest of Anstis
is charged with 3 blue roundels.
(D.N.B.; Nicolas, Orders of Knighthood, iii, lxxi; Misc. Gen. & Her., 5 s,
x, 3.)
18. STEPHEN MARTIN LEAKE, F.R.S. and F.S.A.

Leake
Lancaster, pat. 1 June, cr. 9 October 1727.
Norroy, pat. 17, R. wt. 21 December 1729, cr. 28 January 1730.
Clarenceux, pat. 30 November, R. wt. 21, cr. 22 December, salary from 1 October 1741.
Garter, pat. 19 December 1754.
'An ornament to the College, a most able and well informed man upon
most subjects, but especially upon the science of heraldry and the various
duties of his office; in private life a most worthy and excellent person', so
wrote Garter Young in 1841.
Of Thorpe Hall, Essex, b. 5 April 1702, s. of Capt. Stephen Martin, R.N.,
adopted heir of Rear-Admiral Sir John Leake, whose name and arms he
assumed. Barrister Middle Temple; Younger Brother of Trinity House
1723; Deputy-Lieutenant of Tower Hamlets 1724; F.S.A. 1726; F.R.S. 1727;
Lancaster 1727 on Heskett's resignation for which he paid 350 guineas;
thence Norroy, Clarenceux and Garter; E.M's Secretary 1731–2.
Throughout career fought for heralds' rights and privileges; 1732 played
leading part in the abortive revival of the Court of Chivalry; 1733 successfully opposed grant to Bath king of arms of heraldic jurisdiction in Wales;
1738 drew up unsuccessful petition for a charter granting heralds exclusive
right to paint arms, etc.; 1747 opened at College birth registers specially for
Dissenters and Jews; Joint Plenipotentiary on Garter missions to Ferdinand
of Brunswick-Bevern 1759 and Adolphus Frederick of MecklenburgStrelitz 1764; d. at Mile End, Middlesex, 24 March 1773; burd Thorpe-leSoken Church, Essex (M.I.).
Author of Nummi Britannici Historia (1726); Reasons for granting Commissions to the Provincial Kings at Arms for visiting their Provinces (1744); Life
of Sir John Leake (1750); Remarks on the Origin & Usage of Arms (1834); The
Sovereign Arms ... at the Accession of King James I, 1603, with Remarks on the
Order of the Thistle (1855); 'Account of the Heralds' Office' (1767) (printed
in Genealogist, N.S. xiii, 138).
His MS. collections were bequeathed to his second s. John, Chester, on
the death of whose youngest brother George, in 1834, 75 volumes, mostly
in Garter's own hand, were bought by the College (see R. & C., p. 41).
Some few, of a more private nature, remained in the possession of John's
descendants at Marshall's, High Cross, Hertfordshire, but were given to the
British Museum in 1953 on the death of Col. Arthur Martin Leake, V.C.
Some papers in Garter's hand are in a volume of 'Heralds' College Papers'
bequeathed to the College by G. W. Marshall, York.
Nine volumes of Leake's books and MSS. relating to Essex are penes
Essex Archaeological Society.
Garter was not particularly interested in genealogy and his collections
concern the history and rights of the heralds (14 volumes); the Court of
Chivalry, the Order of the Garter, ceremonies and the like.
His younger sons John and George were successively Chester and his eldest
s. Stephen was Norfolk. For 107 years from his own appointment as Lancaster in 1727 to George's death in 1834 at least one of the family was a
member of the College.
Arms: exemplified 1721: Quarterly, (1 & 4) or, on a saltire engrailed
azure 8 annulets argent & in a canton gules a castle triple-towered argent
(Leake); (2 & 3) Paly of 6 pieces or & azure, on a chief gules 3 marleons
(merlins) or. Crest: A ship gun-carriage with a piece of ordnance mounted
thereon proper. Motto: pari animo.
19. SIR CHARLES TOWNLEY

Townley
York, pat. 26 August, R. wt. 11 November, cr. 13 December 1735.
Norroy, pat. 19 November 1751.
Clarenceux, pat. 11 January 1755, salary from 19 December 1754.
Garter, pat. 27 April 1773.
Of Long Whatton, Leicestershire; a cadet of Townley of Townley;
b. 7 May 1713, on Tower Hill, London; s. of Charles Townley, merchant,
of Tower Hill and of Clapham, Surrey; educ. Merchant Taylors' School;
1735 bought place of York from Philip Jones for £400; ceremonial creation
dispensed with by D.E.M. 3 September 1735, but actually cr. by E.M.
13 December; his pat. the first English pat. for an officer of arms; 1749
secretary Garter mission to Anspach; later Norroy and Clarenceux and 1773
Garter; Kt. 26 September 1761; d. Camden St, Islington, 7 June 1774; burd
family vault St Dunstan's in the East.
His collection of M.I.s and his 'Attendance Book' in College; latter contains outspoken comments on some fellow-heralds. B.M. MS. Add. 14834
contains heraldic collections including a draft of arms (unused) for the
Society of Antiquaries, fo. 33.
His portrait in College.
Coming into a considerable fortune c. 1755 Leake complains that thereafter he neglected his official duties and became overbearing and difficult
(Coll. of Arms MS. SML. 65, p. 215).
Arms: Quarterly, (1 & 4) argent, a fess & in chief 3 molets sable, with an
annulet on a molet or for difference (Townley); (2 & 3) argent, a chevron
engrailed sable ermined argent & on a chief sable 3 martlets argent (Wilde,
granted 4 July 1743). Crest: On a perch or a hawk close proper, beak &
bells or, a riband gules twined about the perch. Motto: tenez la vraye.
20. THOMAS BROWNE

