Nicholas Charles or Carles (died 1613) was an English
officer of arms,
who served as
Lancaster Herald from 1609 to 1613. He made a copy of an early and rare 13th-century
roll of arms, the original of which is now lost, known after him as "Charles's Roll".
Life
Charles, according to
Mark Noble, was the son of George Carles, a
London butcher. At an early age he entered the
College of Arms as
Blanche Lyon Pursuivant; on 21 April 1609 he was created Lancaster Herald in the place of
Francis Thynne. 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, in his
visitation
Visitation may refer to:
Law
* Visitation (law) or contact, the right of a non-custodial parent to visit with their children
* Prison visitation rights, the rules and conditions under which prisoners may have visitors
Music
* ''Visitation'' (D ...
of
Derbyshire; and on 22 July 1613
William Camden,
Clarenceux King of Arms nominated him his deputy for the visitation of
Huntingdonshire. 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, 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. They include a collection of epitaphs in the churches of London and elsewhere, with drawings of monuments and arms (British Library,
Lansdowne MS
The Lansdowne manuscripts are a significant named collection of the British Library, based on the collection of William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne. The purchase of the collection by the British Museum was in 1807.''Dictionary of National Biog ...
874); and a catalogue of the officers of the College of Arms (
Harley MS 5880).
Richard Gough states that
John Le Neve 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 in 1849 by
Sir Henry Ellis.
Family
Nicholas married Penelope, daughter of
Sir William Segar
Sir William Segar (c. 1554–1633) was a portrait painter and officer of arms to the court of Elizabeth I of England; he became Garter King of Arms under James I.
Like other artists of the Tudor court, Segar was active in more than one medium, ...
,
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
Great Washbourne is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Dumbleton, in the Tewkesbury district, in Gloucestershire, England, east of Tewkesbury and west of Evesham. In 1931 the parish had a population of 65.
History
Washbou ...
, 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