Thomas Hawley

For other people named Thomas Hawley, seeThomas Hawley (disambiguation).

Thomas Hawley(died 22 August 1557) was a long-servingofficer of armsat theCollege of ArmsinLondon.He began his career of royal service as a groom porter toQueen MargaretofScotlandfrom her marriage in 1503 until 1508. Although he may have been madeRose Blanche Pursuivantin the reign ofKing Henry VII,his first permanentheraldicappointment came in 1509.

Clarenceux King of Arms Thomas Hawley as depicted in the initial letter of a grant ofarmsto John Fennar in 1556

Heraldic career

King Henry VIII appointed Hawley to beRouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinarybyletters patentdated 26 August 1509. It was in this capacity that he journeyed with theEarl of Surreyon the campaign of 1513 againstKing James IV of Scotland.Hawley was captured and detained as a prisoner before theBattle of Flodden,but released before the fighting actually started. On 1 November 1514 he was createdCarlisle Heraldin recognition of his diplomatic services in Scotland. The king also granted him an annuity of 20 marks.

As Carlisle, Hawley also performed the ceremonial and other duties of an officer of arms. In 1530 he was appointed the deputy toThomas Benolt,Clarenceux King of Arms.In this capacity, he undertook aheraldic visitationof London churches on Benolt's behalf. He was charged "to reforme all false armorye & Armes devysed without auctoritie" (Wagner, Heralds and Heraldry, 9). His record of the occasion is the earliest existing account of a heraldic visitation. After several more diplomatic trips to Scotland, Hawley was madeNorroy King of Armsby patent dated 15 June 1534. Hawley continued a long-running dispute withGarter Principal King of Armsover the privileges of their offices. On 19 May 1536 Hawley was appointed Clarenceux King of Arms. Visitation commissions were issued to Hawley in 1541, 1552, and 1555, but it is not certain if these were acted on.

Hawley died at his house in theBarbican, Londonon 22 August 1557. He was buried two days later in an elaborate ceremony atSt Giles Cripplegate.He is not known to have married; his will appointedWilliam Harvey,Norroy King of Arms, as his executor, also leaving him the substantial library that Hawley had inherited from his predecessor as Clarenceux, Thomas Benolt.

Arms

Coat of arms of Thomas Hawley

Escutcheon Vert, a saltire engrailed argent.

See also

• Heraldry
• Officer of arms

External links

• The College of Arms
• Heraldica list of officers of Arms

References

• Walter H. Godfrey andSir Anthony Wagner,The College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street: being the sixteenth and final monograph of the London Survey Committee.(London, 1963).
• J. B. Paul,Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, (1900), 98, 119, 123, 325, 337, 373.
• Anthony Wagner.The Records and Collections of the College of Arms.(London, 1952), 10, 14, 24, 62, 68.
• Anthony Wagner.Heralds and Heraldry in the Middle Ages.(London, 1956), 9–10, 98, 102, 118–119, 139–143, 150–175.
• Sir Anthony Wagner.Heralds of England: a History of the Office and College of Arms.(London, 1967), 120–185.
• L. Campbell and Francis Steer.A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the College of Arms Collections.(London, 1988), 5–7, 17–19, 484.
• Mark Noble.A History of the College of Arms.(London, 1805), 119, 122, 128, 130, 143, 151–153.