Browne
Blanch Lyon, cr. 9 October 1727.
Bluemantle, pat. 16 December, salary from Lady Day 1737.
Lancaster, pat. 5 May 1744.
Norroy, pat. 6 May 1761.
Clarenceux, pat. 13 May, salary from 27 April 1773.
Garter, pat. 15 August, salary from 7 June 1774.
Called 'Sense' Browne to distinguish him from 'Capability' Brown; an
eminent land surveyor; said to have owed his appointments in the College to
his services to the Duke of Norfolk in that capacity. According to J. C. Brooke,
Somerset, knew nothing of heraldry and neglected his heraldic duties.
B. Ashbourne, Derbyshire, 13 March 1702, third s. of John Brown of
Compton in Ashbourne; worked for a time as surveyor under John Warburton, Somerset; successively Blanch Lyon, Bluemantle, Lancaster, Norroy,
Clarenceux and Garter; d. at his house in James St, Bedford Row, 22 February
1780; burd at Essendon, Hertfordshire, where he had a country house; left
nearly £25,000 besides houses at Essendon and James St; married Martha,
dau. and coheiress of George Nedham of Wymondley Priory, Hertfordshire. Eldest s. George was Bluemantle.
(Genealogist, preface to N.S. xxxvi.)
Arms granted 1761: Sable, 3 lions passant between 2 bendlets argent all
between 2 trefoils ermine. Crests: (1) from a crown palisado (vallary) or
a buck's head sable attired or (Nedham); (2) a griffin's head erased sable,
beak & ears or, charged on the neck with a bar gemel argent & a trefoil
ermine (Browne). Motto: si sit prudentia.
21. RALPH BIGLAND

Bigland
Bluemantle, pat. 23 February 1757, salary from 5 May 1756.
Somerset, pat. 15 June, salary from 12 May 1759.
Norroy, E.M. wt. 13, pat. 27 May, salary from 13 May 1773.
Clarenceux, pat. 12 September, salary from 15 August 1774.
Garter, appd 26 February, pat. 2 March, salary from 22 February 1780.
B. 1711, s. of Richard Bigland of Gray's Inn and Stepney, a cadet of Bigland
of Bigland Hall, Lancashire; married Anne dau. and heiress of John Wilkins
of Frocester, Gloucestershire, by whom one child, Richard of Frocester.
Successively Bluemantle, Somerset, Norroy, Clarenceux and Garter; d. in
College 27 March 1784; burd Gloucester Cathedral.
Very active professionally; reputed a good genealogist; published Observations on Marriages...in Parochial Registers (1764); also made collections
for history of Gloucestershire, partly published by his son as Historical,
Monumental and Genealogical Collections relative to the County of Gloucester
(1792).
(D.N.B.; etc.; see also 'Ralph Bigland and his Family', by Irvine Gray in
Trans. Bristol and Glos. Arch. Soc., lxxv (1958), 116–33.)
Arms exemplified 1760: Quarterly with a crescent for difference; (1) azure,
2 ears of big (wheat) or (Bigland); (2) argent, 2 bars with 3 scallops in chief
gules (Errington); (3) argent, 10 roundels gules (Babington); (4) or, a fret
sable (Ward). Crest: On a torse or & azure a lion passant looking backwards
gules & holding in the dexter paw an ear of big or. Motto: gratitudo
(over crest).
22. SIR ISAAC HEARD

