College of Arms Foundation

June 10, 2024.
Happy International Heraldry Day!

The College of Arms Foundation is pleased to recognize our new member who joined in May, Matthew Wallace-Gross (Whitman MA), who also joined as Bronze Patron. Thank you, Matthew.

You can join, too!

The Foundation is a US 501(c)(3) that provides dues-paying memberships. We are open to new members who have an interest in the College of Arms, preserving and promoting its heritage, and English heraldry in general. New members will receive our rosette and get a copy of our new annual e-publication, The Blue Dove. While our quarterly newsletter The Diligent is available to our friends as well as our members, The Blue Dove is designed as a member benefit, an e-publication that will have content not available elsewhere dedicated to the College, the Foundation, and so.

Membership is on a calendar basis at $75 per year, payable by check or PayPal. Patronage available at the $250, $500, $1,000, and $1,500 levels.

As announced in April, a new member who joins and donates $125 or at any Patronage level will receive a copy of The Armorial of Haiti, Symbols of Nobility in the Reign of Henry Christophe.

Matthew got one. You can have one, too, but we only have 5 left at this point.

Please DM me for details.

Cheers!

The College of Arms Foundation happily notes that American Ancestors / New England Historic Genealogical Society has just published its facsimile of the Gore Roll: The Earliest Known Roll of Arms in America. Due to its connection to English heraldry, the Foundation contributed to its publication. Dating to the mid-18th century while the American Colonies were still British, the arms therein are of Englishmen living in New England and the Caribbean. It is a must-have for the library of any American heraldry enthusiast. For further details on the publication and how to purchase, click the link.

https://shop.americanancestors.org/collections/all/products/the-gore-roll?_pos=1&_sid=92d25fd93&_ss=r&pass-through=true

Sorry to be a lit late, but the College of Arms Foundation is pleased to recognize our new members who joined in April.

Kenneth F. Herrington III (Herrington, KY) and
Ryan John Woods (Westsomerville, MA)

You can join, too!

The Foundation is a US 501(c)(3) that provides dues-paying memberships. We are open to new members who have an interest in the College of Arms, preserving and promoting its heritage, and English heraldry in general. New members will receive our rosette and get a copy of our new annual e-publication, The Blue Dove. While our quarterly newsletter The Diligent is available to our friends as well as our members, The Blue Dove is designed as a member benefit, an e-publication that will have content not available elsewhere dedicated to the College, the Foundation, and so.

Membership is on a calendar basis at $75 per year, payable by check or PayPal. Patronage available at the $250, $500, $1,000, and $1,500 levels.

As announced in April, a new member who joins and donates $125 or at any Patronage level will receive a copy of the The Armorial of Haiti, Symbols of Nobility in the Reign of Henry Christophe.

Please DM me for details.

Cheers!

Hello!

While some household moving was taking place, some copies of "The Armorial of Haiti, Symbols of Nobility in the Reign of Henry Christophe" appeared. In life, Henry Christophe went from slave to king, and it’s hard to see how anyone could go further in life. This is a color reproduction of the armorial roll from the Kingdom of Haiti, edited with commentary, essay, and appendix by then Rouge Dragon Pursuivant Clive Cheesman and published by the College in 2007. It includes a very informative historical introduction by Marie-Lucie Vendrys and preface by then Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean. The essays are fascinating. The choices of charges and quality of artwork are simple but consistently effective and pleasing.

The College of Arms Foundation - with Arthur Rawl in the lead - donated towards its production, the second donation to the College during John Shannon’s tenure as President.

The armorial includes 91 entries, with short biographies, color photographs of the arms, and blazons of the arms of the King and the Haitian nobility. Some entries have two images, the second from an earlier armorial. The image accompanying this post are the facsimile pages from the armorial of le Baron de Thabares who, according to Cheesman, was originally for the French, but after a defeat in 1803 switched sides. He was appointed a regional commander by Dessalines and later promoted to Major General by King Henry.

If you would like a copy, we are asking for a $125 donation that includes shipping and handling. This is in line with prices available for the few copies available online but still well below the Amazon price. The books are in very fine condition, having been on a for many years.

As a special offer, take advantage of this opportunity, and you will also receive a membership in the Foundation for the remainder of 2024.

The quickest way is to reserve your copy and join the Foundation for 2024 is to pay via PayPal at [email protected]. Alternately you can mail a check to the College of Arms Foundation, PO Box 132422, Spring TX 77393. Just let me know by DM (your timestamp) that payment is on the way. Ensure you include your mailing address. Once funds are received, your book will be posted.

