The Heraldry Gazette

THE HERALDRY GAZETTE ISSN 0437 2980

THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE HERALDRY SOCIETY

NEW SERIES 96 REGISTERED AT STATIONERS HALL June 2005

FROM THE ASHES TO CARVING A PHOENIX

Ian Brennan's illustrated talk to the Society on 16th February was a fascinating tale of disaster and triumph. Ian began his working life in defence electronics but soon moved to making wooden furniture and built up a successful business employing staff in his own workshop. All this came to an end when the workshop burned down and the insurance policy was found to cover only the new premises to which Ian was shortly to move. He went through a very difficult patch selling furniture from a van but then began carving animals into the natural shape of the trunks and branches of the trees he worked on. An early work was an enormous bald eagle swooping on its prey; the finest detail of each feather was faithfully portrayed. Ian has a remarkable ability to see from a very early stage the shape and form of the finished work.

The carving is for him merely the careful removal of the unwanted material.

At one stage he had two years worth of work stolen from an art gallery. At another he badly injured his left (carving) hand with a chain saw but he moved over to making sculpture from clay and casting in bronze. He is one of very few sculptors who both carve and cast.

In 1989 he was asked by Hubert C h e s s h y r e , Secretary of the Order of the Garter, to carve the crown of King Juan Carlos of Spain, to be placed above his Garter stall in St George's The Crown of King Juan Carlos of Spain for St George始s Chapel, Windsor Chapel

Castle. This commission was very successful and he has since carved more than 70 crests for the Orders of the Garter and the Bath (whose slightly smaller crests are placed at a lower height above the stalls in Westminster Abbey).

Ian showed us a video that depicted the process of creating a crest from selecting the log to placing the crest in position above the stall. Working from artwork provided by the College of Arms Ian cut out rough paper templates of the constituent parts and matched them to the pieces of drying lime wood that were his raw materials. With deft use of the

To contact the Membership Secretary, Ingrid Phillips, write to PO Box 772, Guildford, GU3 3ZX

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chain saw and band saw he cut away much of the unwanted wood. Then he set out, with a huge selection of carving chisels each designed for a specific purpose, to bring out the shape of the crest, in this instance the black demi-griffin of Sir William Gladstone KG. The features were carved with a prominent relief so that they were not masked by the final applications of paint and could be seen clearly at a distance from the chapel floor below. The finished appearance (after some 21 days of work) of the crests always retained the vigour and accuracy of the original artwork. The base

of each carving had a concave dome and vertical hole to fit over the spike on the top of the helmets in the stalls. Ian even carved detail into the rear and top of the crest that could not be seen by viewers in the chapels, such was his desire to do a perfect job.

One of his crests was that of Field Marshall Lord Inge KG which shows a phoenix emerging from flames in the White Tower at the Tower of London; a very fitting metaphor for Ian Brennan's own return from disaster to artistic success.

MJD

From left to right: Gladstone newly carved; Gladstone painted; Inge, The Late Duke of Devonshire

CUHAGS ANNIVERSARY DINNER

On the evening of Saturday, 19th March, members of the Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society and their guests gathered together to dine in Hall at Clare College.

The Society's Annual Dinner this year celebrated the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Cambridge University Society of Genealogists during the course of the academic year of 1954-55. Subsequently this society joined forces with the Cambridge University Heraldic Society to form the present society known by its short form as 'CUHAGS' in 1957.

Having been a member of the Society for many years, this was the first time I had attended one of the Society's events owing to the fact that I at one time lived in metropolitan Surrey, ie: southern south London, and therefore the trek to Cambridge to be in attendance at the Society's meetings would have been somewhat arduous. But now that I

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live within striking distance of Cambridge I intend to be much more in evidence at the Society's gatherings, for if the company met at this jubilee is as convivial and pleasant, and the food consumed is as epicurean and well chosen I look forward to many a congenial evening at Clare College.

The principal guest and speaker for the evening was Professor Peter Spufforth, being a founder member and the Vice-President of the Society. Professor Spufforth spoke of the beginnings of the Cambridge University Society of Genealogists and its subsequent union with the Cambridge University Heraldic Society. He also spoke of the change since the 1950s in the genealogical world from a rather introspective one of close scholarship to the explosion of interest in family history that we see today. The other speakers were the Society's President, Thomas West, its Senior Treasurer, Gordon Wright and the University's Junior Proctor, Timothy Milner.

John J. Tunesi of Liongam

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EDWARD EARLE DORLING

Edward Earle Dorling was born in 1864. The Dorling family originated in Suffolk, but his branch had been in Epsom since 1811 when his great-grandfather came there and set up a printing press. The business prospered and Edward inherited it over a century later in 1919 under a will from an uncle. He was educated at Sherbome School and Clare College Cambridge. On leaving University, he became a school teacher, and four years later took Holy Orders. In 1890 he was appointed Vicar Choral of Sarum and was Master of the Choristers’ School until 1900 when he became a Minor Canon of Salisbury Cathedral where he remained for ten years. From 1900 until 1905 he was Vicar of Burcombe and from 1905 until 1910 was curate of Ham Common. From then on he ceased to do regular parochial work, and served as a Chaplain to the Forces in the First World War, from 1917 to 1919 at Richborough.

