Category: Family

“It was not long after this episode (being knighted by George VI) that my wife and I became aware that we lacked just one thing to make our lives complete – a dog, a faithful hound.

Uncle George was Knighted by King George VI in 1950.

Uncle George wrote about his life to amuse his family and descendants. The extracts here were all published in The Coat of Arms, the journal of the Heraldry Society. I might have read his memoir as a family member but actually did so because the current York Herald found it for me, unsurprisingly as he… Continue reading Uncle George Remembers VII

“Gordon Selfridge was once a multi-millionaire and a prince of commerce but he ended up a pensioner, deprived of all power and riches and broken in spirit and, I heard, in mind.

“I had been trying for some time to find a miniature dachshund, as we had no dog and our cook, Anna, of whom I will have more to say later, was an Austrian. On one of my visits to see Gordon Selfridge, I arrived half an hour early and went to the pets department to… Continue reading Uncle George Remembers V

“Mr Hall’s case was serious, he declared. He then announced gravely that he was the King of England. “My name is Hall,” he explained, “and I am the direct descendant of good King Hal, otherwise King Henry VIII. The man now occupying the throne of England is a usurper and I request you to order… Continue reading Uncle George Remembers IV

“A mighty figure who kept very much in the background was the Deputy Earl Marshal, Lord FitzAlan who, as I have said, was deputy to his nephew the Duke of Norfolk, then a boy. Neither of them were members of the corporation of the College, but the Earl Marshal as such was its Supervisor from… Continue reading Uncle George Remembers III

“You would probably have thought my colleagues at the College of Arms in 1922 a pretty rum lot, and perhaps they were, but they were for the most part surprisingly kind and helpful. Some of them were perhaps a trifle advanced in years, though at least one was youngish, and a few of the older… Continue reading Uncle George Remembers II

Uncle George’s interview with Lord FitzAlan, the Deputy Earl Marshal, may seem somewhat informal, certainly he thought so. “That took place over 60 years ago and so I do not feel the least ashamed about it. Today things are different and to become a herald is not so easy. It is no longer just a… Continue reading Uncle George Remembers

Uncle George might land a job as a herald at the College of Arms in London.