Sir Richard St George (1550 – 1635) was a long-serving

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at the

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during the seventeenth century.

Life

He was the second son of Francis St George (d. 1584) of Hatley, Cambridgeshire. In 1575 he married Elizabeth, daughter of

Nicholas St John Nicholas St. John (by 1526 – 8 November 1589) was an English politician. The eldest son of Sir John St John of Lydiard Park, Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire, he succeeded his father in 1576. He was a Gentleman pensioner by 1552 to 1560. He sat ...

Lydiard Tregoze Lydiard Tregoze is a small village and civil parish on the western edge of Swindon in the county of Wiltshire, in the south-west of England. It has in the past been spelt as Liddiard Tregooze and in many other ways. The parish includes the smal ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. Elizabeth was a descendant of

Margaret Beauchamp Margaret Beauchamp (1404 – 14 June 1467) was the eldest daughter of Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and his first wife, Elizabeth de Berkeley. As the eldest child of a family without male issue, Margaret was expected to inherit from h ...

, grandmother to Henry VII. He was a collector of manuscripts and keen antiquary, associated with the Elizabethan Society of Antiquaries. He joined the College of Arms in 1602. During this year, he was unsuccessful in his bid to be 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 ...

, but he later became Berwick Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary and then Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary. In 1604, St George was finally able to secure an appointment as Norroy and was

knight 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 church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed in 1616. In 1623, he attained the position of

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 Engla ...

, the second-highest heraldic appointment in England. He was active in all of the posts to which he was appointed until his death. He carried out numerous visitations during his tenure and was a noted scholar and antiquarian. Richard St George died in 1635 and is buried in St Andrew's church, Holborn. The family bore a coat of arms

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vi ...

ed ''Argent a Chief Azure overall a Lion rampant Gules crowned Or''.

Issue

Richard St George was the head of a noted heraldic family. His son

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became Garter Principal King of Arms in 1645 and the latter’s two sons,

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and

became Garters in 1686 and 1703 respectively. Richard St George's second son, Sir George St George of Carrickdrumrusk had three sons ( Oliver,

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

and Charles) and was an ancestor of the Barons St George. Another son, Richard, was an ancestor of the St Georges of Woodsgift in County Kilkenny. John Burke and John Bernard Burke, ''A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England'', London 1838, p. 461.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George, Richard 1550s births 1635 deaths English officers of arms English genealogists 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers