Thomas Innes of Learney
Encyclopedia
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
, WS
Writers to the Signet
The Society of Writers to Her Majesty’s Signet is a private society of Scottish solicitors, dating back to 1594 and part of the College of Justice. Writers to the Signet originally had special privileges in relation to the drawing up of documents which required to be signeted, but these have since...
(1893–1971) was Lord Lyon from 1945 to 1969, after having been Carrick Pursuivant
Carrick Pursuivant
Carrick Pursuivant of Arms was a Scottish pursuivant of arms of the Court of the Lord Lyon.The title is derived from the Earl of Carrick, one of the titles borne by Robert the Bruce before his succession to the crown...
and Albany Herald
Albany Herald
Albany Herald of Arms was a Scottish herald of arms of the Court of the Lord Lyon.The office was first mentioned in a diplomatic mission from Scotland to England in 1401. The office was probably instituted on the creation of Robert Stewart, son of King Robert II, as Duke of Albany, on 28 April 1398...
in the 1930s. He was a very active Lord Lyon, strongly promoting his views of what his office was through his writings and pronouncements in his Court
Court of the Lord Lyon
The Court of the Lord Lyon, also known as the Lyon Court, is a standing court of law which regulates heraldry in Scotland. Like the College of Arms in England it maintains the register of grants of arms, known as the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, as well as records of...
. In 1950, he convinced the Scots Law Times
Scots Law Times
The Scots Law Times is the law reports service in Scotland, publishing over 1400 pages of reports each year. Published weekly during court term, the Scots Law Times covers every Scottish court, civil and criminal, from the Sheriff Courts to the House of Lords.Since 2000, the Scots Law Times...
to start publishing the decisions made in Lyon Court. By ruling on uncontested petitions, he was able to expound many of his theories in court but not under review of his superior court, and get them published in the judicial record. His treatise, Scots Heraldry, was first published in 1934 when he was Carrick Pursuivant; then a second, enlarged edition came out in 1956, and it has practically eclipsed earlier works on the subject. Following his retirement as Lord Lyon in 1969, he was appointed Marchmont Herald
Marchmont Herald
Marchmont Herald of Arms is one of the titles used for a Scottish herald of arms of the Court of the Lord Lyon...
.
Innes of Learney's writings contain a number of theories which, at a time when English armorial law had come to dominate even Scottish heraldry, may have seemed quite novel, despite his claims that they were grounded in Scotland's feudal past. Most notable is the claim that a grant of arms in Scotland confers what he calls "noblesse" and equates with nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
in the original sense, namely basic untitled nobility possessed by everyone noble, from Gentleman to Duke – though the word is nowadays generally taken to mean exclusively the Peerage, which is why the French word noblesse
Noblesse
In Scotland, the name used for the titled and untitled nobility. The term, derived from the French, remains in use in grants of arms from the Court of the Lord Lyon, the Scottish king of arms...
seemed to him a better term. There are also other claims, such as his right to decide disputes over chiefships of clans or branches of clans, his right to decide disputes of precedence
Precedence
Precedence may refer to:* Message precedence of military communications traffic* Order of precedence, the ceremonial hierarchy within a nation or state* Order of operations, in mathematics and computer programming...
, his right to confer nobility to non-physical persons such as corporations or associations, etc. These rights are still (2007) being exercised by the Court of the Lord Lyon. As a highly qualified jurist, in 'Scots Heraldry' and in his revision of Adam's The Clans, Septs and Regiments of the Scottish Highlands as well as in The Tartans of the Clans and Families of Scotland he offers ample evidence from ancient legal documents as well as more recent parliament and court decisions to support his position.
Written works
- Armorial Conveyancing (by Learney as Albany Herald, in: Notes and Queries.1941; 180: 128-133).
- Adams, Frank, revised by Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, Lord Lyon King of Arms, The Clans, Septs and Regiments of the Scottish Highlands, 4th ed. Edinburgh & London 1952. (First published 1908, 2nd ed. 1924, 3rd ed. 1934)[Important and authoritative additions by Learney as the Lord Lyon King of Arms.
- Law of Succession in Ensigns Armorial. (in: Notes and Queries?)
- Scots Heraldry, W. & A.K. Johnston Limited, Edinburgh & London: 1938. 2nd ed. revised and enlarged, Edinburgh & London 1956. 3rd ed. revised by Malcolm R. Innes of Edingight, Marchmont Herald (his son, later Lord Lyon King of Arms) London & Edinburgh 1978.
- The Tartans of the Clans and Families of Scotland, 1st ed. 1938, 2nd ed. 1945, 3rd ed. 1947, 4th ed. 1948, 5th ed. 1950,reprinted 1952, 6th ed. 1958, 7th ed. Edinburgh & London 1964.
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