Heard (1)
Bluemantle, pat. 5 December, salary from 15 June 1759.
Lancaster, nom. 29 May, pat. 3 July, salary from 6 May 1761.
Norroy, pat. 18 October, salary from 12 September 1774.
Brunswick, 31 December 1774, resd 1814.
Clarenceux, pat. 16 March, salary from 2 March 1780.
Garter, E.M. wt. 9, cr. 27 April, pat. 1 May, salary from 27 March 1784; invested
2 June 1786.
B. Ottery St Mary, Devonshire, 10 December 1730, elder s. of John Heard
of Bridgwater and later of London; educ. Honiton Grammar School;
Royal Navy 1745–51; August 1750 when midshipman H.M.S. Blandford off
Guinea Coast was washed overboard and nearly drowned; 1751–7 merchant
in Bilbao, Spain; 1757–9 employed in London; 1759 Bluemantle, whence
Lancaster, Norroy, Clarenceux and Garter; 1774 Gentleman Usher of the
Scarlet Rod (18 November) and Brunswick Herald (31 December), resd
1814; E.M's Secretary 1782–4; Kt. 2 June 1786; d. in College 29 April 1822,
aged 92; burd in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle (M.I.).
On Garter missions to William, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, 1786, Ernest
Lewis, Duke of Saxe-Gotha, 1791, and William, King of the Netherlands,
1814. On missions to Alexander I of Russia, 1813, and Ferdinand VII of
Spain, 1815, was represented respectively by Townsend and Pulman.
As a herald he was largely responsible for the 'landscape' and similar coats
and augmentations conspicuous in the grants to Lord Nelson and other
heroes of the Napoleonic wars. As a genealogist he was prominent in the
eighteenth-century revival; one of the first to interest himself in American
genealogy (Wagner, 'An 18th century King of Arms' Collection of
American Pedigrees', New England Hist. Geneal. Reg., xcv, pp. 20–8), having
visited America several times from Bilbao, and his first wife being a Boston
lady (see A. Ochterlony, Blanch Lyon). Left a large proportion of his MSS.
to his friends and assistants Beltz and Pulman, of whom the latter left
them to the College, including 8 volumes of peers', one of American
and 26 of other pedigrees, also a few Wriothesley MSS. Others of
his books and MSS. were sold June 1822 (Gent. Mag., xcii (1822), 1, p. 625),
some being bought for the College, others by Beltz and Pulman and yet
others by Sir Thomas Phillipps, who printed his Glamorganshire pedigrees
in 1845.
(D.N.B.; Gent. Mag., xcii (1822), 1, pp. 466 sqq.; Misc. Gen. & Her., 2s, iv,
209 sqq.; Nicolas, Orders of Knighthood (Order of the Bath); Beltz, Memorials
of the Garter, cxxxii, etc.; J. H. Round, Peerage and Family History, pp. 300,
302, 308; etc.)
Arms (1) alleged ancestral: Argent, a chevron gules between 3 bougets
sable. Crest: A demi-goat proper, horns, hooves & tufts or with a crown
or about its neck. Motto: toujours fidèle.

Heard (3)
(2) Granted 22 November 1762: Argent, in base a Neptune with an
Eastern crown or, his trident sable headed or, issuing from a stormy ocean,
the left hand grasping the head of a ship's mast appearing above the waves
as part of a wreck proper, on a chief azure the Arctic Polar Star of the first
between two water bougets of the second. Motto: naufragus in portum.
Crest: 'in honour of the royal House of Lancaster Institutor of his office'
(of Lancaster Herald): A swan, the wings elevated argent, beaked & membred
sable charged on the breast with a rose gules barbed & seeded proper, ducally
crowned & chained or.
(3) Granted 21 November 1774: As 1762 grant omitting the two bougets
on the chief.
23. SIR GEORGE NAYLER, K.H., F.S.A.

