Sir Thomas St George (1615 – 6 March 1703) 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 rose to the rank of

Garter Principal 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. ...

(1686–1703).

Life

He was the eldest child of the herald Sir

Henry St George Sir Henry St George (1581–1644) was an English Officer of arms. He was the third (but eldest surviving) son of the herald Sir Richard St George and his wife Elizabeth St John. Life He was born on 27 January 1581 at Hatley St George, Cambr ...

and his wife, Mary Dayrell, daughter of Sir Thomas Dayrell. He lived at Woodford in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. Around 1646 he married Clara Pymlowe (d. 1691), whose father, John Pymlowe, was a

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

rector. They had six children, including Thomas junior, who was Vicar of

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Char ...

, and Eleanor, who married the eminent Irish judge Thomas Coote. At the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

he was appointed

Somerset Herald Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. In the year 1448 Somerset Herald is known to have served the Duke of Somerset, but by the time of the coronation of King Henry VII in 1485 his successor a ...

. As deputy to

Sir Edward Walker Sir Edward Walker (1611 – February 1677) was an officer of arms and antiquarian who served as Garter King of Arms. Early life Walker was born in 1611 at Roobers in Nether Stowey, Somerset, and entered the household of the great Earl Marshal ...

, he went on a mission to

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

and invested

John George II, Elector of Saxony Johann George II (31 May 1613 – 22 August 1680) was the Elector of Saxony from 1656 to 1680. He belonged to the Albertine line of the House of Wettin. Biography He was the third (fourth in order of birth) but eldest surviving son of the Elector ...

on 13 April 1669 with the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...

. He was knighted in 1669 and appointed

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 1680, in succession to his younger brother

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

. The seniority was reversed when in 1686, he was appointed Garter on the death of

William Dugdale Sir William Dugdale (12 September 1605 – 10 February 1686) was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject. Life Dugdale was born at Shustoke, near Coleshi ...

. In 1690 he appointed a deputy to deliver the Garter to a Continental recipient, but the following year he undertook the task himself as

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

was to attend the ceremony. In 1693,

Gregory King Gregory King (15 December 1648 – 29 August 1712) was an English genealogist, engraver and statistician. Life Gregory King was born at Lichfield, England. His father was a surveyor and landscape gardener. Gregory was a very bright boy and his ...

acted as his deputy to deliver the Garter to the

Elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...

. On his return to London in May 1693 he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

. Following his first wife's death, he married Anne (d. 1721), daughter of Sir John Lawson and widow of William Attwood in 1692. Their only daughter Isabella died in infancy. In 1693 he and his brother Sir Henry were appointed commissioners for the rebuilding of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

after the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...

. He died at 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 ...

on 6 March 1703 and was buried at Woodford. His manuscripts were purchased by

Peter Le Neve Peter Le Neve (21 January 1661 – 24 September 1729) was an English herald and antiquary. He was appointed Rouge Dragon Pursuivant 17 January 1690 and created Norroy King at Arms on 25 May 1704. From 1707 to 1721 he was Richmond Herald of A ...

, Norroy King of Arms. 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 ...

, "he died more esteemed as a good, and more respected as an elegant man, than praised for his knowledge". His estates passed to his granddaughter Eleanor, who was the only child of his son Thomas and his wife Damaris Renter. She married Thomas Dare of

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

Arms

References

English officers of arms Knights Bachelor 1615 births 1703 deaths Garter Principal Kings of Arms {{heraldry-stub