Norroy and Ulster King of Arms

Norroy and Ulster King of Arms

The arms of office of the Norroy and Ulster King of Arms
Heraldic tradition	British
Jurisdiction	England north of the river Trent and Northern Ireland
Governing body	College of Arms

Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is the provincial King of Arms at the College of Arms with jurisdiction over England north of the Trent and Northern Ireland. The two offices of Norroy and Ulster were formerly separate. Norroy King of Arms is the older office, there being a reference as early as 1276 to a "King of Heralds beyond the Trent in the North". The name Norroy is derived from the Old French nort roy meaning 'north king'.^[1][2] The office of Ulster Principal King of Arms for All-Ireland was established in 1552 by King Edward VI to replace the older post of Ireland King of Arms, which had lapsed in 1487.

Ulster King of Arms was not part of the College of Arms and did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Earl Marshal, being the heraldic authority for the Kingdom of Ireland (the jurisdiction of the College of Arms being the Kingdom of England and Lord Lyon's Office that of the Kingdom of Scotland).

Ulster was Registrar and King of Arms of the Order of St Patrick. Norroy and Ulster King of Arms now holds this position,^{[citation needed]} though no new knights of that Order have been created since 1936, and the last surviving knight died in 1974. Heraldic matters in the Republic of Ireland are now handled by the office of the Chief Herald of Ireland (a part of the Genealogical Office in the National Library).

The arms of the new office of Norroy and Ulster King of Arms were devised in 1980 based on elements from the arms of the two former offices. They 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 Clive Cheesman who was appointed to the office on 14 November 2024.^[3]

Arms	Name	Dates of office	Notes	Ref
	Peter de Horbury	(1276)
	Andrew	(1338)
	John Othelake	1386–1399
Office holders referred to as Lancaster King of Arms. This title was used for the King of Arms of the northern province in the reigns of Henry IV, V and VI, instead of Norroy.
	Richard Bruges	1399–1426
	John Ashwell	1426–1436
	William Boys	1436–1447
	William Tyndale	1447–1464
The title reverted to Norroy King of Arms.
	Thomas Holme	1464–1477
	John Writhe	1477–1478
	John Moore	1478–1493
	Roger Machado	1493-1493
	Christopher Carlill	1493–1510
	Thomas Benolt	1510-1510
	John Yonge	1510–1516
	Thomas Wall	1516–1522
	John Joyner	1522-1522
	Thomas Tonge	1522–1534
	Thomas Hawley	1534–1536
	Sir Christopher Barker	1536
	William Fellows	1536–1546
	Gilbert Dethick	1546–1550
	William Harvey	1550–1557
	Lawrence Dalton	1557–1562
	William Flower	1562–1588
	Edmund Knight	1592–1593
	William Segar	1593–1603	Morgan Coleman had also applied for the position.[4]
	Sir Richard St George	1603–1623
	Sir John Burroughs	1623–1634
	Sir William le Neve	1634–1635
	Sir Henry St George	1635–1644
	Sir Edward Walker	1644–1645
	William Ryley	1646–1658
	George Owen	1658–1660
	Sir William Dugdale	1660–1677
	Sir Henry St George	1677–1680
	Sir Thomas St George	1680–1686
	Sir John Dugdale	1686–1700
	Robert Devenish	1700–1704
	Peter Le Neve	1704–1729
	Stephen Leake	1729–1741
	John Cheale	1741–1751
	Sir Charles Townley	1751–1756
	William Oldys	1756–1761
	Thomas Brown	1761–1773
	Ralph Bigland	1773–1774
	Sir Isaac Heard	1774–1780
	Peter Dore	1780–1781
	Thomas Lock	1781–1784
	George Harrison	1784–1803
	Ralph Bigland	1803–1822
	Edmund Lodge	1822–1838
	Joseph Hawker	1838–1839
	Francis Martin	1839–1846
	James Pulman	1846–1858
	Edward Howard-Gibbon	1848–1849
	Robert Laurie	1849–1859
	Walter Blount	1859–1882
	George Cokayne	1882–1894
	Sir William Weldon	1894–1911
	Sir Henry Burke	1911–1919
	Charles Athill	1919
	William Lindsay	1919–1922
	Gordon Lee	1922–1926
	Sir Arthur Cochrane	1926–1928
	Sir Gerald Wollaston	1928–1930
	Sir Algar Howard	1931–1943
Title combined with Ulster King of Arms

Arms	Name	Dates of office	Notes	Ref
Title formerly Ireland King of Arms
	Bartholomew W. Butler	1552–1566
	Nicholas Narbon	1566–1588
	Christopher Ussher	1566–1588
	Daniel Molyneux	1597–1629
	Daniel Molyneux and Adam Ussher	1629–1633
	Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara	1633–1655
	Sir Richard Carney	1655–1660
	Sir Richard St George	1660–1683
	Sir Richard Carney and George Wallis	1683–1698
	William Hawkins	1698–1722
	William Hawkins and John Hawkins	1722–1759
	James McCulloch	1759–1765
	William Hawkins	1765–1787	Knighted 17 March 1783
	Gerald Fortescue	1787–1788
	Rear Admiral Sir Chichester Fortescue	1788–1820
	Sir William Betham	1820–1853
	Sir Bernard Burke	1853–1892
	Sir Arthur Vicars	1893–1908
	Sir Nevile Rodwell Wilkinson	1908–1940
Vacant, duties performed by Thomas Ulick Sadleir (Deputy Ulster)
Duties in the Republic of Ireland taken up by the Chief Herald of Ireland