Nayler (3)
Blanc Coursier, 15 June 1792.
Bluemantle, pat. 29 November, salary from 11 July 1793.
York, pat. 13 March, salary from 3 February 1794.
Clarenceux, Gazette 23, pat. 30 May, salary from 13 May 1820.
Garter, pat. 11 May, cr. 22 July, salary from 29 April 1822.
B. c. 1764, fifth s. of George Nayler, surgeon, of Stroud, Gloucestershire;
career the more surprising as only 14 at father's death. Ambitious and
energetic, a determined pluralist with a flair for making influential friends;
as a boy befriended by the elder Bigland, to whom he probably owed his
interest in heraldry; later Duke of Norfolk obtained him commission in
West Yorks Militia; still later a wealthy clergyman named Feilding lent him
£1300 to buy J. S. Brown's resignation as Genealogist of the Order of the
Bath and Blanc Coursier herald, posts to which he was appd 15 June 1792
(J. C. Brooke, Letter Book, 5, p. 1); next year having induced the younger
Townley to resign his tabard on (according to Brooke, ibid. p. 67) very
advantageous terms, was appd Bluemantle vice Lodge promoted; two
months later Brooke and Pingo were accidentally killed and 13 March 1794
he was appd York over heads of Forth and Phillips; F.S.A. fortnight later;
Inspector of Regimental Colours 4 June 1806; 1813 sought commission as
Heard's deputy on Garter mission to Czar Alexander, and complained that
Townsend's appointment was £1000 taken out of his pocket; perhaps as
consolation was knighted 28 November 1813, at request of Duke of York
who remarked that Heard owed half his practice to his title; 2 January 1815,
on extension of Order of the Bath, confirmed as Genealogist and Blanc
Coursier and named officer of arms attendant on K.C.B.s and C.B.s; August
1815 king of arms of Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order with founding of
which he was deeply concerned; as such variously called Hanover and Blanc
Coursier; 1816 K.H.; 17 April 1818, king of arms of newly instituted Order
of St Michael and St George; May 1820 Clarenceux over head of Bigland,
Norroy; deputy Garter at coronation of George IV 19 July 1821, and
Garter 1822; 1823–7 Garter missions to Denmark, Portugal, France and
Russia; d. at residence, Hanover Square, London, 28 October 1831; burd in
family vault, St John's Church, Gloucester.
Claimed descent from Nayler of Offord Darcy, Huntingdonshire, but in
1808 their arms were differenced by engrailing the pale and adding a canton
charged with the white rose of York; later, 1822, the pale was again made
plain and other members of the family were allowed to drop the canton and
bear the original Offord Darcy coat.
As Genealogist of the Bath he claimed exclusive right to record pedigrees
and arms of the Knights and their esquires; the College argued this encroached
on their privilege and were supported by the law officers, but dispute not
formally settled till 1847. Meanwhile Nayler recorded many pedigrees and
arms in 47 handsome volumes which were deposited in the College in 1861
by order of the Prince Consort, Great Master of the Order. College also
acquired 50 folio volumes of Nayler's rough notes.
The College also possesses 'A History of the Sovereigns of the Most
Honourable Military Order of the Bath', alias 'The Bath Book', a most
sumptuous manuscript executed under Nayler's direction in 1803 for
George III and costing over £2000; the King refusing to pay and Queen
Victoria declining to buy, Nayler's surviving dau. Frances gave it in 1864 to
her brother-in-law Robert Laurie, Clarenceux, who presented it to the College.
His MS. armorial of the princes of Wales was given by George VI to the
National Library of Wales in 1937.
1833 College bought from Lady Nayler for £600 over 70 volumes of his
collections including the three volumes of Anstis' 'Officers of Arms' and
some Wriothesleyana.
His collections also included 45 volumes of cases before the House of
Lords and 36 volumes of private acts; these were acquired for the Guildhall
Library which still possesses the 45 volumes of cases, but the 36 volumes
of acts were destroyed by fire in December 1940 when the Guildhall was
bombed. Also among his collections were 14 volumes of coffin-plates inscriptions, now B.M. MSS. Add. 22292–305; and at least three Wriothesley
MSS., now Add. 45131–2–3 in British Museum.
Undertook a 'History of the Coronation of King George IV', for which
£3000 granted 1823; only lived to publish, 1824, two parts. Parts 3 and 4
made up by Bohn, using drawings prepared in one volume 1839 (Connoisseur, June 1937; H. & G. vii, 77).
Married Charlotte Wilkes Williams, illegitimate dau. of Sir John Guise,
Bt., of Highnam Court, Gloucestershire, and sister of Frances Williams,
mother of Robert Laurie, Clarenceux, whose brother George married
Nayler's dau. Charlotte (Coll. of Arms MS. 14 D. 14, 191).
Large private practice both before and after he became Garter.
(See also D.N.B.; Gent. Mag., xc, 162, etc., ci, 567, etc., cii, 190, 443;
H. & G. vii, 72–80.)
Arms: (1) As Bluemantle (Naylor of Offord Darcy): Or, a pale between
2 lions rampant sable. Crest: A lion's head erased sable with a saltire or on
the neck.
(2) As York, granted 22 October 1808: Or, a pale engrailed between
2 lions sable & on a canton gules a white rose barbed & seeded proper 'in
allusion to the institution of the office of York herald by King Edward the
Fourth, a white rose barbed & seeded proper being the Badge of the Royal
House of York'; with quarterings for Park & Osman. Crests: (1) On a
mount vert a white courser in full speed 'in allusion to the office of Blanc
Coursier Herald' charged with a pale gules & thereon a rose argent; (2) A
lion's head erased sable transfixed with a spear bendways point downwards
or & charged on the neck with a saltire or.
(3) As Garter, granted 11 June 1822: As in 1808 but the pale plain instead
of engrailed.
24. SIR RALPH BIGLAND

Bigland
Rouge Dragon, pat. 3 December, salary from 10 November 1774.
Richmond, pat. 20 April, salary from 3 April 1780.
Norroy, pat. 5 April, salary from 19 March 1803.
Clarenceux, 4 June, salary from 29 April 1822.
Garter, E.M. wt. 9, cr. 15, pat. 26 November, salary from 28 October 1831.
Nephew of Ralph Bigland Garter (21), being s. of his sister Elizabeth
Maria by Joseph Owen of Salford, Lancashire; b. 1 May 1757; d. 14 July
1838. At uncle's desire took name and arms of Bigland by R.L. 21 October
1774. Successively Rouge Dragon, Richmond, Norroy, Clarenceux and
Garter; the last to hold all three kingships in succession. Kt. 7 December
1831.
Arms exemplified 1774: Bigland, Errington & Babington quarterly with
the crest of Bigland, as his uncle. Motto: spe labor levis.
25. SIR WILLIAM WOODS, K.H., F.S.A.

