As he giveth, so shall he take away.

It has come to my ears that the so called nobility clause seen in Scottish grants of arms since the days of Lord Lyon Innes of Learney is to be quietly dropped.

 

 

"by demonstration of which ensigns armorial he and his successors in the same are, amongst all nobles and in all places of honour, to be taken numbered, accounted and received as Nobles in the Noblesse of Scotland"

 

The clause was undoubtedly popular with many and especially so with those descendants of Scots now living abroad and of foreign nationality who had petitioned the Lyon Court for a posthumous grant of arms in memory of their Scottish ancestor so that they themselves could matriculate arms and proclaim themselves to be “Scottish armigers” taken numbered, accounted and received as Nobles in the Noblesse of Scotland.

 

There has been much debate amongst Scots armorists, some of it has become quite heated with one commentator stating that “This ahistorical nonsense was started by a Lord Lyon with a bee in his bonnet about nobility”; the same commentator wondering “Why is there such a preoccupation with this subject? By now it is pretty sterile, and there cannot be much to say about it that is original. Besides which, until the terms noble, noblesse and nobility are authoritatively and legally defined in a Scottish context, the nobiliary clause in patents of arms is meaningless.”

 

Much discussion has taken place over whether the recipient of a grant was created a noble or just acknowledged as one but of course if the terms are meaningless anyway….

 

The clause isn’t really so recent as Innes of Learney, nor is it especially Scottish; there are a number of ancient English examples to be found in the archives which patently indicate that Innes of Learney didn’t invent the wording but chose an existing template …. from England!

 

 

One ancient confirmation of arms even hints that nobility can be purchased.

 

 

I don’t know why the clause has been quietly dropped but I am informed that the present Lord Lyon at least consulted with his fellow officers of arms prior to doing so; there seems to have been wide agreement that the clause should be dropped. Consultation amongst ones fellows can’t be a bad thing but I still have one major criticism of the workings of Lyon Court – whether decisions are judicial or ministerial, I do wish that they could be formally announced as official policy decisions or legal rulings so that we all knew where we stood, it is difficult to know just what the rules are - or indeed what exactly one is "purchasing".

A wee indulgence - II

Roddy informs me that my crest badge is now winging its way to the Edinburgh Assay Office and should be with me shortly ..

LEIGH formerly OF WEST HALL, HIGH LEGH

Some time ago I was asked to rejig the image of Leigh of West Hall, High Legh for inclusion in the online Burke's Peerage and Gentry and readers of this weblog may remember various Leigh discussions.

http://cheshire-heraldry.org.uk/weblog/?p=36

I am pleased to report that the image has been included in the new Leigh entry:

Letters Patent; Baron Kingsdown 1859

Not a grant of arms, although described as such, the Letters Patent of Thomas Pemberton-Leigh, Baron Kingsdown are presently being offered for sale on eBay. 





The seller provides the following information on the grantee and there is of course a Cheshire connection:

"Thomas Pemberton Leigh, Baron Kingsdown (11 February, 1793–1867), the eldest son of Thomas Pemberton, a chancery barrister, was born in London.

He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1816, and at once acquired a lucrative equity practice. He sat in the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Rye (1831–1832) and for Ripon (1835–1843). He was made a King's Counsel in 1829. Of a retiring disposition, he seldom took part in parliamentary debates, although in 1838 in the case of Stockdale v. Hansard he took a considerable part in upholding the privileges of parliament.

In 1841, Pemberton accepted the post of attorney-general for the Duchy of Cornwall. In 1842 a relative, Sir Robert H. Leigh, left him a life interest in his Wigan estates, amounting to some £15,000 a year; he then assumed the additional surname of Leigh. Having accepted the chancellorship of the Duchy of Cornwall and a privy councillorship, he became a member of the judicial committee of the privy council, and for nearly twenty years devoted his energies and talents to the work of that body.

His judgments, more particularly in prize cases, of which he took especial charge, are remarkable not only for legal precision and accuracy, but for their form and expression.

