Thomas Hawley (died 22 August 1557) was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He began his career of royal service as a groom porter to Queen Margaret of Scotland from her marriage in 1503 until 1508. Although he may have been made Rose Blanche Pursuivant in the reign of King Henry VII, his first permanent heraldic appointment came in 1509.
King Henry VIII appointed Hawley to be Rouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary by letters patent dated 26 August 1509. It was in this capacity that he journeyed with the Earl of Surrey on the campaign of 1513 against King James IV of Scotland. Hawley was captured and detained as a prisoner before the Battle of Flodden, but released before the fighting actually started. On 1 November 1514 he was created Carlisle Herald in recognition of his diplomatic services in Scotland. The king also granted him an annuity of 20 marks.
As Carlisle, Hawley also performed the ceremonial and other duties of an officer of arms. In 1530 he was appointed the deputy to Thomas Benolt, Clarenceux King of Arms. In this capacity, he undertook a heraldic visitation of London churches on Benolt's behalf. He was charged "to reforme all false armorye & Armes devysed without auctoritie" (Wagner, Heralds and Heraldry, 9). His record of the occasion is the earliest existing account of a heraldic visitation. After several more diplomatic trips to Scotland, Hawley was made Norroy King of Arms by patent dated 15 June 1534. Hawley continued a long-running dispute with Garter Principal King of Arms over the privileges of their offices. On 19 May 1536 Hawley was appointed Clarenceux King of Arms. Visitation commissions were issued to Hawley in 1541, 1552, and 1555, but it is not certain if these were acted on.
Hawley died at his house in the Barbican, London on 22 August 1557. He was buried two days later in an elaborate ceremony at St Giles Cripplegate. He is not known to have married; his will appointed William Harvey, Norroy King of Arms, as his executor, also leaving him the substantial library that Hawley had inherited from his predecessor as Clarenceux, Thomas Benolt.
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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.
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.
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 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.
Walter Aston Edward Blount Esq. FSA was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was born the eldest son of Edward Blount, the third, but second surviving, son of Sir Walter Blount, 6th Baronet of Sodington, Worcestershire.
Sir Charles Townley was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.
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.
Sir Richard St George was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London during the seventeenth century.
John Writhe was a long-serving English officer of arms. He was probably the son of William Writhe, who represented the borough of Cricklade in the Parliament of 1450–51, and is most remembered for being the first Garter King of Arms to preside over the College of Arms. Writhe is also notable for the contention that it was he who developed the system of heraldic cadency employed by English officers of arms to the present day.
Roger Machado was an English diplomat and officer of arms of Portuguese extraction. He lived among the Portuguese merchants at Bruges in 1455.
Sir Thomas Wriothesley was a long serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was the son of Garter King of Arms, John Writhe, and he succeeded his father in this office.
Sir Christopher Barker was an officer of arms at the College of Arms in the City of London who rose to the highest position of Garter Principal King of Arms.
Ralph Bigland was an English officer of arms, antiquarian and cheesemaker. He was born at Stepney, Middlesex, and was the only son of Richard Bigland and his wife, Mary. His father was a native of Westmorland, descended from the Bigland family of Biglands. He should not be confused with his nephew Sir Ralph Bigland.
Lawrence Dalton was an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Dalton was one of thirteen children of Roger Dalton of Bispham, Lancashire, and his fourth wife. Lawrence Dalton also had two half-brothers and one half-sister from his father's first marriage. Little is known about Dalton's early life, and he is not known to have attended a university.
Thomas Benolt was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. As part of his service, he was also a diplomat. He appears to have been born at Rouen, though his family had stronger links with Calais. Benolt is thought to have been raised in that city, and his brother at one time became its secretary. Thomas Benolt is reported to have served Kings Edward IV and Richard III as a pursuivant, but these claims cannot be substantiated. The first definitive evidence of his royal service is an appointment as Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary on 6 May 1504. Six years later, he was promoted to the post of Norroy King of Arms and on 30 January 1511 he was made Clarenceux King of Arms.
English heraldry is the form of coats of arms and other heraldic bearings and insignia used in England. It lies within the so-called Gallo-British tradition. Coats of arms in England are regulated and granted to individuals by the English kings of arms of the College of Arms. An individual's arms may also be borne 'by courtesy' by members of the holder's nuclear family, subject to a system of cadency marks, to differentiate those displays from the arms of the original holder. The English heraldic style is exemplified in the arms of British royalty, and is reflected in the civic arms of cities and towns, as well as the noble arms of individuals in England. Royal orders in England, such as the Order of the Garter, also maintain notable heraldic bearings.
William Flower (1497/98–1588) was an English Officer of Arms in the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. He rose to the rank of Norroy King of Arms, serving in that capacity from 1562 until his death in 1588.
Robert Glover was an English officer of arms, genealogist and antiquarian in the reign of Elizabeth I. In the College of Arms, he rose to the rank of Somerset Herald of Arms, serving in that capacity from 1571 until his death in 1588. As marshal and deputy to his father-in-law, William Flower, Norroy King of Arms, he participated in heraldic visitations throughout northern England.
Robert Cooke was an English Officer of Arms during the reign of Elizabeth I, who rose swiftly through the ranks of the College of Arms to Clarenceux King of Arms, serving in that office from 1567 until his death in 1592–3.
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