Woods
Bluemantle, pat. 24 April, salary from 30 March 1819.
Norfolk, E.M. wt. 23, R. wt. 25 March 1825; title held concurrently with that of
Bluemantle.
Clarenceux, pat. 26 November, salary from 9 November 1831.
Garter, pat. 23 July, salary from 14 July 1838.
B. 17 August 1785; Secretary to K.C.B.s and C.B.s 2 January 1815;
Registrar of Guelphic Order August 1815; nom. Ross Herald (Scotland)
April 1816, then described as 'of the College of Arms', appointment not
completed; Bluemantle 1819 and Norfolk 1825, thence Clarenceux per
saltum and later Garter; Deputy Garter c. 1836; F.S.A. 1822; officer of arms
attendant on K.C.B.s and C.B.s 7 April, and Kt. 12 April 1832; Inspector of
Regimental Colours 11 November 1831; Deputy Secretary of Order of the
Thistle 1833; K.H. 1834; d. 25 July 1842, at Lauriestone Lodge, West End,
Hampstead; burd in incumbent's vault, Hampstead, M.I.; the last person
burd in the church.
Paternity not determined; according to tradition in Ulster's office and
College was natural s. of Charles, Duke of Norfolk (d. 1815), but used
arms of George Woods, tailor of London, who was probably brother of
William Woods (d. 1802), comedian of Theatre Royal, Edinburgh.
According to tradition among descendants of his son, General W. G.
Woods, Garter was 'an old rip', and boon companion of the Prince
Regent. Appears to have brought up two illegitimate families, one by
Elizabeth Blake and one by Mary Ann Young, named in his will as having
'long resided in my family', his residuary legatee and sole executrix.
Arms matriculated in Lyon Register 6 June 1812, to George Woods of
London Esq., brother and heir of William Woods of Edinburgh decd;
recorded at College 1814 (Scotland, 1, 106–7): Azure, a woodman proper
wreathed temples & middle with laurel vert, in his dexter hand a club head
downwards in pale or, his sinister arm extended & pointing upwards & his right
foot resting on a bezant, on a chief or a lion passant gardant gules. 1st Crest:
Out of an open crown or a demi-woodman proper with a club or over his
shoulder. 2nd Crest: Out of an open crown or a mount vert thereon a lion
statant gardant or in front of an oak-tree proper fructed or. Motto: Deus
Robur.
Motto on his bookplate: Deus Robur Meum.
26. SIR CHARLES GEORGE YOUNG

Young
Rouge Dragon, E.M. wt. 14 August, pat. 23 September, salary from 13 August 1813.
York, pat. 30 May, salary from 15 May 1820.
Garter, pat. 6, invested 27 August, salary from 25 July 1842.
B. Lambeth 6 April 1795; s. of Jonathan Young, surgeon (d. 1826;
descended from Scotby, co. Cumberland), by Mary Waring, a natural dau.
of Charles, Duke of Norfolk (d. 1815); educ. at Charterhouse; Rouge Dragon
1813 aged 18; York 1820 and Garter per saltum 1842. F.S.A. 1822; Kt. 27 August
1842; Hon. D.C.L., Oxford, 28 June 1854; d. 31 August 1869 s. p. at
residence, Prince's Terrace, Hyde Park; burd Kensal Green Cemetery.
Secretary to Garter missions to Denmark 1822, Portugal 1823 and Paris
1825; Joint-Plenipotentiary on missions to Saxony 1842, Turkey 1853,
Portugal 1858, Denmark 1865, Belgium 1866 and Austria 1867.
Highly competent man of business; rendered valuable service to College
as Registrar 1822–42 and otherwise, and to Society of Antiquaries as member
of Council and yet more as Chairman of Finance Committee 1846–52.
Had large private practice as York; less so as Garter. At 1869 inquiry
Rogers-Harrison complained that as Garter he made unnecessary alterations
in almost every sketch submitted to him and that he gave better coats to his
own clients than to those of other officers.
Sir Anthony Wagner, as Richmond Herald, says of him:
In 1869 the heralds received a still more important legacy than Pulman's...
Young was probably the most scholarly Garter since Leake but the range of his
active interest in heraldic studies is better attested by the prefaces of the friends whom
he helped, from Sir Harris Nicolas to J. R. Planché, than by the few though valuable
articles and pamphlets from his own pen. His collection, however, is a great one
both in size and range. It comprises 922 volumes, many written in Young's own
hand, but many more acquired by or compiled for him. It is particularly rich in the
records (printed as well as manuscript) of the peerage claims which bulked so large
in Young's day and in evidences gathered in connection with them, which fill
250 volumes. Pedigrees account for 114, lists and abstracts of wills for 87, of other
records for 14, ceremonials for 36, precedency for 10, local history for 9, and orders
of Knighthood for 45. They are kept in a special press as a memorial of so great a
benefactor (R. & C., pp. 43–4).
Among individual items in his collections were the 1613 copy of Lant's Roll,
Glover's essay on Differences of Arms, and Withie's copy of Glover's Ordinary.
(See also H. & G., vi, 465, etc.; D.N.B.; etc.)
Arms: (1) As Rouge Dragon; granted to his father 14 May 1804; ermine,
on a bend between 2 eagles displayed sable an anchor argent between
2 griffin heads erased or, a label for difference. Crest: On a wreath of the
colours in water representing the sea an anchor erect sable, ring & stock or, the
shank entwined by a serpent proper. Motto: Nil Humani a me Alienum
Puto. 2nd crest, granted to Rouge Dragon 15 December 1817; on a wreath
argent & sable a dragon couchant, wings elevated gules collared & chained
or, in the mouth a rose per pale gules & argent seeded or & slipped proper.
(2) As York & Garter; granted to his father 26 June 1822: As before but
the anchor on the bend replaced by a (3rd) griffin head, 2 Crests as above.
Motto: Nullius in Verba.
Garter quartered for his mother: Per fess gules & argent, a pale counterchanged & 3 crosses crosslet, 2 & 1, argent, all in a border gobony or &
azure (granted 15 December 1825).
27. SIR ALBERT WILLIAM WOODS, G.C.V.O., K.C.B.,
K.C.M.G., K.G. ST J., F.S.A.