Arms	Name	Dates of office	Notes	Ref
	Sir Algar Howard	1943–1944	Howard was descended from the Dukes of Norfolk; he was born in Thornbury Castle, where he lived for many years.[5] Educated at King's College London,[6] he was later admitted to the Inner Temple as a barrister. His first appointment at the College was in May 1911 as Fitzalan Pursuivant Extraordinary and he attended the Prince of Wales' investiture that year.[6] He was promoted to Rouge Dragon Pursuivant that October, followed by Windsor Herald in 1919 and Norroy King of Arms in 1931, to which was added Ulster King of Arms in 1943.[6] After he resigned as Garter, he served as Extra Gentleman Usher to the Queen from 1952 till his death, aged 89, in 1970.[5][7]	[6]
	Sir Gerald Wollaston	1944–1957	A grandson of Sir Albert William Woods,[8] Wollaston was educated at Harrow School and then Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1893 with a law degree.[9][10] He was called to the Bar in 1899, but joined the College three years later as Fitzalan Pursuivant Extraordinary for the coronation of Edward VII. Appointments as Bluemantle Pursuivant (1906), Richmond Herald (1919), and Norroy King of Arms (1928) followed.[9] Having served as Henry Farnham Burke's deputy for a year,[9] he succeeded him as Garter and oversaw the coronation of George VI; his experience and knowledge of ceremonial proved useful in assisting the young Earl Marshal. Earlier in his career, he was often called on to counsel in peerage cases.[10] A "most painstaking and skilled herald with special bent to ceremonial", he published The Court of Claims in 1902, 1910 and 1936.[9] After his Gartership, he served as Norroy and Ulster until his death in 1957.[10]	[9]
	Aubrey Toppin	1957–1966
	Richard Graham-Vivian	1966–1971
	Sir Walter Verco	1971–1980
	John Brooke-Little	1980–1995	Brooke-Little was educated at Clayesmore School and New College, Oxford, where his interest in heraldry grew and his friends included the future Garter, Colin Cole. He joined the Earl Marshal's staff in 1952 and was a Gold Stick Officer at the coronation in 1953. Appointed Bluemantle Pursuivant in 1956 and Richmond Herald in 1967, Brooke-Little also served as Registrar at the College (1974–82), Norroy and Ulster King of Arms and Registrar of the Order of St Patrick (1980–85) and director of the Heralds' Museum from 1991 until his retirement. He founded the Heraldry Society in 1947 and was its Chairman for fifty years, after which he was its President; he edited its journal, The Coat of Arms, until 2004. His published work included updated editions of Boutell's Heraldry and Fox-Davies's Complete Guide to Heraldry. According to the Telegraph, he was the "brightest and ablest herald of his generation", but did not attain Gartership partly due to his "chaotic working practices". He died in 2006.	[11][12][13]
	Hubert Chesshyre	1995–1997	After attending Trinity College, Cambridge, and Christ Church, Oxford, and graduating from both universities, Chesshyre became Rouge Croix Pursuivant in 1970, before serving as Chester Herald between 1978 and 1995 and Honorary Genealogist to the Royal Victorian Order from 1987 to 2010. He has been a member of the Westminster Abbey Architectural Advisory Panel and the Heraldry Society's Council. Along with Thomas Woodcock, he co-authored the Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Armorial, volume 1.	[14][15]
	Thomas Woodcock	1997–2010	Woodcock was educated at Durham University and Darwin College, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar in 1975, but started work as a research assistant to Sir Anthony Wagner that year. He was appointed Rouge Croix in 1978, Somerset in 1982 and Norroy and Ulster in 1997. He has co-authored a number of works on heraldry, including The Oxford Guide to Heraldry (1988) and all four volumes of Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Ordinary (1992–2014).[16]	[17][18]
	Patric Dickinson	2010	Dickinson was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, and was President of the Oxford Union in 1972. A research assistant at the College of Arms since 1968, his first heraldic appointment was ten years later, when he became Rouge Dragon Pursuivant. Promotions to Richmond Herald (1989) and Norroy and Ulster King of Arms (2010) followed, before he became Clarenceux. Having served as the College's Treasurer since 1995, Dickinson was also the Earl Marshal's Secretary from 1996 to 2012 and has been President of the Society of Genealogists since 2005.	[19][20]
	Sir Henry Paston-Bedingfeld	2010–2014
	Timothy Duke	2014–2021
	Robert Noel	2021–2024
	Clive Cheesman	2024-present		[21]

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• Ireland King of Arms
• Irish heraldry
• Heraldry
• Officer of Arms
• Dr. Edward MacLysaght

Citations

Bibliography

• The College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street : being the sixteenth and final monograph of the London Survey Committee, Walter H. Godfrey, assisted by Sir Anthony Wagner, with a complete list of the officers of arms, prepared by H. Stanford London, (London, 1963)
• A History of the College of Arms &c, Mark Noble, (London, 1804)
• List of Ulster Kings of Arms

• The College of Arms
• CUHGS Officer of Arms Index
• Chief Herald of Ireland