His interest in heraldry and his exceptional ability to draw and design it had brought him to public attention. His connection to the Victoria County History dates from the early years of that project when he was made heraldic editor. So far it is an unfinished enterprise. Oswald Barron had embarked on an ambitious project of editing a series of genealogical volumes which was eventually abandoned. Dorling’s work on the topographical sections of each county presented him with opportunities to display his skill as a draughtsman of which he took full advantage. He produced a series of armorial drawings which not only enhanced the appearance of the closely printed page, but stood as examples of how heraldry should best be displayed.

His other love was archaeology. In 1909 the moat at Hampton Court which had been filled in and covered with soil since 1691, was cleaned out and the main fabric of the bridge, built by Henry VIII and which had spanned the moat, was found to be in perfect condition in spite of having been buried for more than two hundred years. The six King’s beasts and the six Queen’s beasts which originally adorned it had by now disappeared. Sir S. MacDonell, Secretary of H. M. Office of

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Works, entrusted Edward Dorling with the task of designing twelve new Beasts and Shields to replace them. At that time this was considered to be the most important piece of heraldic ‘restoration’ to be attempted in England for many years.

His ability to fill in a blank shield with ordinaries and charges, no matter how complicated, directly and without preliminary preparation, greatly impressed his contemporaries who were unaware that anyone having had sufficient practice and being familiar with the basic principles of heraldic design would be able to do the same. Nevertheless, he certainly had a natural gift for his art; one which many heraldic artists never acquire in a lifetime of practice. He was said to prefer having half a dozen arms in hand at the same time to avoid getting bored. He signed all his work with his initials EED and occasionally with the delightful rebus of a little door, with large ornate hinges, a ‘door-ling’. (see left) The great strength of his work lay in his sense of design, of seeing all the different ways in which parts of an achievement could be combined to the best decorative effect. He was able to design achievements which had a freshness of approach about them, a directness and simplicity combined with lively invention the like of which had not been seen for several centuries. He used shield, helm, crest, mantling and motto very much as elements of design rather than as heraldic conventions. That he was able to achieve such a high quality of design and draughtsmanship never having had any sort of formal art training is remarkable. But certain aspects of his work particularly in line inevitably showed consequential weaknesses. His drawing of any part of human anatomy, such as a head or hands was suspect, as was his knowledge of letter forms. Although in most instances they are adequate, some were very much his own invention and were on occasion, downright ugly, as in the bookplates of Cecil Hanbury and Henry Gee, Dean of Gloucester (see bottom right). In some of his work, line drawings in particular, there is a pronounced Germanic influence, presumably that of Otto Hupp, such as the plate of Sir Benjamin Sands Johnson. He was a prolific designer of bookplates, over seventy in total, most of which were armorial.

He also produced the line illustrations for Oswald Barron’s definitive article on Heraldry for the eleventh edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica (1910-12). In subsequent editions this was curtailed and later supplanted, but remains the standard treatise on heraldry in the English language. Fifty nine of them were used again by William St. John Hope in his excellent little book ‘A Grammar of English Heraldry’ published by the Cambridge University Press in 1913. The contrast in clarity and authority between these and the other illustrations is apparent.

Between 1902 and 1905 he wrote a series of six articles on various heraldic subjects such as the development of the English royal arms from 1198 to 1837, after which they remained unchanged. These included The King’s Beasts, The Armorial Glass in Salisbury Cathedral, a Montague Shield at Hazelbury Bryan, two Neville Shields at Salisbury and the heraldry of the Font at Holt, for the new antiquarian quarterly, The Ancestor edited by Oswald Barron. Sadly it only ran for four years before its publishers, Constable and Company of Westminster ceased publication. However, they combined these and an addition article on the Zurich Roll which they published in a book ‘The Leopards of England’ under his name in 1912.

The coloured drawings he made of the shields showing the 4

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development of the English royal arms were definitive in their day and have been reproduced several times since.

When the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments for England was set up in 1908, he was consulted by it as an advisor on heraldic matters and his contribution was acknowledged in every volume of its publication from 1912 onwards. He received a warrant signed by George V appointing him a Commissioner in 1929, of which he was inordinately and justifiably proud.

Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, he produced a series of line drawings of proposed arms for the members of a club rejoicing in the name of ‘The Sette of Odd Volumes’, which were privately printed in the form of a small booklet. By now his magic touch had gone.

The drawings are unimaginative, the line too light and the overall treatment suggesting that he had their submission to the College of Arms in mind. They were not what is associated with the work of E. E. Dorling, but as they are all signed with his, by now, well known initials, there is no doubt as to who did them.

He had a long standing friendship with the Russell family.

Sir Gordon Russell invited him to carry out a series of heraldic panels, each one two feet wide by four feet deep, which adorn the walls of the dining room of The Lygon Arms Hotel in Broadway Worcestershire, of which Russell was a Director and which stood next to his furniture workshop. These were done during the period between the two world wars. In 1976 the present writer was commissioned by Sir Gordon Russell to restore them since by then they were showing distinct signs of deterioration. This proved to be a perilous business because they were some ten feet up on the walls in bays between the windows, and they were not allowed to be taken down. Whatever restoration was possible had to be carried out balancing on the end of a tall ladder. Because of the inaccessibility of some of them, photographing them proved difficult.

