those of Lord High Steward and Lord High Constable were sometimes. The title is personal; the office honorary and officiary. The title was changed by Richard II. from Lord to Earl Marshal, with leave to bear a gold truncheon, enamelled with black at the ends, having the royal arms engraved at the upper, and the Earl Marshal's at the lower end. James I., by letters patent dated August 29, 1622, constituted Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel and Surrey, Earl Marshal for life; and the following year, with the advice of the Privy Council declared, by letters patent, that during the vacancy of the office of Lord High Constable of England, the Earl Marshal should have the same jurisdiction in the Court of Chivalry, as both Constable and Marshal jointly ever exercised. The court is the fountain of marshal law: it is generally held in the Hall of the College of Arms. The Earl Marshal presides, and has the sole jurisdiction of all pleas that do not extend to life or member, which then must go before the Constable and Marshal, a Constable being appointed for that day only. They grant armorial coats and supporters to those who are duly authorized to wear them. Charles II., October 19, 1672, granted this office to Henry, Lord Howard, and to his male issue, with power to execute it by a deputy or deputies in as full and ample manner as it had been by Henry Howard, Lord Maltravers, Earl of Arundel, Surrey, and Norfolk, his grandfather, or by Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, grandfather to that nobleman, or by Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, grandfather of that Duke, or by John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, or any other Earl Marshal of England, with a pension of £20 a year, payable out of the Hanaper Office in Chancery, with limitation in case of default of issue male to the masculine decendants of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, with remainders over to those of Thomas, late Earl of Suffolk, those of William, Lord Howard, late of Naworth in Cumberland, youngest son of Henry, late Duke of Norfolk, and of Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham; so that the office is not likely to become extinct in the noble family of Howard, it being limitted to so many branches. 1483. 28. At the time of the incorporation of the Heralds this high office was held by William Lord Berkley, Earl of Nottingham, in right of Isabel his mother, daughter of Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk; given him by Henry VII. 1497. 1509. 31. 1546. 32. 1547. 33. 1553. 34. 1554. 35. Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, son and heir of John, Duke of Norfolk, created first Earl Marshal, and then restored to the ducal honors. Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Camden. Camde Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, attainted in 1546. Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, his grandson and heir, 1572. 36. George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, died in 1590. 1590. 37. Commissioners. William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, Lord Treasurer of England. 1597. 38. Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, beheaded in 1601. Thomas Lord Buckhurst, Lord Treasurer. Edward Earl of Worcester, Master of the Horse.. Edward Somerset, Earl of Worcester, executed this office of Charles, Earl of Nottingham, Lord Admiral. Henry, Earl of Northampton, Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports- Lodowick, Duke of Richmond, Lord Steward. George, Marquis of Buckingham, Master of the Horse. Charles, Earl of Nottingham, Lord Admiral. William, Earl of Pembroke, Lord Chamberlain. Thomas, Earl of Arundel and Surrey. Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel and Surrey, K. G. son of Norfolk, who was beheaded by Q. Elizabeth. This nobleman was created by James I. Earl Marshal, as has been noticed. 1646. 44. Henry Howard, Earl of Arundel, K. G. died in 1652. 1672. 46. Henry Howard, second son to the last Henry, was by Charles II. created Lord Howard, of Castle Rising in Norfolk, and afterward hereditary Earl Marshal, and Earl of Norwich. He succeeded his brother Thomas as Duke of Norfolk, his grace dying in 1678, at Padua in Italy, unmarried; and he January 11, 1683-4. 1683-4. 46. Henry Howard, his son, Duke of Norfolk, K. G. died April 2,1701, without issue. 1701. 47. Thomas Howard, eldest son of Lord Thomas Howard, younger brother of the last named Duke, succeeded his uncle in his ducal and other honors. 1732. 48. 1777. 49. Edward, brother of the last Duke of Norfolk, who succeeded him. 1785. 50. Charles, his son, the present duke of Norfolk, and Earl Marshal, who having renounced the Roman Catholic religion, executes the office in person. Deputy Earls Marshal of England, Commissioners for executing that Office during the legal incapacity of the Duke of Norfolk. Henry Bowes, Earl of Berkshire. 1718. 1725. * These two items, of 1661 and 1662, certainly should be placed amongst the Earls Marshal, and not the Deputies, for Lord Howard was not created hereditary Earl Marshal until 1672, nor does it appear that he had the title of Earl Marshal before that year. I have made some other alterations which I supposed wrong in Mx Dalaway's Statement, 1725. Talbot, Earl of Sussex. 