Windsor Herald

Windsor Herald

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

Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.

It has been suggested that the office was instituted specifically for the Order of the Garter in 1348, or that it predates the Order and was in use as early as 1338. However, it is more likely that it dates from 1364, when a pursuivant of Edward III, on bringing the king news of the victory at Auray, was rewarded by promotion to the rank of herald with the title Windsor. Thereafter there is little mention of the office before 1419, when Windsor Herald was sent to the Duke of Brittany. Since that time, the office has been maintained. The badge of office is the sunburst badge of Edward III (Edward of Windsor) royally crowned.

The best-known Windsor Herald was the 17th-century antiquarian, Elias Ashmole. The office is vacant.

Holders of the office

Arms	Name	Date of appointment	Ref
	Andrew (surname unknown)	(Edward III)
	Stephen (surname unknown)	(1366)
	Thomas More	(Henry VI)
	Robert Ashwell	(Henry VI)
	John Ferrant	(Edward IV)
	John Ballard	(Edward IV)
	Thomas Holme	1461–1468
	John More	1468–1486
	Richard Slacke	1486–1502
	Thomas Benolte	1504–1510
	Francis Dyes	1510–1524
	Thomas Wall	1524–1529
	Charles Wriothesley	1529–1565
	Richard Turpin	1565–1583
	Nicholas Dethick	1583–1597
	Thomas Lant	1597–1602
	Richard St George	1602–1604
	Samuel Thompson	1617–1624
	Augustine Vincent	1624–1626
	John Bradshaw	1626–1633
	Edward Norgate	1633–1650
	Elias Ashmole	1660–1675
	John Dugdale	1676–1686
	Henry Ball	1686–1687
	Thomas Holdford	1687–1690
	Peers Mauduit	1690–1726
	James Whorwood	1726–1736
	John Kettell	1736–1746
	Richard Mawson	1746–1746
	Thomas Thornborough	1746–1757
	Henry Hill	1757–1774
	George Harrison	1774–1784
	Francis Townsend	1784–1819
	Francis Martin	1819–1839
	Robert Laurie	1839–1849
	George Rogers-Harrison	1849–1880
	Sir William Weldon	1880–1894
	William Lindsay	1894–1919
	Sir Algar Howard	1919–1931
	Alfred Butler	1931–1946
	Richard Graham-Vivian	1947–1966
	Sir Colin Cole	1966–1978
	Theobald Mathew	1978–1997
	William George Hunt	1999–2017
	John Allen-Petrie	2019–2026
	Vacant	2026–present

See also

• Heraldry
• Officer of arms

References

Citations

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