In total contrast to his reputation as an antiquarian and an heraldic artist, there was another side to Dorling’s character. He had family connections of long standing with the race course at Epsom. Those who had the privilege from time to time of being his guests in Derby Day or other classical occasions, have reason to remember his lavish hospitality. He was a kindly man and what was still more engaging was his care and concern for those who, influenced by their surroundings and the exciting atmosphere of a major race meeting, desired to test their intuition in the matter of selecting probable winners. The habitués of race meetings he thought, were splendid fellows, but nevertheless it was better not to be a mug.

Throughout his various activities there ran a deep vein of seriousness which can be seen through everything he did. He was ordained after leaving University and developed a love E-mail the editor at gazette@theheraldrysociety.com

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of beautiful things and his experience of teaching and serving as a Chaplain made him a man of wide sympathies and much understanding. During the two busy and happy years he spent as Chaplain, a post for which he was ideally suited, he came as close to the old phrase All things to all men as it falls to the lot of any of us. He was one of the few heraldic artists of the early twentieth century whose deaths seemed to end a period which marked a notable advance in the public appreciation and understanding of the beautiful art and science to which he devoted his talents.

He died on 26th October 1943. © ANTHONY WOOD, 2004.

The Bookplates were kindly made available by BRIAN NORTH LEE F.S.A. of the Bookplate Society

Jul

Aug

Sep

ALMANAC OF EVENTS JULY TO SEPTEMBER 2005

4 6 29 16

Suffolk Lancashire Norfolk Manchester Chiltern

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Lancashire

5 6 7 14 28 30

Lancashire Suffolk Norfolk Yorkshire Yorkshire Manchester

Summer Visit. Details to be announced 2 x 5 minute talks Liz & Marion Elements of Heraldry Ron Fiske Chethams Library Garden Tea with Secretary’s and Treasurer’s Annual Reports East Lancashire revisited

Members’ Interests Members’ Session The Norwich Cathedral Library AGM Heraldry in Lancaster Castle Manchester Town Hall

John Mackie

Members

Gudrun Warren

Derrick Walkden

Please check details of meetings with the appropriate contact person shown on page 16

Please note that other heraldic events take place. This is not an exhaustive list. If you would like your events to appear please send details to: gazette@theheraldrysociety.com, including in the subject line - almanac entry.

YOUR GAZETTE

Do you have news of your local society to share with members? Have you seen an interesting coat of arms? Do you have an interest which relates to heraldry? Have you been granted armorial bearings recently or have not yet displayed your arms?

If so, whether the contribution is large or small, please do get in touch with the editor at the address on page 10, or by email at: 6

gazette@theheraldrysociety.com

PLEASE NOTE: The next deadline for contributions to the Gazette is 1st August.

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NAME GAMES

An interesting report has appeared in "le Héraut", the newssheet of our correspondent Association Royale Office Généalogique et Héraldique de Belgique. It seems that France has passed a new law which gives parents the right to choose to give their children the family name of the father, or of the mother, or both in whichever order they please. The complications for genealogical research after a few generations are evident.

In Belgium, it seems, the Socialist Group in Parliament has taken inspiration from this change and now proposes that in future there should be a requirement in Belgium that children be given a double family name. The parents would have the choice as to which way round the double name should be (father first or mother first). If they do not exercise the choice, the name would be registered with the father's family name first and the mother's second.

As our correspondent remarks, this is all very well for the first generation, but after that it becomes increasingly complicated.

By the third generation there would be sixty-four elements to the family name (with fluidity in their ordering). Maybe the Belgian Parliament will find this a bit too much even for Belgium.

English genealogists and heraldists have always had to engage in some mental tussling to come to terms with the Spanish double naming system, but at least there the rule is clear and (fairly) simple. The change brought in by France makes for complete uncertainty, and that proposed in Belgium makes our relatively few hyphenated surnames look simplicity itself.

The Belgian proposals echo the decadent period of English heraldry when armigers (and, one must presume, heralds) sought to stuff their arms with as many quarterings as possible.

This eventually produced such risible offerings as the arms of Lloyd of Stockton with three hundred and twenty-three quarters, many of them identical. Our correspondent hopes that the Belgians will open the eyes of their elected representatives to the negative aspects of the present proposals.

MGJ

THE NEXT WEEKEND CONFERENCE

Plans are well under way for the next Heraldry Society weekend conference, on 2nd 4th September 2006. It will be held in Canterbury.

Accommodation and lecture facilities will be provided by Canterbury Christ Church University College.

Residential particpants will have single en suite rooms, and there will be a number of non-residential places available too.

Details of the weekend will be given in the September issue of the “Gazette”. In the meantime note the dates now!

THE SOCIETY DIPLOMA

Readers will know that the Heraldry Society awards its Diploma to those who successfully pass all three levels of its examinations.

