In 1732 an unsuccessful attempt was made to revive the Court of Chivalry. The earl-marshal’s deputy and his assistant lords and the officers of arms being present, the king’s advocate exhibited complaints, First, against Mrs. Radburne, for using divers ensigns at the funeral of her husband not pertaining to his condition; secondly, against the executors of a Mr. Ladbrook for using, on a similar occasion, arms not legally belonging to the defunct; and, thirdly, against Sir John Blunt, Bart. for assuming, without right, the arms of the antient family of Blount of Sodington. This gentleman had been a scrivener, and was one of the projectors of the well-known South-Sea Scheme or ‘Bubble,’ which ended in the total ruin of so many respectable families. But “the whole business was imprudently begun, and unskilfully conducted; the lawyers who were consulted laughed at it;”[280] and, though the court proceeded so far as to fine some of the parties, it was unable to carry its decisions into effect; and we hear no more of the Court of Chivalry.
It would be tedious, and beyond the design of the present hasty sketch, to notice all the great occasions on which the heralds were in requisition during the reigns of the three predecessors of her present Majesty. During this period several members of the College have shed lustre on their office, and on the antiquarian literature of England. These will come under review in my next chapter; and it will only be necessary here to add a few particulars relating to the present state of the College.
The building, which stands upon the site of the Derby House before referred to, is approached by an archway on St. Benet’s Hill, and has a sombre appearance perfectly in keeping with the purposes to which it is devoted. It comprises the great hall, the library, consisting of two rooms; the outer one of the time of Charles II, fitted with dark carved-oak panels, and containing a beautifully executed chimney-piece, said to be the work of Sibborn; the inner, a spacious and lofty octangular apartment, recently erected and rendered fire-proof, for the safer preservation of the records and more valuable documents; and besides these rooms there are separate apartments appropriated to the use of the several officers. The great hall, where the Courts of Chivalry were antiently held, and where the ‘Chapters’ of the heralds still take place, remains almost in statu quo, with its high-backed throne for the earl-marshal, surrounded with balustrades, and retaining somewhat of the awe-striking solemnity of the tribunal. The panelling has recently been decorated with shields of the several lords and earls-marshal from the origin of that office till the present time. The library, it is scarcely necessary to state, contains a large and extremely valuable collection of original visitation books, records of the arms and pedigrees of families, funeral certificates of the nobility and gentry, antient tournament and other rolls of great curiosity; the sword, dagger, and ring of King James IV, of Scotland; and probably every work illustrative, in any degree, of heraldry and genealogy, that has issued from the press of this country, together with many foreign works on those subjects. Of the great value of this inexhaustible mine of information the historian and the antiquary are well aware, and there is scarcely any work in their respective departments that has not received some addition from this library.
The following is a list of the Corporation of the College as it now exists:
Earl-Marshal and Hereditary Marshal of England.
Henry-Charles, Duke of Norfolk, &c. &c. &c.
Kings of Arms.
Garter. Sir Charles George Young, Knt., F.S.A.
Clarenceux. Joseph Hawker, Esq., F.S.A.
Norroy. Francis Martin, Esq., F.S.A.