Somerset Herald

Somerest Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. In the year 1448 Somerset Herald is known to have served the Duke of Somerset, Edmund Beaufort, but by the time of the coronation of King Henry VII in 1485 his successor appears to have been raised to the rank of a royal officer, when he was the only herald to receive coronation liveries.

By 1525 Somerset was again in private service, on the staff of the Duke of Richmond and Somerset, Henry Fitzroy, although he was appointed by the King and shared the heralds' fees as a herald extraordinary. On the death of that nobleman in 1536 the herald returned to the service of the crown, and all later officers called Somerset have been members of the royal household as heralds in ordinary. The badge of office is "A Portcullis Or Royally Crowned". This is a version of the Beaufort badge.

The current Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary is David Vines White, MA (Cambridge) MA (London).

Holders of the office

"Brackets indicate a date or approximate date for which there is evidence that the named person was holder of this office."

Royal Herald

*(1493) John Young, Esq.
*(1511) John Ponde, Esq.

Herald to the Duke of Richmond and Somerset

*(1511) John Ponde, Esq.
*(1528) William Hastings, Esq.
*(1536) Thomas Traheyron or Trahern, Esq.

Herald of Arms in Ordinary

*1536-1543 Thomas Traheyron or Trahern, Esq.
*1543-1545 Richard Radcliffe, Esq.
*1545-1551 William Harvey, Esq.
*1551-1571 Edmond Atkynson, Esq.
*1571-1588 Robert Glover, Esq.
*1589-1597 William Segar, Esq.
*1597-1624 Robert Treswell, Esq.
*1624-1645 John Philipot
*? William Crowne, Esq.
*1657-1658 George Owen, Esq.
*1658-1660 Henry Bysshe, Esq.
*1660-1680 Sir Thomas St George
*1680-1700 Francis Burghill, Esq.
*1700-1720 Samuel Stebbing Esq.
*1720-1759 John Warburton, Esq., FRS, FSA
*1759-1773 Ralph Bigland
*1773-1777 Henry Hastings, Esq.
*1777-1794 John Charles Brooke, Esq, FSA
*1794-1813 John Atkinson, Esq.
*1813-1854 James Cathrow, Esq.
*1854-1866 William Courthope, Esq.
*1866-1872 James Robinson Planché, Esq., FSA
*1880-1887 Stephen Isaacson Tucker, Esq.
*1887-1911 Sir Henry Farnham Burke, KCVO, CB, FSA
*1911-1926 Everard Green, Esq., FSA
*1926-1950 Hon. Sir George Rothe Bellew, KCB, KCVO, FSA
*1951-1967 Michael Roger Trappes-Lomax, Esq., FSA
*1967-1982 Rodney Dennys, Esq., CVO, OBE, FSA
*1982-1997 Thomas Woodcock, Esq., LVO, FSA
*2004-Present David Vines White, Esq.

ee also

* Heraldry
* Officer of Arms

References

* "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", Rev. Mark Noble, (London, 1804)

External links

* [http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk The College of Arms]
* [http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/cuhags/info/o_of_a/intro.htm CUHGS Officer of Arms Index]