Upon the recommendation of the Examinations Board, Council has recently decided that holders of the Heraldry Society Diploma may use after their name the postnominals DipHS as a mark of their distinction.

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POPE BENEDICT XVI

Pope Benedict XVI has included traditional Bavarian elements in his papal coat of arms.

In place of the papal triple tiara which was abandoned for ceremonial purposes by Pope Paul VI, the new papal arms includes a silver mitre, decorated with three golden stripes.

These stripes denote the threefold office of the papacy: to teach, to sanctify, and to govern the faithful. The three stripes are connected by a gold vertical band, "to indicate their unity in the same person". The Keys of St Peter remain a stable component of the papal arms but a pallium has been added beneath the shield.

A crowned Moor, a bear and a scallop which appeared on his arms as archbishop of Munich and Freising also appear in the tripartite insignia chosen by Benedict.

The central element on a red background is a large gold shell that has theological and spiritual significance for the pope. The shell recalls a legend in which St. Augustine came across a boy on the seashore who was scooping water from the sea and pouring it into a small hole he had dug in the sand.

When the saint pondered this seemingly futile activity, it struck him as analogous to limited human minds trying to understand the infinite mystery of the divine.

"The shell reminds me of my great master Augustine, of my theological work, and of the vastness of the mystery which surpasses all our learning," wrote then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in his 1997 autobiography "Milestones, Memoirs: 1927-1977."

The shell is also present in the coat of arms of the Schotten monastery in Regensburg, Germany, to which the pope "feels very spiritually close," says Archbishop Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (the creator of Pope

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Benedict’s achievement) in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.

The dexter section of the shield depicts a brown-faced Moor with red lips, crown and collar; it is a symbol of the former Diocese of Freising dating back to the eighth century.

Though it is not known why the Moor came to represent Freising, the pope said for him "it is an expression of the universality of the church which knows no distinctions of race or class since all are one in Christ," he said in his book, "Milestones."

Finally, a brown bear loaded with a pack on his back takes up the sinister section of the shield.

The bear is tied to an old Bavarian legend about the first bishop and patron saint of the Diocese of Freising, St. Corbinian. According to the legend, when the saint was on his way to Rome, a bear attacked and killed his horse. St. Corbinian punished the bear by making him carry the saint's belongings the rest of the way to Rome.

The pope said in his 1997 autobiography: "Meanwhile, I have carried my pack to Rome and wander for some time now through the streets of the Eternal City. When release will come I cannot know.

What I do know is that I am God's pack animal and, as such, close to him."

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There was a very full house on 20th April for the lecture on the Polish Orders of Chivalry delivered by Rafal HeydelMankoo. 2005 marks the tercentenary of the foundation of the Order of the White Eagle: the oldest and most revered of Polish honours.

Orders arrived relatively late in Poland, due in large part to the attitude of the nobility and the value placed upon the “golden principle” of the equality of all noblemen. Not only were orders and titles regarded as a threat to that perceived equality but many also feared their institution would secure loyalty for the Crown and strengthen the monarchy at the nobles' expense.

The Order of the White Eagle is Poland's only single-class Order. Its institution was followed soon after by the establishment of the Order of St. Stanislas in 1765 and the Order of Virtuti Militari in 1792.

In 1795 Russia, Prussia and Austria divided the portion of Poland that had escaped earlier partitions. The ancient Polish state vanished from the face of Europe and the Polish Orders fell into abeyance.

The Polish Orders were revived by the Grand Duchy of Warsaw (1807) and continued to exist in a semi-independent state during the time of the Congress Kingdom of Poland (1815).

This situation continued until the failed uprising of 1830-1831 in which Poles vainly tried to break free from the Russian yoke. As part of its retribution the Russian Government incorporated all

ORDERS OF POLAND

Stanislas. The lavish award of that Order by the Russian Tsars, particularly upon those who could only be regarded as enemies of the Polish nation, caused irreparable damage to its image and it was felt that the creation of a new Order of Polish Rebirth (commonly known as the Order of “Polonia Restituta”) was preferable to the revival of the Rafal Heydel-Mankoo Order of St. Stanislas. A modern body styled the “Order of St. Stanislas” is not a recognised Polish Order of Chivalry.

During the Second World War the legitimate Polish Government-in-Exile continued to award Polish honours. Poles outside Poland chose to continue to operate a government in London until such time as free and democratic elections could be held in their native land. The grand mastership of the Polish Orders was vested in the Polish presidency and therefore in 1990 in the Royal The Order of the Castle in Warsaw, Ryszard White Eagle Kaczorowski, the last the Polish Orders into the President of the Polish Russian honours system-also G o v e r n m e n t - i n - E x i l e , altering the Orders' insignia so presented the insignia of the as to fully demonstrate various Polish Orders to Lech Poland's complete subjugation Walesa, his legitimate The Polish Orders remained successor as president of a part of the Russian honours free and democratic Poland. system until the revolution of Today the three historic 1917 when all Imperial Orders, which have been Honours fell into abeyance. joined by the communistFollowing the First World War, founded “Order of Merit”, the government of the re-born stand as important symbols of Polish state chose to restore Poland's new found freedom the Order of the White Eagle and its glorious, albeit tragic, and the Order of Virtuti Militari history. but not the Order of St.

