Henry Paston-Bedingfeld

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Sir Henry Edgar Paston-Bedingfeld, 10th Baronet (born 7 December 1943) is a British baronet and retired officer of arms.

Family and career

Paston-Bedingfeld is the only son of Sir Edmund Paston-Bedingfeld, 9th Baronet of Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk, by his wife Joan Lynette Rees. He succeeded to the family title upon his father's death on 24 May 2011.[1] He was educated at Ampleforth College, then an all-boys Catholic private school in Ampleforth, Yorkshire.

Paston-Bedingfeld served as Rouge Croix Pursuivant from 1983,[2] and then in 1993 became York Herald.[3] In 2010 he was promoted to Norroy and Ulster King of Arms, the junior of the two provincial Kings-at-Arms, with jurisdiction over the north of England and Northern Ireland.[4] In July 2014, he retired and was succeeded by Timothy Duke.[5]

He is an Honorary Vice-president of the Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society and of the Norfolk Record Society;[6] Sir Henry is also a liveryman of the Bowyers' Company and served as Master of the Scriveners' Company for 2012–13.

In 1968, Paston-Bedingfield married Mary Kathleen, a daughter of Brigadier Robert Ambrose CIE OBE MC, and they have two sons and two daughters; their elder son, Richard (born 1975) is heir apparent to the baronetcy.[1]

Sir Henry Paston-Bedingfield is the current Coordinator of the Commission and Association for the Armigerous Families of Great Britain.

Selected heraldic designs by Paston-Bedingfeld

  • Derby Grammar School[7]
  • Institute of Traffic Accident Inspectors[8]
  • Royal Society of St George[9]

Honours

Arms

Coat of arms of Henry Paston-Bedingfeld
Crest 1. An Eagle displayed Or (Bedingfeld), 2. A Griffin sejant wings elevated Or gorged with a Collar Gules therefrom a Line held in the beak and terminating in a Ring of the Last (Paston) Helm That of a Knight Escutcheon Quarterly, 1st & 4th Ermine an Eagle displayed Gules (Bedingfeld), 2nd & 3rd Argent six Fleurs-de-lys three two and one Azure a Chief indented Or (Paston) Motto 1. Despicio terrena, Solem contemplor ("I despise earthly things, I gaze upon the Sun"), 2. De mieulx je pense en mieulx ("I think of better and better things") Orders A baronet's badge suspended beneath the arms Symbolism A Baronet's badge: Previous versions Sir Henry impaled his company's arms with those of his family during his year of office as Master Scrivener[10]

References

  1. 1.[1.2]Burke's Peerage, volume 3, 2003, page 3067
  2. 2."No. 49291". The London Gazette. 17 March 1983. p. 3737.
  3. 3."No. 53435". The London Gazette. 23 September 1993. p. 15437.
  4. 4."College of Arms, What's New – Norroy and Ulster King of Arms". Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  5. 5."New Norroy and Ulster King of Arms", College of Arms, 3 July 2014, accessed 24 September 2023.
  6. 6."www.norfolkrecordsociety.org.uk". Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  7. 7.Heraldry Gazette NS 67 (March 1998), 6.
  8. 8.The Heraldry Gazette NS 64 (June 1997), 6.
  9. 9.Heraldry Gazette NS 67 (March 1998), 7.
  10. 10.Scriveners' Company arms Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine