Norroy and Ulster King of Arms - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is one of the senior Officers of Arms

Officer of arms

An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions:*to control and initiate armorial matters*to arrange and participate in ceremonies of state...

of 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...

, and the junior of the two provincial Kings of Arms

King of Arms

King of Arms is the senior rank of an officer of arms. In many heraldic traditions, only a king of arms has the authority to grant armorial bearings. In other traditions, the power has been delegated to other officers of similar rank.-Heraldic duties:...

. The current office is the combination of two former appointments. There is a case to be made that the office of Norroy is the older of the two English territorial offices, there being a reference as early as 1276 to a "King of Herald

Herald

A herald, or, more correctly, a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is often applied erroneously to all officers of arms....

s beyond the Trent

River Trent

The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...

in the North." This is the precise area to come under the later kings specifically nominated as "Norroy." The office of Ulster King of Arms (and Principal Herald of Ireland) was established in 1552 by King Edward VI to replace the post of Ireland King of Arms

Ireland King of Arms

Ireland King of Arms was the title of an officer of arms to the King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1392 until the accession of Henry VII as King of England in 1485. A king of arms is the highest of the three levels of officers of arms, and usually enjoys heraldic jurisdiction over a...

, which had lapsed in 1487.

In 1943, the office of Ulster was combined with that of Norroy, and the Norroy and Ulster King of Arms now has jurisdiction over the counties of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

as well as England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

north of the Trent. Norroy and Ulster has also acted as Registrar and King of Arms of the Order of St Patrick since 1943, though no knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

s of that Order have been created since 1934, and the last surviving knight died in 1974. Heraldic matters in the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

are handled by the Genealogical Office.

The arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

of Norroy and Ulster King of Arms date from 1980 and are blazoned Quarterly Argent and Or a Cross Gules on a Chief per pale Azure and Gules a Lion passant guardant Or crowned with an open Crown between a Fleur-de-lis and a Harp Or.

The current Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is Henry Paston-Bedingfeld

Henry Paston-Bedingfeld

Sir Henry Edgar Paston-Bedingfeld, 10th Baronet is an Officer-at-Arms of the College of Arms in London, EC4.He currently serves as Norroy and Ulster King of Arms, the junior of the two provincial Kings-at-Arms, to which office he was appointed 20 September 2010...

, who was appointed in September 2010. The previous holder, Patric Laurence Dickinson

Patric Laurence Dickinson

Patric Laurence Dickinson, LVO is Clarenceux King of Arms.Dickinson was educated at Marling School in Stroud, Gloucestershire before going up to Exeter College, Oxford, where he graduated as MA. He was President of the Oxford Union Society and was subsequently called to the bar at the Middle Temple...

was promoted to Clarenceux King of Arms

Clarenceux King of Arms

Clarenceux King of Arms is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Clarenceux is the senior of the two provincial kings of arms and his jurisdiction is that part of England south of the River Trent. The office almost certainly existed in 1420, and there is a fair degree of...

after less than five months in office.

Norroy Kings of Arms until 1943

(L) indicates the holder was Lancaster King of Arms. This title was used for the King of Arms of the northern province in the reigns of Henry IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...

, V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....

and VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...

, instead of Norroy.

(1276) Peter de Horbury
(1338) Andrew
1386-1399 John Othelake
1399-1426 Richard Bruges (L)
1426-1436 John Ashwell
John Ashwell
John Ashwell , was the prior of Newnham Abbey, in Bedfordshire.Ashwell was best known for his opposition to the principles of the Reformation, was a graduate of Cambridge University...

(L)
1436-1447 William Boys (L)
1447-1464 William Tyndale (L)
1464-1477 Thomas Holme
1477-1478 John Writhe
John Writhe
John Writhe was a long-serving English officer of arms. He was probably the son of William Writhe, who represented the borough of Cricklade in the Parliament of 1450–51, and is most remembered for being the first Garter King of Arms to preside over the College of Arms...
1478-1493 John Moore
1493-1493 Roger Machado
Roger Machado (officer of arms)
Roger Machado was an English diplomat and officer of arms of Portuguese extraction. He lived among the Portuguese merchants at Bruges in 1455.-Early heraldic career:...
1493-1510 Christopher Carlill
1510-1510 Thomas Benolt
Thomas Benolt
Thomas Benolt was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. As part of his service, he was also a diplomat. He appears to have been born at Rouen, though his family had stronger links with Calais. Benolt is thought to have been raised in that city, and his brother at one...
1510-1516 John Yonge
John Yonge
John Yonge , English ecclesiastic and diplomatist, was born at Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, and educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford, where he became a fellow in 1485. Probably the son of John Yonge, Lord Mayor of London...
1516-1522 Thomas Wall
1522-1522 John Joyner
1522-1534 Thomas Tonge
1534-1536 Thomas Hawley
Thomas Hawley
Thomas Hawley was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He began his career of royal service as a groom porter to Queen Margaret of Scotland from her marriage in 1503 until 1508...
1536 Sir Christopher Barker
Christopher Barker
Sir Christopher Barker was an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.-Heraldic career:Barker started his heraldic career as the private officer of arms of Charles Brandon. Barker was made Lisle pursuivant in 1513 and Suffolk Herald in 1517. He is known to have accompanied his employer on...
1536-1546 William Fellows
1546-1550 Gilbert Dethick
Gilbert Dethick
Sir Gilbert Dethick Kt FSA was a long-serving English officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He would eventually rise to the highest heraldic office in England and serve as Garter Principal King of Arms....
1550-1557 William Harvey
William Harvey (officer of arms)
William Harvey was born June 1510 to Turner and Mary Harvey in Ashill, Somerset. He was an only child. According to the Dictionary of National Biography vol 1-20, 22, William Harvey became a junior officer of the college of arms and was appointed the Bluemantle Pursuivant in ordinary on 18th June...
1557-1562 Lawrence Dalton
Lawrence Dalton
Lawrence Dalton was an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Dalton was one of thirteen children of Roger Dalton of Bispham, Lancashire, and his fourth wife. Lawrence Dalton also had two half-brothers and one half-sister from his father's first marriage...
1562-1592 William Flower
William Flower (officer of arms)
William Flower was an English Officer of Arms in the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. He rose to the rank of Norroy King of Arms, serving in that capacity from 1562 until his death in 1588.-Life and work:...
1592-1593 Edmund Knight
Edmund Knight
Edmund Knight was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Bishop of Shrewsbury from 1882 to 1895....
1593-1603 William Segar
William Segar
Sir William Segar was a portrait painter and officer of arms to the court of Elizabeth I of England who became Garter King of Arms under James I....
1603-1623 Sir Richard St George
Richard St George
Sir Richard St George was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms on London during the seventeenth century.The date of birth of Richard St George is unknown. In 1575 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas St John of Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire. He joined the College of Arms in 1602...
1623-1634 Sir John Burroughs
1634-1635 Sir William le Neve
1635-1644 Sir Henry St George
Henry St George
- Life :He was born in 1581 at Hatley St George, Cambridgeshire. He entered the College of Arms as Rouge Rose pursuivant-extraordinary in 1610 and was promoted to Bluemantle pursuivant the following year, in which capacity accompanied his father in his visitations of Derbyshire and Cheshire...
1644-1645 Sir Edward Walker
Edward Walker (officer of arms)
Sir Edward Walker was an officer of arms and antiquarian who served as Garter King of Arms.-Early life:Walker was born in 1611 at Roobers in Nether Stowey, Somerset, and entered the household of the great Earl Marshal Thomas Howard in 1633.-Charles I:Walker was in almost constant attendance on...
1646-1658 William Ryley
1658-1660 George Owen
1660-1677 Sir William Dugdale
William Dugdale
Sir William Dugdale was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.-Life:...
1677-1680 Sir Henry St George
1680-1686 Sir Thomas St George
Thomas St George
- Life :He was the eldest child of the herald Henry St George and lived at Woodford in Essex. Around 1646 he married Clara Pymlowe , whose father was a Northamptonshire rector. They had six children. At the Restoration he was appointed Somerset herald...
1686-1700 Sir John Dugdale
John Dugdale (herald)
John Dugdale was the son of the historian William Dugdale and a herald in the College of Arms.- Life :He was born 1 June 1628 at Blyth Hall, Shustoke, Warwickshire and was educated at the grammar schools in Sutton Coldfield and Coleshill. He appears to have trained as a surveyor and worked for...
1700-1704 Robert Devenish
1704-1729 Peter Le Neve
Peter Le Neve
Peter Le Neve was an English herald and antiquary. He was appointed Rouge Dragon Pursuivant 17 January 1690 and created Norroy King at Arms on 25 May 1704. From 1707 to 1721 he was Richmond Herald of Arms in Ordinary, an officer of arms of the College of Arms...
1729-1741 Stephen Leake
Stephen Leake
Stephen Martin Leake was a numismatist and long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Though he eventually rose to the highest rank in the College, he was born as Stephen Martin and was the only son of Captain Stephen Martin, a naval officer, and his wife, Elizabeth...
1741-1751 John Cheale
1751-1756 Sir Charles Townley
Charles Townley (officer of arms)
Sir Charles Townley was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.-Early and private life:Charles Townley was born on Tower Hill in 1713, the son of Charles Townley, of Clapham, Surrey and Sarah Wilde, daughter of William Wilde of Long-Whatton in Leicestershire. His mother...
1756-1761 William Oldys
William Oldys
William Oldys was an English antiquarian and bibliographer.The illegitimate son of Dr William Oldys, chancellor of Lincoln, London was probably his place of birth. His father had held the office of advocate of the admiralty, but lost it in 1693 because he would not prosecute as traitors and...
1761-1773 Thomas Brown
Thomas Brown (officer of arms)
Thomas Browne , Garter Principal King of Arms, the second son of John Browne of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, became Bluemantle Pursuivant in 1737, Lancaster Herald in 1743, Norroy and Ulster King of Arms in 1761, and Garter in 1774 until his death...
1773-1774 Ralph Bigland
Ralph Bigland
Ralph Bigland was an English officer of arms and cheesemaker. He was born at Stepney, Middlesex, and was the only son of Richard Bigland and his wife, Mary. His father was a native of Westmorland, descended from the Bigland family of Bigland, Lancashire.-Early career:In 1728 Bigland was...
1774-1780 Sir Isaac Heard
Isaac Heard
Sir Isaac Heard was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He began his heraldic career as Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary. He would go on to hold the posts of Lancaster Herald of Arms in Ordinary, Norroy King of Arms and Brunswick King of Arms. In 1784, he was...
1780-1781 Peter Dore
1781-1784 Thomas Locke
Thomas Locke
Thomas Locke was a farmer and political figure. He represented Stanstead in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1867 to 1875 as a Conservative....
1784-1803 George Harrison
1803-1822 Sir Ralph Bigland
Ralph Bigland
Ralph Bigland was an English officer of arms and cheesemaker. He was born at Stepney, Middlesex, and was the only son of Richard Bigland and his wife, Mary. His father was a native of Westmorland, descended from the Bigland family of Bigland, Lancashire.-Early career:In 1728 Bigland was...
1822-1838 Edmund Lodge
Edmund Lodge
Sir Edmund Lodge, KH , herald, was a long-serving English officer of arms, a writer on heraldic subjects, and a painstaking supplier of short, accurate biographies.-Life and career:...
1838-1839 Joseph Hawker
1839-1846 Francis Martin
Francis Martin
-Biography:He was born in Galway during the occupation of the town by the Cromwellian army, his family been one of the Tribes of Galway. He was educated in one of the secret schools in the city. In 1673 he began his studies for the priesthood in Louvain with the Augustinian order. Ordained there in...
1846-1858 James Pulman
1848-1849 Edward Howard-Gibbon
Edward Howard-Gibbon
Edward Howard Howard-Gibbon was an English surgeon, lawyer, and officer of arms. He was born Edward Howard Gibbon in London and was the second son of the Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk and Mary Ann Gibbon—the Duke's long time mistress.Edward received a formal education, became a...
1849-1859 Robert Laurie
1859-1882 Walter Blount
Walter Blount
Walter Aston Edward Blount Esq. FSA was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was born the eldest son of Edward Blount...
1882-1894 George Cokayne
George Cokayne
George Edward Cokayne FSA was an English genealogist and long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.-Life:...
1894-1911 Sir William Weldon
1911-1919 Sir Henry Burke
Henry Burke
Sir Henry Farnham Burke, KCVO, CB, FSA was a long serving Irish officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.-Biography:Henry Burke was a son of Sir Bernard Burke . Henry Burke was appointed Rouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary in 1880...
1919-1919 Charles Athill
Charles Athill
Charles Harold Athill, MVO, FSA was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He began his heraldic career by joining the College of Arms in 1882 as Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary. The position lasted until 1889, when he was appointed Richmond Herald of Arms in...
1919-1922 William Lindsay
William Lindsay (officer of arms)
William Alexander Lindsay, CVO, FSA was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Lindsay was the son of Hon. Colin Lindsay and Lady Frances Howard. On 7 May 1870, he married Lady Harriet Gordon, a daughter of the 5th Earl of Aberdeen and Mary Baillie...
1922-1926 Gordon Lee
Gordon Lee (officer of arms)
Gordon Ambrose de Lisle Lee, CB, CVO was a British officer of arms.Born in Aberdeen, the son of the Reverend F. G. Lee, vicar of All Saints, Lambeth, he was educated at St Mary's College, Harlow and Westminster School and became an artist and designer. In 1889 he joined the College of Arms as...
1926-1928 Sir Arthur Cochrane
Arthur Cochrane
Sir Arthur William Steuart Cochrane, KCVO was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.-Biography:...
1928-1930 Sir Gerald Wollaston
Gerald Wollaston
Sir Gerald Woods Wollaston, KCB, KCVO was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Wollaston's family had a firm tradition at the College of Arms. Wollaston's great-grandfather was Sir William Woods, Garter Principal King of Arms from 1838 until his death in 1842...
1931-1943 Sir Algar Howard
Algar Howard
Sir Algar Henry Stafford Howard, KCB, KCVO, MC, TD was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London...

Ulster Kings of Arms until 1943

1552-1566 Bartholomew W. Butler, Esq.
1566-1588 Nicholas Narbon, Esq.
1588-1597 Christopher Ussher, Esq.
1597-1629 Daniel Molineux, Esq.
1629-1633 Daniel Molineux and Adam Ussher, Esq.
1633-1655 Thomas Preston, Esq.
1655-1660 Sir Richard Carney
1660-1683 Sir Richard St George
1683-1698 Sir Richard Carney and George Wallis, Esq.
1698-1722 William Hawkins, Esq.
1722-1759 William Hawkins and John Hawkins, Esq.
1759-1765 James McCulloch, Esq.
1765-1787 William Hawkins, Esq.
1787-1788 Gerald Fortescue, Esq.
1788-1820 Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral (Royal Navy)
Rear Admiral is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It is immediately superior to Commodore and is subordinate to Vice Admiral. It is a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7....

Sir Chichester Fortescue
1820-1853 Sir William Betham
1853-1892 Sir Bernard Burke
Bernard Burke
Sir John Bernard Burke, CB was a British officer of arms and genealogist.-Personal life:He was born in London, and was educated in London and in France. His father, John Burke , was also a genealogist, and in 1826 issued a Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the...
1893-1908 Sir Arthur Vicars
Arthur Vicars
Sir Arthur Vicars, KCVO was an English-born genealogist and heraldic expert who spent his adult life in Ireland. He was appointed Ulster King of Arms in 1893, but was removed from the post in 1908 following the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels in the previous year...
1908-1940 Sir Nevile Rodwell Wilkinson
1940-1943 Vacant, duties performed by Thomas Ulick Sadleir
Thomas Sadleir
Thomas Ulick Sadleir was an Irish genealogist and heraldic expert. He was successively registrar of the Order of St Patrick, Deputy Ulster King of Arms and Acting Ulster King of Arms....

(Deputy Ulster)

Norroy and Ulster Kings of Arms from 1943

1943-1944 Sir Algar Howard
Algar Howard
Sir Algar Henry Stafford Howard, KCB, KCVO, MC, TD was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London...
1944-1957 Sir Gerald Wollaston
Gerald Wollaston
Sir Gerald Woods Wollaston, KCB, KCVO was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Wollaston's family had a firm tradition at the College of Arms. Wollaston's great-grandfather was Sir William Woods, Garter Principal King of Arms from 1838 until his death in 1842...
1957-1966 Aubrey Toppin
Aubrey Toppin
Aubrey John Toppin, CVO, FSA was a long-serving English officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.Toppin was born in Twickenham in 1881. His first job was at the Science and Art Museum, Dublin from 1901 to 1906, until he gained the post of First Assistant to the Keeper of Irish Antiqities...
1966-1971 Richard Graham-Vivian
Richard Graham-Vivian
Richard Preston Graham-Vivian, MVO, MC was a long-serving English officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was the younger son of Sir Richard James Graham, 4th Baronet, and Lady Mabel Cynthia Duncombe. During the First World War he served as an officer in the King's Royal Rifle Corps...
1971-1980 Sir Walter Verco
Walter Verco
Sir Walter John George Verco, KCVO was a long-serving officer of arms who served in many capacities at the College of Arms in London.-Biography:...
1980-1995 John Brooke-Little
John Brooke-Little
John Philip Rudolph Dominic Derek Aloysius Mary Brooke-Little, CVO, KStJ, FSA, FSG, FHS, FHG , FRHSC , FHSNZ, KM, GCGCO was an influential and popular British writer on heraldic subjects and a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London...
1995-1997 Hubert Chesshyre
Hubert Chesshyre
David Hubert Boothby Chesshyre, CVO served for more than forty years as an officer of arms to Queen Elizabeth II.-Family background:...
1997-2010 Thomas Woodcock
Thomas Woodcock (officer of arms)
Thomas Woodcock, CVO, DL, FSA is Garter Principal King of Arms.Woodcock was educated at Eton College. He went up to University College, Durham, where he obtained a BA degree, and subsequently to Darwin College, Cambridge, where he received his LLB degree. Woodcock was called to the Bar at the...
2010 Patric Laurence Dickinson
Patric Laurence Dickinson
Patric Laurence Dickinson, LVO is Clarenceux King of Arms.Dickinson was educated at Marling School in Stroud, Gloucestershire before going up to Exeter College, Oxford, where he graduated as MA. He was President of the Oxford Union Society and was subsequently called to the bar at the Middle Temple...
2010 Sir Henry Paston-Bedingfeld
Henry Paston-Bedingfeld
Sir Henry Edgar Paston-Bedingfeld, 10th Baronet is an Officer-at-Arms of the College of Arms in London, EC4.He currently serves as Norroy and Ulster King of Arms, the junior of the two provincial Kings-at-Arms, to which office he was appointed 20 September 2010...

incumbent

External links

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Norroy Kings of Arms until 1943

Ulster Kings of Arms until 1943

Norroy and Ulster Kings of Arms from 1943

See also

External links