Robert Noel | |
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| Norroy and Ulster King of Arms | |
| Assumed office 6 April 2021 | |
| Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
| Preceded by | Timothy Duke |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 October 1962 |
| Alma mater | St Edmund's College,Cambridge |
Robert John Baptist Noel (born 15 October 1962) is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. [1] Formerly the Bluemantle Pursuivant,then the Lancaster Herald,he has been Norroy and Ulster King of Arms since April 2021.
The younger son of Gerard Eyre Wriothesley Noel,of Westington Mill,Chipping Campden,a barrister,he is in remainder to his grandfather's earldom. Robert Noel was educated at Ampleforth College,Exeter College,Oxford (MA) and St Edmund's College,Cambridge (MPhil).
Noel trained as a shipbroker,then as a library assistant at the College of Arms before joining the auctioneers,Christie's of London. He was appointed Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms at the College of Arms on 27 October 1992, [2] and succeeded Sir Peter Gwynn-Jones as Lancaster Herald of Arms in Ordinary on 21 September 1999. [3] On 6 April 2021,he was appointed Norroy and Ulster King of Arms in succession to Timothy Duke. [4] In that role,he proclaimed the accession of Charles III from Hillsborough Castle, [5] and took part in the Royal Procession at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla. [6]
He is a Freeman of the City of London and has been admitted as a liveryman of the Glaziers' Company. He serves as the genealogist for the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor. [7]
Noel married Rowena Hale in 2013. [8]
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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.
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'. 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.
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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.
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Sir Gerald Woods Wollaston was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Wollaston's family had a firm tradition at the College of Arms. Wollaston's great-grandfather was Sir William Woods,Garter Principal King of Arms from 1838 until his death in 1842. His grandfather was Sir Albert William Woods who held the same post from 1869 to 1904.
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Charles Harold Athill,MVO,FSA (1853–1922) was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.
Aubrey John Toppin was a long-serving English officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.
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Heraldic visitations were tours of inspection undertaken by Kings of Arms throughout England,Wales and Ireland. Their purpose was to register and regulate the coats of arms of nobility,gentry and boroughs,and to record pedigrees. They took place from 1530 to 1688,and their records provide important source material for historians and genealogists.
Thomas Browne (1708–1780),Garter Principal King of Arms,the second son of John Browne of Ashbourne,Derbyshire,became Bluemantle Pursuivant in 1737,Lancaster Herald in 1743,Norroy and Ulster King of Arms in 1761,and Garter in 1774 until his death.
Sir Henry St George (1581–1644) was an English Officer of arms. He was the third son of the herald Sir Richard St George and his wife Elizabeth St John.
Athlone Pursuivant of Arms was a junior officer of arms in Ireland,founded 1552 during the reign of Edward VI,King of England and King of Ireland,and was named for the town of Athlone,which is partly in Co. Roscommon . The other heraldic offices of Ireland being Ireland King of Arms,1392-1485,the Ulster King of Arms (Ulster) from 1552,the Dublin Herald (Leinster) and the Cork Herald (Munster). Accordingly,an officer was named for each of the four traditional provinces of Ireland. From 1943 the Ulster King of Arms was merged with the Norroy King of Arms as the Norroy and Ulster King of Arms with jurisdiction for Northern Ireland. Heraldic matters in the Republic of Ireland are now handled by the office of the Chief Herald of Ireland.
William Ryley was an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.
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