The deadline for contributions to the next Gazette is 1st August

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Arms of a Lady I was intrigued to read on the front cover of the Gazette (Dec 2004) of the Arms granted to Shirley Greenwood.

I always understood that a Lady's personal Arms should be borne on a lozenge or a cartouche, not a shield. Have times changed that much ?

Bob Jones Radcliffe on Trent

Court Heraldry With reference to Coats of Arms in Law Courts in England: Magistrates Courts are no longer local authority controlled. Since The Lord Chancellor's Dept has taken over LA Coats of Arms have systematically been replaced with the Royal Arms.

I think that the Old Bailey displays the Arms of the City as in the The City of London they have precedence.

In Liverpool Preston & Manchester the Law Courts contain Heraldic References to the Duchy of Lancaster. In Manchester the display is particularly fine in the Crown Square complex. In the new Courts in Preston the entrance doors are etched with a shield of the Duchy.

Ann Bowen Calligraphy and Heraldic Illuminations

1 DOODS PLACE, DOODS ROAD REIGATE SURREY RH2 0NS TELEPHONE/FAX 01737 246171

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CORRESPONDENCE Until recently in Liverpool, the limousines taking the judges to the courts had bonnet flags of the arms of the Duchy.

Can anyone answer this query? I have tried & failed to get a photograph. In the main entrance lobby of The Royal Infirmary, Manchester there is a bronze plaque commemorating the visit of Edward VII during which the new building was officially opened in 1907. This plaque bears the Royal Arms in an unusual form. Instead of the Garter, the shield is surrounded by the collar with the pendant George. I have seen other versions of the Royal Arms borne with a collar but not domestic/Garter collar (eg The India Arms Pub in Portsmouth where the crowned shield often used by the Civil Service is surrounded by a collar of either the OSI or the OIE, I'm not sure which).

Evan A Bayton Warrington

Courts in Scotland most certainly display arms (Martin Davies's article on courtrom heraldry, Gazette, March 2005). Each courtroom of the sheriff and high courts bears the Royal arms of the United Kingdom as used in Scotland above the seat of the sheriff or law lord. Some courts, such as the sheriff courthouse in Aberdeen, bear brass plaques

outside, also with the Royal arms as used in Scotland.

As a young reporter in Elgin in 1967, I found myself one day not as usual in the press benches of Elgin Sheriff Court, but in the dock. I was charged with driving my newspaper's Morris Minor at 42 mph through a local village where the speed limit was 30 mph. I pled guilty (so I was), and had my licence endorsed and my wallet relieved of ÂŁ3.

At the moment of sentence, I happened to look above Sheriff Stuart Kermack's head. There above him was a most glorious carving of the Royal arms as used in Scotland. At that point, he could have sentenced me to transportation for life to the Colonies, for that was the moment in which I became hooked on heraldry.

Gordon Casely Aberdeen

Bill Gates KBE After Bill Gates was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire this week, I remembered a mention in a BBC news article from 1999 that Bill Gates uses a coat of arms: "...but coats of arms are not just for the Royal Family.

Baroness Thatcher has one, as does Bill Clinton, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and Microsoft tycoon Bill

Please send your letters or articles to the Editor of the Gazette at the following address: The Head’s House, Fred Nicholson School, Westfield Road, Dereham, Norfolk NR19 1JB or by e-mail to gazette@theheraldrysociety.com

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Gates..."

Do any of you know if these arms originated from the College as an honorary grant?

I would like to commission an officer of arms to search for Gates' blazon, but it would be nice to first know which national heraldic authority, if any, was involved in the creation of these arms.

Perhaps his arms came from Edinburgh or Dublin.

Thank you!

Sebastian Nelson

and that it “recalls that Bolton was anciently within the Diocese of Mercia (denoted by a mitre) of which Coventry was the seat”.

Is this an explanation or only part of the story?

Alan Buckingham Kidlington

COAT OF ARMS

months following. On 16 June 1999 I issued a report showing ‘Mac Carthy Mór’ to be a bogus chief, the Irish Edition of the Sunday Times published an exposé on 20 June citing my report, and one month later the Chief Herald finally acted and struck the impostor’s name from the Register of Chiefs.

To bring the story up to date, the procedure of recognising chiefs has now been entirely discontinued, while the post of Chief Herald has been vacant since September 2003, with the result that no Irish grant of arms has issued since then.

Sean Murphy Windgates, Co Wicklow, Ireland

Coat of Arms, Autumn/ Winter 2004, pages 346-48 If I might be allowed to reply briefly to Cecil R. HumpherySmith’s charges that my Esquire? review in 2003 of Royal With reference to Robin Roots, Republican Inheritance Griffin’s question as to contains ‘inaccurate’ and whether or not he is entitled to ‘slanderous’ statements. I be called ‘Esquire’ (page 8 reject these charges and March Gazette). He will (I stand over the accuracy of my hope) find the answer if he is review, particularly in regard able to obtain a copy of the to the circumstances leading Coat of Arms Nos 207/208 Scottish Heraldry Society to the withdrawal of In Mr Britten’s interesting Journal ‘The Double Tressure’ recognition from the spurious article on Yeovil it is a pity that no 27, 2004, which contains Gaelic chief known as ‘The he blazons the Maltravers an article by me on this Mac Carthy Mór’.