Woods (2)
Fitzalan, E.M. wt. 26, R. wt. 27 June 1837.
Portcullis, E.M. wt. 20 July, pat. 2 August, salary from 19 July 1838.
Norfolk, E.M. wt. 26, R. wt. 28 October 1841.
Lancaster, pat. 9 November, salary from 23 October 1841.
Brunswick, 24 November 1841.
Garter, pat. 2, invested 11 November, salary from 31 August 1869.
B. Hampstead 16 April 1816, natural s. of Sir Wm Woods, Garter, q.v.;
educ. privately; worked under father at College; Fitzalan 1837, thence
Portcullis, Norfolk and Lancaster; Garter per saltum 1869, other candidates
being Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster, and Serjeant Bellasis (father of Edward
Bellasis, Lancaster).
24 November 1841, Gentleman Usher of the Red Rod and Brunswick
Herald, and 1857 on abolition of those offices Registrar and Secretary of the
Order of the Bath; 28 July 1842 Inspector of Regimental Colours; 1861
Registrar of Order of Star of India; 1869 King of Arms of Order of
St Michael and St George; 1878 Registrar Order of Indian Empire; Registrar
of Orders of Crown of India and Victoria and Albert.
F.S.A. 1847; Kt. 11 November 1869; C.B. 1887; K.G. St J. 1888 and
Director-General of Ceremonies; K.C.M.G. 1890; K.C.B. 1897; G.C.V.O.
1903; a prominent Freemason.
Attached to Garter missions to Copenhagen, Brussels and Vienna 1865–6–7
and Joint-Plenipotentiary missions to Rome 1878, Madrid 1881 and Dresden
1882.
D. 7 January 1904 at residence, 69 St George's Road, Pimlico, in 88th
year; burd Norwood Cemetery; heir grandson Sir G. W. Wollaston
(Garter), q.v.
Owing to age and infirmity Weldon Deputy Garter at funeral of Queen
Victoria and coronation of Edward VII, but H. F. Burke did almost all the
work for latter ceremony.
Only s. William Francis, d. 1870 leaving one s. Albert William Woods,
sometime Rouge Dragon, and one dau.
His only dau. Caroline Marianne, mother of G. W. Wollaston, Garter, q.v.
Having made heraldry his profession he practised it assiduously and with
much business ability; had unrivalled knowledge of ceremonial and precedence and marvellous memory for precedents. As an armorist influence
deplorable (see, e.g. Memoir, by A. C. Fox-Davies in Genealogical Mag.,
vii (1904), 477, etc.); often said he was determined his grants should mark
a period in heraldry, that Victorian grants must be Victorian, and that no
nineteenth-century grantee could expect a simple coat.
Portrait in Genealogist, N.S. ix.
(See also D.N.B.; Genealogical Mag., loc. cit.; The Times, 8 January 1904;
Illustrated London News, 13 February 1904; Morning Post, 14 January 1926;
Crisp, Visitation of England and Wales, xii, 148.)
Arms: (1) Shield & 2 crests as Sir W. Woods, q.v. Bookplate as Brunswick
Herald c. 1842. But his first official seal as Garter omitted personal arms.
(2) Granted 22 December 1891: Or, on a mount vert a lion statant gardant
in front of an oak-tree proper fructed or; on a chief azure between 2 circlets
of a king of arms' crown or a pale argent charged with the red cross of
St George. Crest: Out of a crown vallary or a mount vert & thereon in
front of an oak-tree as in the arms a demi-man affronté resting the dexter
hand on a terrestial globe proper. Motto: Deus Robur Meum.
It will be noticed that this grant reshuffles the elements of his father's
achievement, but the patent makes no reference to Sir William.
28. SIR ALFRED SCOTT GATTY, later Scott-Gatty, K.C.V.O.,
K.J. ST J., F.S.A.

Scott-Gatty
Rouge Dragon, pat. 4 May, salary from 29 March 1880.
York, pat. 12 October, salary from 18 September 1886.
Garter, pat. 8 January, invested 15 July, salary from 7 January 1904.
B. Ecclesfield, Yorkshire, 28 April 1847, second s. of Rev. Alfred Gatty,
D.D., by Margaret dau. and coheiress of Nelson's Chaplain Dr Alex. John
Scott; educ. Marlborough and Christ's College, Cambridge; before becoming Rouge Dragon was for a time secretary to Stephen Tucker, Rouge
Croix. Assumed additional name and arms of Scott by R.L. 23 November
1892. F.S.A. 1884; Kt. 1904; C.V.O. 1906; K.C.V.O. 1911; d. London
18 December 1918; burd Welwyn where he lived.
As herald and genealogist both skilled and energetic with a flair for
ceremonial. Genealogist (1905) and Director of Ceremonies of the Order
of St John; part-owner of the Genealogist; an accomplished musician and
composed many popular songs and lyrics. After his death his s. presented
132 volumes of his collections to the College. 1904 revived practice of
granting badges and instituted College Register of Badges.
(Genealogist, N.S. xxxv, 241–2; Genealogical Mag., viii, 55; Crisp, Visitation
of England and Wales, ii, 153–4; Coll. of Arms MSS.; R. & C., pp. 50–1; etc.)
Arms (1) granted 1876: Per fess sable & azure, in chief a demi-cat gardant
argent & in base 2 shin-bones in saltire between 4 fleurs de lis or. Crest: On
an embattled gateway a pheasant rising proper. (2) Exemplified 1893. Quarterly, (1 & 4) Gatty as above; (2 & 3) argent goutty sable, on a bend cotised
azure a spur-rowel between 2 crescents argent (Scott). Crests (1) For Gatty:
A fern-brake with a cock pheasant rising therefrom proper. (2) For Scott:
On a mount vert a stag tripping proper, collared gemel argent & supporting
with the dexter fore-leg a gold trident in bend sinister. Motto: Non Cate
Sed Caute. 1 Gatti Sempre in Piedi. Badge: granted 1906: A cat's face
argent crowned with the circlet of a king of arms' crown.
29. SIR HENRY FARNHAM BURKE, K.C.V.O., C.B., F.S.A.