Cheers!

No fooling!

The College of Arms Foundation is pleased to recognize our new members who joined in March.

Ljubodrag Grujic (Belgrade, Serbia), and
Harry S. Lynn, Jr. (Mountain Brook, AL)

We wish to make a special acknowledgement to Harry S. Lynn, Jr. as he has joined as a Bronze Patron.

You can join, too!

The Foundation is a US 501(c)(3) that provides dues-paying memberships. We are open to new members who have an interest in the College of Arms, preserving and promoting its heritage, and English heraldry in general. New members will receive our rosette and get a copy of our new annual e-publication, The Blue Dove. While our quarterly newsletter The Diligent is available to our friends as well as our members, The Blue Dove is designed as a member benefit, an e-publication that will have content not available elsewhere dedicated to the College, the Foundation, and so.

Membership is on a calendar basis at $75 per year, payable by check or PayPal. Patronage available at the $250, $500, $1,000, and $1,500 levels.

Please DM me for details.

Cheers!

Foundation Announces New Grant

The Foundation’s Officers and Directors are pleased to announce that upon a request by American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society a grant will be provided to them to allay in a small way the publication costs for a facsimile of the Gore Roll of Arms, an 18th Century document in the R. Stanton Avery Manuscript Collection of NEHGS. Created by Boston herald painters John Gore and his son, Samuel Gore, the roll consists of 99 paintings of coats of arms, mainly families from New England. Of the 99, 84 are in pen and watercolors with the rest being in black and white.

When the Gore Roll of Arms was created in 1750, America was still British. The French & Indian War that would become the North American theater of the Seven Years War was a few years away, and it would be subsequent issues pertaining to paying for that war that would help fuel the American Revolution. The Gore Roll of Arms facsimile will be a timely reminder to America about its deep English heraldic heritage.

The thoughts and prayers of the College of Arms Foundation’s officers, directors, and members are with the Princess of Wales and her family as she receives preventative chemotherapy.

The College of Arms Foundation is pleased to recognize our new members who joined in February.

Stephen Bently Clay (McLean VA)
Matthew Dupee (Aiken SC)
D. Curtis Lee (Jasper AL), and
Dennis Shane Miller (Thomasville NC).

We wish to make a special acknowledgement to Matthew Dupee who has joined as a Silver Patron.

You can join them!

The Foundation is open to new members who have an interest in the College of Arms, preserving and promoting its heritage, and English heraldry in general. New members will receive our rosette and get a copy of our new annual e-publication, The Blue Dove.

While our quarterly newsletter The Diligent is available to our friends as well as our members, The Blue Dove is designed as a member benefit, an e-publication that will have content not available elsewhere dedicated to the College, the Foundation, and so.

Membership is on a calendar basis at $75 per year, payable by check or PayPal.

Please DM me for details.

Cheers!

The thoughts and prayers of the College of Arms Foundation’s officers, directors, and members, are with His Majesty King Charles and his family as he begins his treatment for cancer.

The College of Arms Foundation is pleased to recognize our new members who have joined in January.

Patrick M. O'Shea (Batavia IL), and
Joshua S. Wilberger (Fredericksburg VA)

You can join them!

The Foundation is open to new members who have an interest in the College of Arms, preserving and promoting its heritage, and English heraldry in general. New members will receive our rosette and get a copy of our new annual e-publication, The Blue Dove.

While our quarterly newsletter The Diligent is available to our friends as well as our members, The Blue Dove is designed as a member benefit, an e-publication that will have content not available elsewhere dedicated to the College, the Foundation, and so.

Membership is on a calendar basis at $75 per year, payable by check or PayPal.

Please DM me for details.

Cheers!

As a token of thanks if you join the College of Arms Foundation, you will receive a rosette to wear on your lapel. It’s designed and produced by the nice folks at Dexter Rosettes. Wouldn’t you like one? Members also receive our new annual e-publication, The Blue Dove, the first edition of which was just produced. If you join today, you still get a copy of the past issue as well as future ones. The first issue has a special contribution from Christopher Harvey, Head of Conservation at the College of Arms, that includes photographs and notes from the beginning of the conservation of Norfolk 3, an 18th century pedigree manuscript, a project fully funded by the Foundation.

Would you like to join us?

The College of Arms Foundation is a member-run organization that would like to invite you to join. We are now entering our fifth decade of service to the College of Arms and English heraldry. We operate separately from but work very closely with the Garter King of Arms and the other Officers of Arms and Staff of the College.

Last year, the year of our 40th anniversary, was a banner year for our activities. We fully funded the conservation of “Norfolk 3,” an important pedigree manuscript from the early 19th Century, and the conservation work will be completed this year. The College published “A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the College of Arms, Records Volume 1,” a project the Foundation helped to fund.

You can learn more about these and previous projects on our Services & Projects page.

While we aim our efforts at the American audience, we cheerfully encourage heraldry enthusiasts from other countries as well to join.

Please explore the Foundation’s website at coafus.org then reach out to me directly at president(at)coafus.org or you can DM me for more information. I’d be happy to hear from you.

Cheers!

The College of Arms Foundation The College of Arms Foundation welcomes you. We are now entering our fifth decade of service to the College of Arms and English heraldry. We operate separately from but work very closely with the Garter King of Arms and the other Officers of Arms and Staff of the College. Last year, the year of our....

“The existing sewing thread is carefully cut away using a scalpel. Cutting the threads carefully reduces the risk of further spinefold damage to the books pages as the sections are physically removed from each other.”

So writes Christopher Harvey, Head of Conservation at the College of Arms. It certainly appears that the supporter in the image, painted over 200 years ago, is keeping a watchful eye on the work being undertaken.

This photo is accompanied by 9 others, each with comments from Christopher Harvey, that appear in the inaugural edition of The Blue Dove, the annual publication available to Members only of the College of Arms Foundation. The images show the early stages of taking apart Norfolk 3, the pedigree manuscript now being conserved by the College, a project being fully funded by the Foundation.

If you join, you will be helping us achieve this important work. Membership is by calendar year and begins at $75/year. Patronage available. And if you join, you will receive the inaugural edition of the Blue Dove along with our Foundation rosette. Please DM me for details or email me at president(at)coafus.org.

Cheers!

Patric Dickinson, formerly Clarenceux King of Arms (retired in 2021) was promoted to Commander (CVO) from Lieutenant (LVO) within the Royal Victorian Order in the New Year Honours 2024 for services as Secretary to the Order of the Garter, a position he held since 2004. The Royal Victorian Order was founded in 1896 by Queen Victoria to recognize distinguished personal service to the monarch or members of the royal family. The present sovereign of the order is HM King Charles III. The Foundation's director and officers join in congratulating our great friend Mr. Dickinson on his well-deserved honor.

The College of Arms Foundation is pleased to share that D. Brenton Simons, one of our Directors, has been name an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his services to Anglo-American history and his role as longtime President and CEO of New England Historic Genealogical Society. We are very fortunate to have Brenton as a Director.

The College of Arms Foundation is pleased to announce our new Member joining in October:

Lauren Silberman (New York City, NY)

We also wish to acknowledge she is supporter of the Foundation from the days back in Manhattan attending many of our functions.

Membership in the Foundation is on a calendar year basis, and we are running a special on Membership. For $100, anyone joining now will be a Member for the rest of 2023 and for the whole of calendar year 2024. Afterwards, Membership renews at the standard annual rate, currently set at $75 per calendar year.
Funds raised by the Foundation are used to promote English heraldry. As per our immediately previous post on 12 September, we contributed towards the publication of A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the College of Arms, Records Volume I, a catalogue and index to important manuscripts created by the English heralds in the 16th and 17th centuries. We are currently funding the in-house conservation of an important 19th century manuscript.

For anyone interested in joining us in our efforts, please DM me.

Cheers!

The College of Arms has posted more information on the new publication of manuscripts.

https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/news-grants/news/item/219-record-manuscripts-of-the-tudor-visitations?fbclid=IwAR04tTqIsLS3cPjxbhOxDIHhpspADpzVpLHUX2A2PD738AmoaKJvH4n9yKQ_aem_AZqf2PI5yDvcI9lBk5mljDwQbaniWQGtZ4DvKLKkDFlsTcSMbWa3DGipFJUTRIB23-A

Record Manuscripts of the Tudor Visitations - College of Arms A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the College of Arms: Records Volume 1 The College of Arms is delighted to announce the publication of an important new volume, which provides a detailed catalogue and index to this key series of official record manuscripts, created by the heralds in the sixteenth centur...

The College of Arms Foundation is pleased to announce our new Members joining in September:

Christopher Blaxland-Walker (Bexley, NSW, Australia)
Toby Nelson (Seattle, WA), and
Tawny Welch (Silver Patron, Sherman Oaks, CA)

We also wish to acknowledge the Rev. John Miles Evans (Portsmouth NH), a supporter of the Foundation from the days back in Manhattan who is joining again.

Membership in the Foundation is on a calendar year basis, and we are running a special on Membership. For $100, anyone joining now will be a Member for the rest of 2023 and for the whole of calendar year 2024. Afterwards, Membership renews at the standard annual rate, currently set at $75 per calendar year.

Funds raised by the Foundation are used to promote English heraldry. As per our immediately previous post on 12 September, we contributed towards the publication of A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the College of Arms, Records Volume I, a catalogue and index to important manuscripts created by the English heralds in the 16th and 17th centuries. We are currently funding the in-house conservation of an important 19th century manuscript.

For anyone interested in joining us in our efforts, please DM me.

Cheers!

The College of Arms has announced the publication of A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the College of Arms, Records Volume I.

The College of Arms Foundation contributed funds towards the production of this important work.

From the College, this publication “provides a detailed catalogue and index to a key series of official record manuscripts, created by the heralds in the sixteenth century and preserved at the College ever since. The visitation manuscripts are one of the main classes of record, and have long been recognised as of vital significance for genealogical, heraldic and other areas of historical research. The volumes preserve records of periodic surveys of the arms and pedigrees of the gentry of England and Wales, carried out by the heralds between 1530 and the end of the seventeenth century. The compiler of the Catalogue is Robert Yorke. Before starting work on it he was Archivist of the College of Arms for over thirty years.”

Copies are available for purchase from the College. The price is £60 plus postage and handling.

Orders may be made by:

• by e-mail to: [email protected]
• by telephone to: 0207 248 2762
• by post to: College of Arms, 130 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4BT

We are pleased to recognize our new members who have joined in August.

John Booker
Brady Brim-DeForest
Dr. Chad Krouse
Helen E.R. Sayles (Silver Patron), and
Matthew Tyler Yates

We also wish to recognize our pre-reorganization veteran members who are continuing to support our efforts.

Charles Jenkins, Jr.
John Tepper Marlin, and
Jean Savage

Thank you!

Once again, we are coordinating with the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society for an online talk on heraldry, just in time for Back to School.

Register here for Heraldry of the Ivy League Schools:

Heraldry of the Ivy League Schools This is a free, online event held via Zoom Join the NYG&B and special guest Paul Campbell, Vice President of the College of Arms Foundation, as we head back to school this fall. Paul will give a lecture on the heraldry of the eight Ivy League universities and colleges, providing a brief history of e...

We are pleased to recognize our new members who have joined in July.

Richard A. Box (Austin TX)
The Hon. R. Clarke Cooper (Front Royal VA)
David Keim (Cary NC)
Eva & Roy Strasburger (Austin TX)
Randy Taylor (NYC), actually old friend returning with welcome, and
David Robert Wooten (Winston-Salem NC)

NEW MEMBERSHIP OPTION

We have a new Membership option. Starting in 2023, Foundation Membership is on a calendar year basis and starts at (US) $75 (per year). But what if you want to join after July 1st?

This is what is new: we now offer a year-and-a-half option, meaning your initial Membership commences upon payment and extends through the end of the next calendar year. This is for people who initially join after July 1st, and the cost is (US) $100 (for up to 18 months through end of current year and complete next calendar year), after which you annually renew. We also offer Patronage levels, so please ask.

Paid Members will receive our rosette and a copy of our new, annual journal, to be named the Blue Dove. (Members and friends receive our quarterly newsletter, The Diligent.)

Funds raised are applied to projects that we co-fund or fund at the College of Arms.

Q: How do you join the Foundation and support the historical manuscript preservation and other projects at College of Arms?

A: Please email Paul Campbell at pauldcampbell(at)proton.me who will send a Membership Application and instructions. Please note the middle initial in the e-mail address.

Cheers!

I will be making some additional announcements on the College of Arms Foundation FB group page here in the next day or three, so followers please stay tuned.

Here’s a photo from yesterday’s annual meeting of the Foundation at the College of Arms with (l-r) immediate past President of the Foundation John Shannon, Garter King of Arms David White, newly-elected President of Foundation Yours Truly, and York Herald Peter O’Donoghue.

John is seeking to move on to other things after 22 years in the saddle but is remaining as Vice President of the Foundation. The Foundation remains as long as it has after resurrection in 2001 due to his energetic leadership. I have been Vice President of the Foundation for 7 years and am looking forward to continuing its good work in close collaboration with the College and our Board of Directors.

(Webpage will be updated soon.)

Happy International Heraldry Day, 10 June. The shield of the Foundation is blazoned: Argent a Cross and within four Tressures Gules as many Doves their dexter wings elevated and inverted Azure beaked and legged Gules.