The artwork of Tudor-Radu Tiron

I was first made aware of the artwork of Tudor-Radu Tiron when my friend and colleague John Duncan of Sketraw commissioned him to paint a library picture of his armorial bearings. Tudor has recently finished a commission for another heraldic acquaintance, Richard Globe, and I have to say that I am most impressed.



You can see the full production process on Tudor's weblog:

http://deseneheraldice.blogspot.ro/ 

The American Institute of Heraldry

This link to a video on You tube about the Institute of Heraldry (1969) has recently been posted on the American Heraldry Society Forum.

I thought it worthy of sharing.

http://youtu.be/gK9s9R3x6Fk

Tomlinson's The Heraldry of Cheshire

On Saturday I will be in Macclesfield talking about Knutsford. I'll be giving the same talk I gave to the good people of the town of Knutsford but this time to the members and guests of The Cheshire Heraldry Society. The talk, called Lyon's can't read! The Civic Arms of Knutsford Explained, is based (as you would expect given the title) on the arms designed for Knutsford by H. E. Tomlinson.  

H. Ellis Tomlinson was a one off, a real character. He was born in Cheshire, and moved to the Fylde in 1928 when his father was posted to ICI at Thornton. He attended Baines' as a boy, became Senior Prefect in 1933, and returned as a master in 1940 becoming a legend in his own lifetime affectionately known to generations of boys as 'Toss.'

In his spare time he followed Blackpool FC all over the country starting a love affair with the club when he first arrived in the Fylde up until his last game shortly before his death, a span of 68 years. In 1987 he was asked to write the Centenary History of the club entitled Seasiders: The First 100 Years. At a centenary exhibition at the Grundy Art Gallery he signed copies of his book in his characteristic purple ink and mixed equally well with players and supporters alike.

Outside of teaching and football he was one of the country's leading heraldic experts, having been commissioned to design Coats of Arms for countless local authorities, councils, and a myriad of sporting bodies at home and abroad.

I have a copy of his booklet The Heraldry of Cheshire but if you want to read it it can now be read for free on-line.

Woops! "COMMOM"?

I came across this today and it made me smile (I thought it akin to the Balzup post I made some time ago). I am reliably informed that the mistake has been pointed out to the website owner but, to date, the image remains unaltered.



We all make mistakes of course and I'm sure that this one will be put right quite soon; after all, it pays to give a good impression doesn't it?

This image was found on the website of "The Manorial Counsel of Great Britain" (supporting The Manorial Guild). I wonder if they meant to call it "Council" rather than Counsel? It's a common grammatical error but quite unforgivable if the intention really was to call it Council. Counsel of course means legal adviser (Barrister in the UK) whereas Council (which is what I'm sure they meant) means an assembly of people who serve in an administrative capacity. Given the site's claim to provide legal services, perhaps Counsel is appropriate after all although it might pay to check out their legal qualifications prior to seeking any legal advice and I would advise thinking twice about buying a "title" from the same company who gives you the legal advice (as this site appears to do). My advice to anyone seeking a Manorial Title is to find a good conveyancing lawyer and ask him/her to explain to you the effects of the recent court ruling of  Burton & Bamford v Walker & Others, Land Registry REF/2007/1124 which confirmed that adverse possession, prescription, loss of modern grant, or proprietary estoppel do NOT enable ownership of a Lordship of the Manor title. And further stated that Confirmed ownership requires the presence of all deeds, correctly made up since 1189.  The absence of correct and complete sets of deeds requires Court approval  to confirm ownership. 

Oh, and just in case there is any misunderstanding, the image is probably copyrighted to The Manorial Guild but I freely reproduce it here as being exempt from copyright laws under the Fair Dealing rule. Fair dealing is a term used to describe acts which are permitted to a certain degree without infringing the work. These acts include Criticism and news reporting.