Henry Paston-Bedingfeld

Sir Henry Paston-Bedingfeld wearing his ceremonial tabard during an annual Garter Service at St George's Windsor

Sir Henry Edgar Paston-Bedingfeld, 10th Baronet (born 7 December 1943) is a retired King-at-Arms of the College of Arms in London and former member of the Royal Household; he is also a baronet.

Family and career

Educated at Ampleforth College, he was the only son of Sir Edmund Paston-Bedingfeld, 9th Baronet of Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk, by his wife Joan Lynette Rees and succeeded to the family title upon his father's death on 24 May 2011.^[1]

Paston-Bedingfeld served as Norroy and Ulster King of Arms, the junior of the two provincial Kings-at-Arms with jurisdiction over the north of England and Ulster, between 2010 and 2014.^[2] He had previously been York Herald since 1993^[3] and prior to that Rouge Croix Pursuivant from 1983.^[4]

He is an Honorary Vice-President of the Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society and of the Norfolk Record Society;^[5] Sir Henry is a liveryman of the Bowyers' Company and served as Master of the Scriveners' Company for 2012-13.

He married, in 1968, Mary Kathleen daughter of Brigadier Robert Ambrose CIE OBE MC. Sir Henry and Lady Paston-Bedingfeld have two sons and two daughters; their elder son, Richard (born 1975) is heir apparent to the baronetcy.

Selected heraldic designs by Paston-Bedingfeld

• Derby School^[6]
• Institute of Traffic Accident Inspectors^[7]
• Royal Society of St George^[8]

Honours

• - Baronet
• - Knight of Malta

Arms

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[9]

See also

• Heraldry
• College of Arms
• Paston-Bedingfeld baronets

References

1. www.burkespeerage.com
2. "College of Arms, What's New - Norroy and Ulster King of Arms". Retrieved 27 September 2010.
3. The London Gazette: no. 53435. p. 15437. 23 September 1993. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
4. The London Gazette: no. 49291. p. 3737. 17 March 1983. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
5. www.norfolkrecordsociety.org.uk
6. Heraldry Gazette NS 67 (March 1998), 6.
7. The Heraldry Gazette NS 64 (June 1997), 6.
8. Heraldry Gazette NS 67 (March 1998), 7.
9. Scriveners' Company arms

External links

• Biography on Debrett's People of Today website
• Standing Council of the Baronetage website
• www.scriveners.org.uk