The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system,it is outranked in precedence only by the decorations of the Victoria Cross and the George Cross. The Order of the Garter is dedicated to the image and arms of Saint George,England's patron saint.
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior military officers or senior civil servants,and the monarch awards it on the advice of His Majesty's Government. The name derives from an elaborate medieval ceremony for preparing a candidate to receive his knighthood,of which ritual bathing was an element. While not all knights went through such an elaborate ceremony,knights so created were known as "knights of the Bath".
The College of Arms,or Heralds' College,is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms,with jurisdiction over England,Wales,Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sovereign and are delegated authority to act on behalf of the Crown in all matters of heraldry,the granting of new coats of arms,genealogical research and the recording of pedigrees. The College is also the official body responsible for matters relating to the flying of flags on land,and it maintains the official registers of flags and other national symbols. Though a part of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom,the College is self-financed,unsupported by any public funds.
Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher,considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826,when the Anglo-Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage,baronetage,knightage and landed gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. His first publication,a Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom,was updated sporadically until 1847,when the company began publishing new editions every year as Burke's Peerage,Baronetage and Knightage.
Sir John Bernard Burke,was a British genealogist and Ulster King of Arms,who helped publish Burke's Peerage.
Sir Albert William Woods was an English officer of arms,who served as Garter Principal King of Arms from 1869 to 1904. The Woods family has a strong tradition of service at the College of Arms. Albert Woods was the son of Sir William Woods,Garter King of Arms from 1838 until his death in 1842. Likewise,the grandson of Albert Woods was Sir Gerald Woods Wollaston,who also rose to the rank of Garter King of Arms and served there from 1930 until 1944.
Sir Peter Llewellyn Gwynn-Jones was a long-serving Officer of Arms at the College of Arms in London. He was Garter Principal King of Arms,the senior English officer of arms,from 1995 to 2010.
John Philip Brooke Brooke-Little was an English writer on heraldic subjects,and a long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London. In 1947,while still a student,Brooke-Little founded the Society of Heraldic Antiquaries,now known as the Heraldry Society and recognised as one of the leading learned societies in its field. He served as the society's chairman for 50 years and then as its president from 1997 until his death in 2006.
Sir Henry Edgar Paston-Bedingfeld,10th Baronet is a British baronet and retired officer of arms.
Sir Walter John George Verco was a long-serving officer of arms who served in many capacities at the College of Arms in London.
David Hubert Boothby Chesshyre was a British officer of arms.
Sir Thomas Woodcock FRHSC is a genealogist who served as Garter Principal King of Arms at the College of Arms from 2010 to 2021.
Sir Anthony Richard Wagner was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He served as Garter Principal King of Arms before retiring to the post of Clarenceux King of Arms. He was one of the most prolific authors on the subjects of heraldry and genealogy of the 20th century.
Sir Conrad Marshall John Fisher Swan was a Canadian-British herald who was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Having been first appointed to work at the College in 1962,he rose to the office of Garter Principal King of Arms in 1992,a position he held until 1995. He was the first Canadian ever to be appointed to the College of Arms.
Sir Henry Farnham Burke,(1859–1930) was a long-serving Anglo-Irish officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.
Sir Algar Henry Stafford Howard was a senior British Army officer and long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He served as the Garter Principal King of Arms from 1944 to 1950 before retiring. He was the third consecutive Fitzalan Pursuivant of Arms Extraordinary to attain the highest rank at the College of Arms.
Sir George Rothe Bellew,,styled The Honourable after 1935,was a long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London. Educated at the University of Oxford,he was appointed Portcullis Pursuivant in 1922. Having been Somerset Herald for 24 years,he was promoted to the office of Garter Principal King of Arms in 1950,the highest heraldic office in England and Wales. He served in that capacity until his resignation in 1961. As Garter,Bellew oversaw the funeral of George VI,proclaimed the late King's daughter,Elizabeth II,as Queen and took a leading role in the organisation of her Coronation in 1953. After his retirement,Bellew was Secretary of the Order of the Garter and Knight Principal of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor. He lived for many years at Dower House in Old Windsor,Berkshire,but later moved to Farnham and died in 1993,aged 93.
Timothy Hugh Stewart Duke,FSA is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.
Alfred Trego Butler MVO,MC,FSA,FASG was a genealogist and officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.
The coat of arms of the Prince of Wales is the official personal heraldic insignia of the Princes of Wales,a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,formerly the Kingdom of Great Britain and before that the Kingdom of England.