1763. Henry, Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire. 1765. Richard, Earl of Scarborough 1777. Thomas, Earl of Effingham. 1782. Charles, Earl of Surrey, only son of the Duke of Norfolk, who M. A Return from the Kings, Heralds, and Pursuivants of the College of Arms, to certain Questions, contained in an Order of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the Public Records of this Kingdom; dated February 24, 1800. I. The kings, heralds and pursuivants of arms have in their possession, 1. A series of books, called Visitation Books, containing the pedigrees and arms of the nobility and gentry of the kingdom, from 21 Henry VIII. to the latter end of the seventeenth century; during which period, the two provincial kings of arms, Clarenceux and Norroy, usually received after their investiture in office a commission under the great seal, authorizing them to visit the several counties within their respective provinces, " to peruse and take knowledge, survey, and view of all manner of arms, cog" nizance, crests, and other like devices, with the notes of the descents, pedigrees, " and marriages of all the nobility and gentry therein throughout contained; and "also to reprove, control, and make infamous, by proclamation, all such as " unlawfully, and without just authority, usurp or take any name or title of honor " or dignity, as Esquire or Gentleman," &c. &c. The first of these commissions was issued in 21 Henry VIII., and the last in 2 James II. 2. Books, containing miscellaneous pedigrees and arms of nobility and gentry, being entries made in the office, as well during the time when visitations were in use, as since that period. These entries consist, in some instances, of copies of large pedigrees, in which all the branches of an extensive family are brought together, compiled by officers of arms, and authenticated under the common seal of the corporation; in other instances, of continuations of the chain of descent from the last entries in the visitation books, and other pedigrees of various descriptions. F 3. Books 3. Books of pedigrees and arms of the peers, pursuant to the standing orders of the House of Lords, of the 11th May, 1767. 4. Books of pedigrees and arms of baronets, under a royal warrant of 3d December, 1783, "for correcting and preventing abuses in the order of baronets." These pedigrees and arms had heretofore been entered, in the course of duty and rule of office, in the books before alluded to, and not peculiarly appropriated to the order of baronets. 5. Books of entries of funeral certificates of the nobility and gentry, being attested accounts of the time of death, place of burial, and of the marriages and issue of the several persons whose funerals were attended by officers of arms, or their deputies. These books refer to the same period of time as the visitations. There are also some certificates which have been entered within a few years. 6. Books, containing accounts of royal marriages, coronations, and funerals. 7. Books, called Earl Marshal's Books, from the time of Queen Elizabeth, containing entries of such instruments and warrants under the royal sign manual, as relate to the arms of the blood royal; licences from the crown, for the change of surnames and arms, or for acceptance of foreign honors, &c. &c. These books also contain some few proceedings in the Earl Marshal's Court, from the time of Queen Elizabeth to that of Charles II., inclusive; and generally whatever relates to the exercise of that part of the office of Earl Marshal which concerns the superintendence of the College. 8. Books of Arms of the Nobility and Knights of the Garter and Bath, and Docquet, or Copies of all Grants of Arms, to the present time. The above may be considered as coming under the description of official records, as they contain entries made by the proper officers in the regular exercise of their duty. There are also in the Library of the College of Arms, nearly one thousand other volumes, in manuscript, containing copies of Visitations, Collections of Pedigrees and Arms, Copies and Abstracts of various Records, applicable to genealogical or antiquarian researches; comprehending the accumulated labors of Glover, Camden, Vincent, Philipot, Dugdale, le Neve, Walker, and other distinquished and skilful Members of the College. II. The building is situated on Bennet's Hill, in the parish of St. Bennet, Paul'sWharf, in the city of London. Its situation, as to security, is perhaps the most dangerous to be conceived. A sugar-house immediately adjoins the library; there is no party-wall between the buildings, and the timbers of the sugar-house are actually inserted in the walls of the College. When the room which is now, and has ever been the library, was first appropriated to that purpose, there was ample accommodation for the number of books; but that number has increased so much in the space of one hundred and thirty years, that the library has long since been found too small to contain the whole; and some hundreds of volumes are now in presses in the hall, where they are subject to great injury from damp, &c. The |