Mr arms as sable a fret or (p. subject.

The article was Humphery-Smith further 331). It is a sad fact of life that written in response to just alleges that I disclosed no many medieval ‘fretty’ coats such a question in an earlier ‘prior knowledge’ of the case have in modern times been Gazette. and applied to Irish Chief degraded to a fret. However, If that is not possible I will be Herald Brendan O Donoghue the medieval arms of happy to send him a copy.

Maltravers were certainly for information ‘after he had R Gadd Burnham-on-Sea stripped McCarthy of his sable fretty or. Surely the author has not missed the courtesy recognition’.

Crest of Bolton brilliant canting aspect of this Mr Humphery-Smith has, I Alan Fennely in his article in think, been misinformed, as I coat - as he says, Malus March 2005 edition of the first applied to the Chief Transitus or ‘bad crossing’.

Gazette about the funeral of Herald in January 1999, Furthermore, when blazoning the late Fred Dibnah alludes seeking access under the the dexter supporter of the to a mystery as to why an Freedom of Information Act to Yeovil arms he blazons the elephant (and on its back, a records relating to Mac Carthy shield as fretty (p. 335) and in castle) appears in the armorial Mór, going on to warn the his comments on the arms bearings of Bolton as a crest. Chief Herald of a ‘brewing (p. 336) ascribes, at least by Wilfrid Scott-Giles in his scandal’ in March and implication, fretty to Civic Heraldry (1933) states continuing to supply him with Maltravers. that “the elephant is from the summary details of my John Dent Norwich arms of the City of Coventry” voluntary research in the All opinions expressed in the Heraldry Gazette are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Editor or of the Heraldry Society.

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BOOK BROWSER

A Humorous Guide to Heraldry Jack Carlson ISBN 0-9766108-0-9 [£9.00] Publisher: Black Knight Book Publishers, Boston Mass. with the Heraldry Society

Jack Carlson is a young friend of ours from Boston in the United States of America who is also a member of the Society. He has a keen interest in heraldry, and has spent his school holidays helping out at the College of Arms. He has now written “A Humorous Guide to Heraldry”, which has been privately printed in America following complete lack of interest in the subject shown by professional publishing houses. Our own Council promised its full support at an early stage of the enterprise, and The Heraldry Society and The White Lion Society are promoting the book in the UK.

The intention of the book is to provide an introduction to heraldry for the uninitiated in a way which is accessible whilst at the same time being accurate. It succeeds splendidly. Although written by a teenager for teenagers, it will appeal to anyone with a sense of humour whatever their age. It is attractively presented and well produced.

An excellent choice for a birthday or Christmas present, it fills a gap in the heraldic literature which has been evident for some time. Every member should have one!

Copies can be ordered through the Heraldry Society Bookstall.

PERCY VANT

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Herald with a Difference

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by Peter Field

SHERBORNE CONFERENCE

What a wonderful weekend!

Members of the Society of Heraldic Arts, The Heraldry Society, The White Lion Society and even the College of Dracology, gathered in Sherborne to share a common interest in heraldry.

They were not disappointed.

A pleasing blend of lectures, social gatherings, an exhibition and an afternoon out catered for all tastes.

The arms of John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury

Anthony Wood gave us a well illustrated talk on Heraldic Art as it has developed through the ages. His experience at Reigate and his work as an heraldic artist gave a fresh perspective to the history of heraldic design.

The theme of heraldic art and design was pursued in more specific areas of interest

by Adrian Ailes, Keith Lovell and Stephen Slater who spoke on Art and Artwork of the heralds’ visitations 15301687, Victorian Heraldry and Contemporary Military Heraldic Design respectively.

John Hayward talked to us on Stained Glass: Heraldry as a Language.

Sherborne Abbey from the south

The highlight of the weekend in Dorset was a visit to Sherborne Abbey on the site of which there has been a place dedicated to Christian worship for 1200 years. John Hayward brought his own creation, the great west window, to life describing the design process and the controversy surrounding the window.

Saturday evening brought everyone together for a convivial dinner with an entertaining speech by Rear Admiral G I Pritchard CB. A big thanks to the organisers for an excellent event.

NOTICE

It has come to our notice that a small number of the ‘Coat of Arms’ have been bound with missing pages and pages in the wrong order. If you should have received one of those, please contact the membership secretary, who will replace the faulty ones.

