Life

He was born presumably in Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

, about 1584, third and youngest son of William Vincent (died 1618) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Mabbott of Walgrave

Walgrave

Walgrave is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 822 people.-Landmarks:...

, merchant of the staple

The staple

The Staple in English historiography, refers to the entire medieval system of trade and its taxation. Under this system, the government or King required that all overseas trade in certain goods be transacted at specific designated market towns or ports, referred to as the 'staple ports'...

. He early obtained a post in the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

. He had access to the documents preserved in the Tower, and occupied himself in making extracts from them. He became known as an antiquary, and on 22 February 1616 was appointed by patent Rouge Rose pursuivant extraordinary. The College of Arms

College of Arms

The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

 was at this time quarrelsome. Vincent was the friend of William Camden

William Camden

William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...

, who in 1618 appointed him his deputy to visit Northamptonshire and Rutland

Rutland

Rutland is a landlocked county in central England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire and southeast by Peterborough and Northamptonshire....

, thereby annoying those of the opposite party, some of whom were passed over in favour of a younger man. The practice of visitation by deputy was in 1619 the subject of a formal complaint on the part of Sir William Segar, Garter King of Arms, and Sir Richard St. George, Norroy King of Arms to the Earl Marshal

Earl Marshal

Earl Marshal is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England...

. Camden, however, was able to justify himself. Vincent was constituted Rouge Croix pursuivant

Rouge Croix Pursuivant

Rouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is a junior officer of arms of the College of Arms. The office is named after St George's Cross which has been a symbol of England since the time of the Crusades...

 by patent of 29 May 1621, and on 5 June 1624 he became Windsor herald

Windsor Herald

Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. It has been suggested that the office was instituted specifically for the Order of the Garter in 1348, or that it predates the Order and was in use as early as 1338...

. He died on 11 January 1626, and was buried at the church of St Benet, Paul's Wharf.

Works

Vincent's only publication arose from his taking part on the side of Camden in his quarrel with Ralph Brooke

Ralph Brooke

Ralph Brooke was an English Officer of Arms in the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. He is known for his critiques of the work of other members of the College of Arms, most particularly in A Discoverie of Certaine Errours Published in Print in the Much Commended 'Britannia' 1594, which touched...

. Brooke's Discoverie, his first printed denunciation of Camden, appeared in 1599; the fifth edition of Camden's Britannia, containing a reply, in 1600; and Brooke's Catalogue of Kings, Princes, continuing the squabble, in 1619 (2nd edition, enlarged, 1622). In reply to Brooke's ‘Catalogue’ Vincent produced his Discoverie of Errours in the first edition of Catalogue of Nobility published by Ralfe Brooke, Yorke Herald … at the end whereof is annexed a Reveiw of a later edition by him Stolne into the World, 1621, London, 1622. This volume, like the first (but not the second) edition of Brooke's Catalogue, was printed by William Jaggard

William Jaggard

William Jaggard was an Elizabethan and Jacobean printer and publisher, best known for his connection with the texts of William Shakespeare, most notably the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays...

. On his printer, Jaggard, Brooke had blamed for some of the errors in the first edition of his Catalogue. In his ‘Discoverie’ Vincent gave Jaggard space to reply to Brooke's comments on his skill as a printer. When, in 1623, Jaggard completed the printing of the first folio edition of Shakespeare, he presented to Vincent one of the earliest copies that came from the press.

Vincent also made collections for a baronage of England, called the Herωologia Anglica, on which his son John afterwards worked. William Burton

William Burton (antiquary, died 1645)

William Burton was an English antiquarian, best known as the author of Description of Leicestershire.-Life:...

, the historian of Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, and John Weever

John Weever

John Weever , was an English poet and antiquary.-Life:He was a native of Preston, Lancashire. Little is known of his early life and his parentage is not certain...

, author of Ancient Funeral Monuments, both speak of help from Vincent.

Family

Vincent married, on 30 June 1614, Elizabeth, third daughter of Vincent Primount of Canterbury

Canterbury

Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

, who came originally from Bivill la Baignard in Normandy. She married, before November 1630, Eusebius Catesby of Castor, Northamptonshire, and died on 6 August 1667. His son was also an antiquary.