Burke
Rouge Croix, pat. 3 September, salary from 20 August 1880.
Somerset, pat. 31 January, salary from 6 January 1887.
Norroy, pat. 9 October, salary from 15 September 1911.
Garter, pat. 22 January, invested 23 April 1919, salary from 18 December 1918.
B. Dublin 12 June 1859, eldest s. of Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster 1853–92,
and grandson of John Burke, founder of Burke's Peerage, etc.; d. in London
21 August 1930.
Successively Rouge Croix, Somerset, Norroy and Garter; Deputy Ulster
and Genealogist of the Order of St Patrick 1889–93; Genealogist of the
Orders of the Bath and St John of Jerusalem in England and Inspector of
Regimental Colours from 1904 (resd 2 June 1929); F.S.A. 1882; C.V.O.
1902; C.B. 1911; K.C.V.O. 1919.
An able genealogist and master of the science and art of heraldry; an
authority on armour and armorial china and a highly competent man of
business.
While Norroy prepared The Historical Record of the Coronation of Their
Majesties King George V and Queen Mary, 1911.
His father sought appointment as Garter in 1869.
(The Times, 22 August 1930; Landed Gentry (1937); Morning Post,
20 January 1926; Athenaeum, 6 January 1912.)
Arms: Or, a cross gules with a lion sable in the first and fourth quarters.
Crest: A cat-a-mountain sejant gardant proper, collar & chain or, on the
breast a cross or. Motto: ung roy, ung foy, ung loy.
30. SIR GERALD WOODS WOLLASTON, K.C.B., K.C.V.O.

Wollaston
Fitzalan, E.M. wt. 21, R. wt. 28 May 1902.
Bluemantle, pat. 10 January 1906, salary from 12 September 1905.
Richmond, pat. 24 February, salary from 23 January 1919.
Norroy, pat. 31 July, salary from 26 July 1928.
Deputy Garter, 17 June 1930.
Garter, pat. 27 September, invested 27 October 1930; retired 2 June 1944.
Norroy and Ulster, pat. 2 June 1944.
Of Glen Hill, Walmer, Kent; b. 2 June 1874, at house of his grandfather,
Sir A. Woods, 69 St George's Rd, Warwick Sq., only child of Sir Arthur
Naylor Wollaston, K.C.I.E., by Caroline Marianne, only dau. of Sir A.
Woods; eventually heir to his grandfather; educ. Harrow and Trinity
College, Cambridge; M.A. and LL.M. 1900; Barrister Inner Temple 1899;
Extra Secretary of Embassy, Madrid, 1918–19; Fitzalan 1902, thence Bluemantle, Richmond and Norroy; Deputy Garter June 1930 and Garter following September; Kt. 27 October 1930; retired at age of 70 and appd
Norroy and Ulster 1944; d. at Walmer 4 March 1957, aged 82; burd Walmer.
Genealogist of Order of St John of Jerusalem in England; Inspector of
Regimental Colours 1929; Knight Principal Imperial Society of Knights
Bachelor; member of Royal Mint Advisory Committee on Seals, etc. 1939;
sometime master of Haberdashers' Co.; prominent Freemason. Practised as
counsel in Peerage Cases.
1904 gave to College 11 volumes known as 'Garter's Ordinaries' and
compiled under direction of Sir W. and Sir A. Woods.
His MS. collections, pedigrees, peerage cases, etc., including many of
Sir A. Woods', bought by College from his executors.
M.V.O. 1904; K.J. St J. 1931; K.C.V.O. 1935; K.C.B. 1937; F.S.A.
1932.
Published The Court of Claims (1902 and 1910), supplement 1936.
A most painstaking and skilled herald with special bent to ceremonial.
Arms recorded 1610: Argent, 3 pierced molets sable. Crest: On a wreath
of the colours out of a mural crown or a demi-griffin argent holding a
pierced molet sable. Motto: ne quid falsi.
31. SIR ALGAR HENRY STAFFORD HOWARD, K.C.V.O.,
C.B.