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

We welcome the following new members: D Bolton M Wilson D Whelan J D Mitchell J Saker P Hughes R Fiske B Hawes M Nesbitt P Malone A Virgili J Hickman E Connolly

Suffolk Sheffield Lancashire Surrey Kent South Wales Norfolk Cambridge Middlesex London Italy USA London

We have heard with regret of the death of the following members: Mrs. V. E. Reeve December 2004

Mr. Peter Spurrier January, 2005

Mr. Leopold de Coutere January 2005

Mr. Chivers November 2004

John Haywardʼs west window in the Abbey

Mr. D. Howard, FHS March, 2005

Visit the website at www.theheraldrysociety.com

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EARL MARSHAL FOR DINNER

Our Patron His Grace the Duke of Norfolk, hereditary Earl Marshal of England, will be the Guest of Honour at the Society’s Autumn Dinner this year. This will be the first occasion on which the present Duke will be the guest of the Society since succeeding his father as Duke and Patron, and he will receive a great welcome.

The Dinner will be held on Monday 14th November in the splendid setting of Painters’ Hall in the City of London, round the corner from Mansion House station. It will be a full dress occasion, at which gentlemen are requested to wear full evening dress with white tie, or failing that a dinner jacket with black tie, and decorations. Armigers are strongly encouraged to bring with them table banners of their arms.

The timing will be 7 for 7.30 p.m. and it is expected that the evening will finish between 10 and 10.30 p.m.

Ticket prices are seventy-nine pounds for Society members and eighty-one pounds for non-members. A booking form is enclosed. Because of the nature of the event it is esssential that booking should be early. The final date is 31st October, but it would be very helpful if members able to attend could make their requests for tickets now.

THE GARTER

The Queen has been graciously pleased to appoint the following to the Most Noble Order of the Garter: Rt Hon John Major CH PC, former prime minister; Rt Hon the Baroness Soames DBE JP, daughter of Sir Winston Churchill; Rt Hon the Lord Bingham of Cornhill PC, former Lord Chief Justice.

BOOK BROWSER continued

The Stall Plates of the Knights of the Order of the Garter 1348-1485 W. H. St.John Hope Facsimile reproduction on CD [£25.00] Publisher: Heraldic Media Ltd

Council member Patrick Cracroft-Brennan’s company Heraldic Media Ltd has recently published this fascinating CD. The original work is very difficult to get. It provides illustrations of every Stall Plate in the Garter stalls in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle for the period from 1348 to 1485 together with notes about each Plate and its owner. The facsimile reproduction is in .pdf format which provides an excellent display of the medieval art. [The .pdf format requires an Adobe Acrobat reader, which can be downloaded free of charge from the Adobe site http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat .] The company has added an addendum which provides a complete list of all the members of the Order from its foundation to 23rd April; 2005.

Anyone interested in the history of the Order of the Garter will want a copy of this CD. Apart from that specialised interest, however, anyone with an eye for medieval heraldic art will value it highly. Copies can be ordered through the web-site http://www.heraldicmedia.com. We understand that facsimile reproductions of other heraldic works will become available from the company in the future.

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Visit the website at www.theheraldrysociety.com

ADVERTISING RATES

Classified: 25p per word Box Numbers £1.50

Display: 1/8 page £30.00 1/16 page £20.00

Advertising within the pages of “The Heraldry Gazette” whether classified or display is welcomed from members and others. The rates shown for display advertisements are the popular sizes for monochrome reproduction. Rates for larger sizes and colour reproduction may be discussed with the Advertising Manager.

Enquiries for placing an advertisement or receiving a quote should be addressed to the Advertising Manager at either

advertising@theheraldrysociety.com or his home address

53 Hitchin Street, Baldock, Hertfordshire, SG7 6AQ.

PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION

The March issue of the Gazette gave notice that there is to be a Heraldry Society Photographic Competition this year. It is intended that this should be repeated annually, and Council member Patrick Cracroft-Brennan has donated a small silver salver to serve as a perpetual trophy. The winner each year will keep it until the following year, and their name will be engraved on the reverse of the salver. Council has now agreed the following ground rules for the competition.

The Competition will be open to members, their families and their friends (who will need to be sponsored by a member).

Entries may make use of traditional roll film or digital images, but any computer enhancement must be limited to standard recognised darkroom practices. Each competitor may submit two entries, in which case they must be of different subjects. An entry should exemplify heraldry in its broadest interpretation coupled with photographic excellence displaying artistic merit and originality.

The judging panel will be chaired by the Society’s Deputy Chairman, Somerset Herald David White. The other members are Corinna Pike, a member of Council, Shaun Curry, a professional press photographer, and Clive Alexander, who will provide administrative support.

The panel will base its assessment of entries upon photographic quality, technical composition, ingenuity. strength of heraldic emphasis, aesthetic composition and presentation.

It will have discretion not to accept entries which are regarded as unsuitable.

The closing date for the submission of entries this year is 30th October 2005. An entry form will be enclosed with the September issue of the Gazette. The winner will be notified by post and the results will be published in the March 2006 edition of the Gazette. The Society reserves the right to print and publish such of the entries as it thinks fit.

DAVID HOWARD

The Society’s Council was saddened to hear of the death of David Sanctuary Howard, a Fellow of the Society. Mr Howard died peacefully at home on Good Friday following a two year struggle with a bone marrow disorder which led to leukaemia. He was the leading expert on Chinese Armorial porcelain, and members will be familiar with his monumental work on the subject (Vol.I published in 1974 and Vol.II in 2003). In addition he wrote “China for the West: Chinese porcelain and other decorative arts for export illustrated from the Mottahedeh collection” (published 1978) and “The Choice of the Private Trader: the private market in Chinese porcelain illustrated from the Hodruff collection” (1994).

