Portcullis Pursuivant

Portcullis Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is a junior officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. The office is named after the Portcullis chained Or badge of the Beauforts, which was a favourite device of Henry VII. King Henry's mother was Lady Margaret Beaufort. The office was instituted around 1485, probably at the time of Henry's coronation. The badge of office is very similar to that of Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary, the latter being ensigned with the Royal Crown. The earliest recorded Portcullis Pursuivant was James or Jacques Videt, who was the plaintiff in a Common Pleas case in 1498^[1] and again in 1500.^[2]

Portcullis Pursuivant

The heraldic badge of Portcullis Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary
Heraldic tradition	Gallo-British
Jurisdiction	England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Governing body	College of Arms

The office is currently vacant.

Holders of the office

Arms	Name	Date of appointment	Ref
	James Videt	(Henry VII)
	Ralph Lagysse	(Henry VII)
	Robert Fayery or Fairy	1516–1549
	Richard Withers	1550–1553
	John Cocke	1553–1559
	Edward Merlin	1559–1559
	Ralph Langman	1559–1567
	Robert Glover	1567–1571
	Richard Lee	1571–1585
	William Segar	1585–1588
	Thomas Lant	1588–1597
	Samuel Thompson	1597–1619
	Philip Holland	1619–1625
	Thomas Preston	1625–1633
	John Beauchamp	1633–1660
	John Wingfield	1660–1663
	Thomas Holford	From 1663
	Thomas Holford, junior	(James II)
	Laurence Cromp	From 1689
	John Hesketh	(William III)
	Thomas Wightwick	1713–1718
	Richard Mawson	1718–1745
	Thomas Thornberry	1745
	Peter Toms	1746–1780
	John-Doddington Forth	1780–1817
	George Frederick Beltz	1817–1822
	James Pulman	1822–1838	[3]
	Sir Albert Woods	1838–1841	[4]
	George Collen	1841–1878	[5]
	Arthur Larken	1878–1882	[6]
	William Lindsay	1883–1894	[7]
	Thomas Joseph-Watkin	7 April 1894 – 1913	[8]
	Keith Murray	1913–1922	[9]
	George Bellew	1922–1926	[10]
	Alfred Butler	1926–1931	[11]
	Sir Anthony Wagner	1931–1943	[12]
	Charles Murray Kennedy St Clair, 17th Lord Sinclair	1949–1957	[13]
	Sir Alexander Colin Cole	1957–1966	[14]
	Michael Maclagan	1970–1980	[15]
	Peter Spurrier	1981–1992	[16]
	William Hunt	1992–1999	[17]
	Christopher Fletcher-Vane	2012–2017	[18]
	Dominic Charles Davenport Ingram	2022–2024	[19]
	Vacant	2024–present

See also

• Pursuivant
• Officer of Arms
• College of Arms