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]

The current Portcullis Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is The Hon. Christopher John Fletcher-Vane.

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. The reigning monarch is given if the date is not known more precisely.

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

See also

• Pursuivant
• Officer of Arms
• College 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, Mark Noble, (London, 1804)

External links

• The College of Arms
• CUHGS Officer of Arms Index

College of Arms
Earl Marshal High Court of Chivalry
Kings of Arms	Garter Clarenceux Norroy and Ulster
Heralds of Arms	Chester Lancaster Richmond Somerset Windsor York
Pursuivants of Arms	Bluemantle Portcullis Rouge Croix Rouge Dragon
Officers Extraordinary	Arundel Beaumont Fitzalan Howard Maltravers New Zealand Norfolk Surrey Wales
Historical	Berwick Delhi Mowbray