Howard
Fitzalan, E.M. wt. 20, R. wt. 23 May 1911.
Rouge Dragon, pat. 17 October, salary from 11 October 1911.
Windsor, pat. 8 October, salary from 26 September 1919.
Norroy, pat. 29 January 1931, salary from 27 September 1930.
Norroy and Ulster, pat. 1 April 1943.
Garter, pat. 2, invested 9 June 1944, resd 6 December 1950.
Of Thornbury Castle, Gloucestershire, where most of the heralds' records
and more valuable collections were stored during the Second World War.
B. 7 August 1880, elder s. of Sir Edward Stafford Howard, K.C.B., of
Thornbury Castle; educ. Harrow and King's College, London; Barrister
Inner Temple 1905; Captain in Carmarthen R.G.A. Militia and later Major
in Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry; Fitzalan 1911, attended Edward
Prince of Wales at his investiture 13 July; later Rouge Dragon, Windsor and
Norroy 1943, Eire having become a republic, was appd also Ulster king of
Arms, thus ensuring the continuance of that office, vacant since the death of
Sir Neville Wilkinson in December 1940; Garter 1944; resd 6 December
1950. M.C. 1918; T.D. 1923; C.V.O. 1935; C.B. 1937; K.C.V.O. 9 June
1944; Extra Gentleman Usher to H.M. December 1950.
Arms: Gules, on a bend between 6 crosses crosslet fitchy argent a scocheon
or charged with a demi-lion rampant pierced through the mouth with an
arrow in a royal tressure gules, a crescent for difference on the bend;
quartering Brotherton, Mowbray, Warren, Dacre & Greystoke. Crest: On
a chapeau gules turned up ermine & differenced with a crescent sable a lion
statant gardant, tail extended, or with a crown argent about its neck. Motto:
sola virtus invicta. Badge, granted 1913: A slip of oak vert fructed or
charged on the stem with a crescent sable.
(Burke's Peerage, sub Norfolk; Who's Who; etc.)
32. HON. SIR GEORGE ROTHE BELLEW, K.C.B., K.C.V.O.,
K.J. ST J., F.S.A.

Bellew
Portcullis, pat. 1 March, salary from 11 January 1922.
Somerset, pat. 16 July, salary from 21 June 1926.
Garter, pat. 6, invested 7 December 1950, resd 5 July 1961.
B. 13 December 1899, s. of Hon. Richard Bellew; Portcullis and Somerset
before becoming Garter; Genealogist of the Royal Victorian Order 1946,
of the Order of the Bath 1950, and of the Order of St John 1951; M.V.O.
1935; C.V.O. 1950; Kt. 1950; K.C.V.O. 1953; K.C.B. on resignation 1961;
Inspector of Regimental Colours, and Knight Principal of the Imperial
Society of Knights Bachelor 1957. Served R.A.F.V.R. 1939–45. Married
Ursula Cull, a descendant of J. R. Planché, Somerset.
(Who's Who; Burke's Peerage; etc.)
Arms: Sable fretty or. Crest: An arm in armour embowed & holding a
sword proper. Motto: tout d'en haut.
33. SIR ANTHONY RICHARD WAGNER, K.C.V.O.,
D.Litt., F.S.A.

Wagner (2)
Portcullis, pat. 10 June, salary from 6 February 1931.
Richmond, pat. 1 January 1943, salary from 23 July 1942.
Garter, pat. 6, invested 7 July 1961.
Of 68 Chelsea Square, S.W. 3; descended from Melchior Wagner of
Coburg in Germany, naturalized in Great Britain 13 July 1709, by his wife
Mary Anne, sister of John Teulon, Ross herald in Scotland, 1746–65; s. of
Orlando Henry Wagner, schoolmaster, of 90 Queen's Gate, Kensington;
scholar of Eton and Balliol College, Oxford; D.Litt. 1957; Portcullis 1931;
Richmond 1943; Secretary of the Order of the Garter 1952; C.V.O. 1953;
Garter, Kt. and K.C.V.O. 7 July 1961; Genealogist of the Order of The
Bath and St John of Jerusalem in England and Inspector of Regimental
Colours 1961.
F.S.A. 1933; F.R.Hist.Soc. 1948; Corresponding Member of French and
Swiss Heraldic Societies; Member of Académie Internationale Héraldique;
edited catalogue of Heralds' Commemorative Exhibition, 1934; designed
heraldry, British Pavilion, New York World's Fair 1939; Member of Croft
Lyons (heraldry) Committee of the Society of Antiquaries and editor of the
projected New Dictionary of British Arms (1940).
Publications: Historic Heraldry of Britain (1939); Heralds and Heraldry in
the Middle Ages (1939 and 1956); Heraldry in England (1946); Catalogue of
English Mediaeval Rolls of Arms (Aspilogia, 1) (1950); The Records and Collections
of the College of Arms (1952); English Genealogy (1960); English Ancestry (1961);
articles on heraldry, etc. in Chambers's Encyclopaedia; Proc. Soc. Antiq. and
other periodicals.
Married Gillian M. M. Graham, fourteenth in descent from William
Wriothesley, York, and fifteenth from John Wrythe, Garter.
Arms: (1) As Portcullis, granted 1932: Sable, a lion rampant guardant
double-queued or holding between the paws a demi-wheel argent. Crest:
From a torse of the colours a demi-lion as in the arms. Motto: wachsam
und glücklich.
(2) Ancestral arms confirmed 1950: Sable, a lion rampant or holding
between the paws the dexter half of a wheel argent. Crest: Out of a gold
coronet a demi-lion or holding the dexter half of a wheel as in the arms.
Motto: wachsam und glücklich. Badge granted 1950: Within a collar
of SS, the riband gules lettered argent, a wheel or.