Between 1854-1858 the Thomas Pemberton Leigh acted as the law officer representing the Duchy of Cornwall in the Cornish Foreshore Case - a case of arbitration between the Crown and the Duchy of Cornwall. Officers of the Duchy successfully argued that the Duchy enjoyed many of the rights and prerogatives of a County palatine and that although the Duke of Cornwall was not granted Royal Jurisdiction, was considered to be quasi-sovereign within his Duchy of Cornwall. The arbitration, as instructed by the Crown, was based on legal argument and documentation which led to the Cornwall Submarine Mines Act of 1858.[1]

In 1858, on the formation of Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby's administration, he was offered the Great Seal, but declined; in the same year, however, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Kingsdown.

In 1861 he was instrumental in the passing of the Wills Act 1861 (later known as Lord Kingsdown's Act), by which a will made out of the United Kingdom by a British subject is, as far as regards personal estate, good if made according to the forms required by the law of the place where it was made, or by the law of the testator's domicil at the time of making it, or by the law of the place of his domicil of origin. Primarily this had ramifications for members of the British armed forces (see also Legal history of wills)

He died at his seat, Torry Hill, near Sittingbourne, Kent, on 7 October 1867. Lord Kingsdown never married, and his title became extinct. Torry Hill stayed in the family, later known as the Leigh-Pembertons. Torry Hill was rebuilt to a Georgian design in the 1960s and only a Victorian gate-house remains on the estate. It is now a home to a new Lord Kingsdown, a life peer who is also a lawyer, country gentleman and former governor of the Bank of England."

A quick look at Burke's General Armory and the arms of (the original) Lord Kingsdown are revealed:

A wee indulgence.

I have recently engaged Roddy Young to make me a bonnet badge and today he kindly sent me a photo of his carved sculpture from which the mold of my crest will be made.

I hope to be able to make regular progress reports on my weblog as the making of the badge progresses.

Lessons and Observations

I suppose that most webmasters keep an eye on their web statistics. It is always cheering to receive information as to how many visitors ones labours produce and very informative to know where those visitors are coming from.

My web statistics also tell me which of my pages are the most visited and week after week, month after month, two of my pages always, without fail, beat the rest. In second place is "How to read a coat of arms" - a simple page I put together in the early days of the web site simply as an exercise for myself and without any real scholarly pretensions. It is nevertheless pleasing that it is so often visited and I hope that it serves its purpose; it has certainly been the catalyst for many a communication from a willing heraldic novice.

The page that persistently retains its crown for the most visited part of the web site has, I suspect, a large majority of disappointed viewers. My statistics not only tell me where each visitor comes from (country), but I am also informed of the referring page and, if the viewer is referred to me by a search engine, what words or phrase was typed into it (Big Brother or what?). I will spare the sensitivities of my reader and not set down in print the most used search terms for the page in question and simply record for posterity that first prize for the most visited page on the Cheshire Heraldry web site is that which features the curious case of the arms of Dodge.

The Visitations of Chester of 1613 record  the armorial bearings of  Dodge of Stockport:

ARMS (in trick).—Barry of six Or and Sable, on a pale Gules a woman’s  dugg or breast distilling drops of milk Argent.

CREST.—A demi sea-dog rampant guardant Sable, tufted and collared Or.

Perhaps I can console myself with the thought that I may have gained an odd convert or two!

SCARCE The Observers Book of Heraldry

This one made me really smile!

I noticed on ebay this morning that someone in the USA is attempting to sell The Observers Book of Heraldry by Charles MacKinnon of Dunakin for the princely sum of $22.00 (approximately £11.27) on a Buy It Now option. The seller appears to be specifically targeting UK buyers and is offering shipping to the UK at an additional $10.30. So, if you live in the UK and you are daft enough to buy this book from this seller it will cost you a total of $32.30 (approximately £16.54).

The ebay entry is headed " SCARCE The Observers Book of Heraldry UK Coat of Arms 1966".

Scarce!!??? It may be scarce in the USA but trying to sell one to the UK market is like taking coal to Newcastle. Every antiques fair I've ever visited has been awash with these little books and most are offered for sale at 99p!

If you live in the UK and you're prepared to pay sixteen quid for one of these books drop me a line - I'll sell you one for fifteen quid including post and packing and donate my profit to charity.