Over thirty years ago he founded the company Heirloom and Howard, and older members will remember his shop on Hay Hill, off Berkeley Square, from which he moved the business to Wiltshire . There was always a warm welcome and an extraordinary collection of heraldic artefacts through which to browse and find some exciting treasure. He was always ready to respond to enquiries and share his vast knowledge of his subject with good humour and enormous enthusiasm. He will be sorely missed.

A memorial service will be held in London in early November.

Visit the website at www.theheraldrysociety.com

15

National

Flag Institute

www.flaginstitute.org

Contact: Michael A Faul, 44 Middleton Road, Acomb, York YO24 3AS Phone 01904 33 9985 michael.faul@virgin.net Heraldry Australia Regular meetings in Sydney and Canberra. Occasional meetings in Melbourne.

Contact: Stephen Michael Szabo, Hon. Secretary, PO Box 107 LAWSON NSW 2783 Australia

heraldry_aust@optusnet.com.au

Scotland, Heraldry Soc. of www.heraldry-scotland.co.uk

Meetings held at various locations.

Contact: Charles Napier, 40 Morningside Drive, Edinburgh, EH10 5LZ. Society of Genealogists

www.sog.org.uk

14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA Phone 0207 553 3290 Society of Heraldic Arts www.heraldic-arts.com

Contact: John Ferguson, Phone 01737 242 945 White Lion Society

www.whitelionsociety.org.uk

Contact: Roland Symons, 5 Weatherley Avenue, Odd Down, BATH BA2 2PF Local

City of Bath

Meetings are held at Manvers Street Baptist Church Halls, Bath.

2.30 pm. Secretary: Michael

Messer, Flat 1, 2 Lower Church St, Bath BA1 1NL. Phone: 01225 420654

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CONTACTS

Birmingham and Midland Contact: A.P.S. de Redman, Phone 0121 608 5496. The Group meets fourth Tuesday in the month at the Kingsley Norris Room, Birmingham Midland Institute, 7.15 pm.

Cambridge University

www.cam.ac.uk/societies/cuhags/

Contact: Derek Palgrave, Crossfield House, Stanton, IP31 2DY

DerekPalgrave@btinternet.com

Cheshire

The group meets at Townley Street Sunday School, Macclesfield at 2.30 pm. Contact: Mr Harold

Storey 2 Orchard Close, Cheadle Hulme SK8 7ET Phone 0161 4853786 Chilterns The group meets at various locations.

Contact: John Allen, Phone 0118 947 8712 East Midlands Meetings are held at The Museum, New Walk, Leicester.

Contact: Miss I M Norman, Phone 0116 270 6136 Greater Manchester Contact: Alan Fennely, 16 Paderborn Court, Bolton, BL1 4TX Phone 01204 532915 Isle of Wight

Meetings are held at The Riverside Centre, Newport, IOW.

Contact: Jean Peters, Phone 01983 403 060

peters.sanfernando@tesco.net

Lancashire

http://members.aol.com/lancsheraldry

The group meets on the first Monday of each month at St Stephen’s Parish Centre, Broadgate, Preston at 7.30 pm. Contact:

Chris Ward, 87 Palmer Road, Blackburn BB1 8BS Phone 01254 53866 chrisward1@btinternet.com

Merseyside Philip Jackson, 38 Heygarth Road, Eastham, Cheshire, CH62 8AE. Phone 0151 327 3491 Middlesex

Meetings held at the Guide Hut, Bury Street, Ruislip. Contact: Mrs

Margaret Young, 34 Farthings Close, Eastcote, Pinner, Middx, HA5 2QR, Phone 0208 868 8750.

Norfolk

www.norfolkheraldry.co.uk Meetings are held at United Reformed Church, Princes Street, Norwich, 7.45 pm on the first Wednesday of the month.

Contact: Philippa Sims, 26c Shotesham Road, Poringland, Norfolk NR14 7LG. Somerset Contact: Alex Findlater: The Grammar House, The Hill, Langport, Somerset TA10 9UP; 01458 250868; email alex@findlater.org.uk.

Staffordshire Contact: Graham Phillips, 1 Foxleigh Meadows, Handsacre Staffs WS15 4TG Phone 01543 492794 graham@phillips8106.fsworld.co.uk

Suffolk

Contact: Donald Hunt, 81a Southgate St, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 2BJ Phone 01284 763462 Yorkshire

www28.brinkster.com/yksheraldrysoc

Meetings are held at Headingley Parish Centre, St Michael’s Road, Headingley, Leeds

at 7.15pm. Contact: David Krause, 6 Corrance Way, Wyke, Bradford BD12 9LH Phone 01274 679272.

Please send items for inclusion to the Editor.

Published by the Heraldry Society, Charity Reg No 24156, Reg Office, 53 High Street, Burnham, Slough, SL1 7JX. Printed by Masterprint Ltd, London, SE18 5NQ