Portcullis Pursuivant

Portcullis Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is a junior officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. The office is named after the Portcullis chained Or badge of the Beauforts, which was a favourite device of King Henry VII. King Henry's mother was Lady Margaret Beaufort. The office was instituted around 1485, probably at the time of Henry's coronation. The badge of office is very similar to that of Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary, the latter being ensigned with the Royal Crown. The earliest recorded Portcullis Pursuivant was James or Jacques Videt, who was the plaintiff in a Common Pleas case in 1498[1] and again in 1500.[2]

Portcullis Pursuivant

The heraldic badge of Portcullis Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary
Heraldic tradition	Gallo-British
Jurisdiction	England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Governing body	College of Arms

The post is currently vacant.

Holders of the office

Arms	Name	Date of appointment	Ref
	James Videt	(Henry VII)
	Ralph Lagysse	(Henry VII)
	Robert Fayery or Fairy	1516–1549
	Richard Withers	1550–1553
	John Cocke	1553–1559
	Edward Merlin	1559–1559
	Ralph Langman	1559–1567
	Robert Glover	1567–1571
	Richard Lee	1571–1585
	William Segar	1585–1588
	Thomas Lant	1588–1597
	Samuel Thompson	1597–1619
	Philip Holland	1619–1625
	Thomas Preston	1625–1633
	John Beauchamp	1633–1660
	John Wingfield	1660–1663
	Thomas Holford	From 1663
	Thomas Holford, junior	(James II)
	Laurence Cromp	From 1689
	John Hesketh	(William III)
	Thomas Wightwick	1713–1718
	Richard Mawson	1718–1745
	Thomas Thornberry	1745
	Peter Toms	1746–1780
	John-Doddington Forth	1780–1817
	George Frederick Beltz	1817–1822
	James Pulman, Esq.	1822–1838	[3]
	Sir Albert William Woods, GCVO, KCB, KCMG, KGStJ, FSA	1838–1841	[4]
	George William Collen, Esq.	1841–1878	[5]
	Arthur Staunton Larken, Esq.	1878–1882	[6]
	William Alexander Lindsay, Esq., CVO, FSA	1883–1894	[7]
	Thomas Morgan Joseph-Watkin, Esq.	7 April 1894 – 1913	[8]
	Keith William Murray, Esq., FSA	1913–1922	[9]
	Hon. Sir George Rothe Bellew, KCB, KCVO, FSA	1922–1926	[10]
	Alfred Butler, Esq., MVO, MC, FSA	1926–1931	[11]
	Sir Anthony Richard Wagner, KCB, KCVO, DLitt, FSA	1931–1943	[12]
	Charles Murray Kennedy St Clair, 17th Lord Sinclair, CVO	1949–1957	[13]
	Sir Alexander Colin Cole, KCB, KCVO, TD, FSA	1957–1966	[14]
	Michael Maclagan, Esq., CVO, FSA, FRHistS	1970–1980	[15]
	Peter Brotherton Spurrier, Esq.	1981–1992	[16]
	William George Hunt, Esq., TD	1992–1999	[17]
	Hon Christopher Fletcher-Vane	2012–2017	[18]

See also

• Pursuivant
• Officer of Arms
• College of Arms

References

Citations

1. "AALT Page". aalt.law.uh.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
2. "AALT Page". aalt.law.uh.edu. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
3. "No. 15895". The London Gazette. 1 June 1822. p. 278.
4. "No. 19639". The London Gazette. 24 July 1838. p. 1667.
5. "No. 20036". The London Gazette. 9 November 1841. p. 2757.
6. "No. 24554". The London Gazette. 22 February 1878. p. 880.
7. "No. 25183". The London Gazette. 29 December 1882. p. 6649.
8. "No. 26502". The London Gazette. 10 April 1894. p. 2019.
9. "No. 12583". The Edinburgh Gazette. 22 July 1913. p. 777.
10. "No. 32628". The London Gazette. 3 March 1922. p. 1818.
11. "No. 33185". The London Gazette. 23 July 1926. p. 4868.
12. "No. 33725". The London Gazette. 12 June 1931. p. 3837.
13. "No. 38658". The London Gazette. 5 July 1949. p. 3299.
14. "No. 41136". The London Gazette. 26 July 1957. p. 4428.
15. "No. 45066". The London Gazette. 24 March 1970. p. 3415.
16. "No. 48499". The London Gazette. 20 January 1981. p. 831.
17. "No. 53094". The London Gazette. 2 November 1992. p. 18353.
18. "No. 60243". The London Gazette. 20 August 2012. p. 15985.

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)

External links

• The College of Arms
• CUHGS Officer of Arms Index