Nicholas Charles or Carles (died 1613) was an English

officer of arms An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or Sovereign state, state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions: * to control and initiate coat of arms, armorial matters; * to arrange and participate in ceremo ...

, who served as

Lancaster Herald Lancaster Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an English officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. The title of Lancaster Herald first occurs in 1347 at Calais, and to begin with this officer was a servant to the noble house of Lancaster. As a ...

from 1609 to 1613. He made a copy of an early and rare 13th-century

roll of arms A roll of arms (or armorial) is a collection of coats of arms, usually consisting of rows of painted pictures of shields, each shield accompanied by the name of the person bearing the arms. The oldest extant armorials date to the mid-13th centur ...

, the original of which is now lost, known after him as "Charles's Roll".

Life

Charles, according to

Mark Noble Mark James Noble (born 8 May 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder and is well remembered for his time at English club West Ham United, spending eighteen years with the club. Apart from two sh ...

, was the son of George Carles, a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

butcher. At an early age he entered the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

Blanche Lyon Pursuivant Blanche Lyon Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary (sometimes Blanch Lyon) was an England, English office of arms created during the reign of King Edward IV. The title was then taken from the white lion of the Mortimer Earl of March, Earls of March, one ...

; on 21 April 1609 he was created Lancaster Herald in the place of

Francis Thynne Francis Thynne (c. 1544 – 1608) was an English antiquary and an officer of arms at the College of Arms. Family background and early life Francis Thynne was born in Kent, the son of William Thynne, who was Master of the Household of King H ...

. In 1611 he accompanied

Richard St George Sir Richard St George (1550 – 1635) was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London during the seventeenth century. Life He was the second son of Francis St George (d. 1584) of Hatley, Cambridgeshire. In 1575 he married El ...

Norroy King of Arms Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is the Provincial King of Arms at the College of Heralds with jurisdiction over England north of the Trent and Northern Ireland. The two offices of Norroy and Ulster were formerly separate. Norroy King of Arms is t ...

, in his visitation of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

; and on 22 July 1613

William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Annal ...

Clarenceux King of Arms Clarenceux King of Arms, historically often spelled Clarencieux (both pronounced ), is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Clarenceux is the senior of the two provincial kings of arms and his jurisdiction is that part of Englan ...

nominated him his deputy for the visitation of

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...

. Charles had barely completed this task when he died on 19 November 1613. He was a friend of Camden and Sir Robert Cotton. Thomas Milles commended Charles in his ''Catalogue of Honour''; and

Edmund Howes Edmund Howes ( fl. 1607–1631), was an English chronicler. Biography Howes lived in London, and designated himself "gentleman". Undeterred by John Stow's neglect, and despite the ridicule of his acquaintances, he applied himself on Stow's dea ...

, the continuator of

John Stow John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles'', ''The C ...

's ''Chronicle'', acknowledged his assistance.

Works

Camden is said to have purchased Charles's manuscript collection after his death for £90: items from it are now held in the College of Arms and the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

. They include a collection of epitaphs in the churches of London and elsewhere, with drawings of monuments and arms (British Library, Lansdowne MS 874); and a catalogue of the officers of the College of Arms (

Harley MS The Harleian Library, Harley Collection, Harleian Collection and other variants ( la, Bibliotheca Harleiana) is one of the main "closed" collections (namely, historic collections to which new material is no longer added) of the British Library in ...

5880).

Richard Gough Charles Richard Gough (born 5 April 1962) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Gough played in the successful Dundee United team of the early 1980s, winning the Scottish league title in 1982–83 and reachi ...

states that

John Le Neve John Le Neve (1679–1741) was an English antiquary, known for his '' Fasti Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ'' ("Feasts of the Anglican Church"), a work of English church biography which has been published in many subsequent editions. Origins He was born on 2 ...

possessed a manuscript visitation of Staffordshire by Charles, and Sir John Cullum a visitation of Suffolk; but these documents appear to be lost. Charles's Huntingdonshire visitation is extant in three copies, and one, marked "C. 3 Huntingdon 1613" at the College of Arms, was edited for the

Camden Society The Camden Society was a text publication society founded in London in 1838 to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books. It was named after the 16th-century antiquary an ...

in 1849 by

Sir Henry Ellis Sir Henry Ellis (29 November 177715 January 1869) was an English librarian and antiquarian, for a long period principal librarian at the British Museum. Early years Born in London, Henry Ellis was educated at the Mercers' School, and at Merch ...

Family

Nicholas married Penelope, daughter of Sir William Segar,

Garter King of Arms The Garter Principal King of Arms (also Garter King of Arms or simply Garter) is the senior King of Arms, and the senior Officer of Arms of the College of Arms, the heraldic authority with jurisdiction over England, Wales and Northern Ireland. ...

, who survived him. She subsequently married Timothy Cartwright of Great Washbourne, Gloucestershire. By her second husband she was mother of the architect Thomas Cartwright.

Arms

References

;Attribution Year of birth missing 16th-century births 1613 deaths 17th-century English people English officers of arms 16th-century English people {{England-mil-bio-stub