Portcullis Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is a junior officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. The office is named after the Portcullis chained Or badge of the Beauforts, which was a favourite device of Henry VII. King Henry's mother was Lady Margaret Beaufort. The office was instituted around 1485, probably at the time of Henry's coronation. The badge of office is very similar to that of Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary, the latter being ensigned with the Royal Crown. The earliest recorded Portcullis Pursuivant was James or Jacques Videt, who was the plaintiff in a Common Pleas case in 1498 and again in 1500.
By Letters Patent under the Great Seal dated 24 August 2026, Caroline Mariah McWilliams was appointed to the office of Portcullis Pursuivant of Arms.
Holders of the office Arms Name Date of appointmentRefJames Videt(Henry VII)Ralph Lagysse(Henry VII)Robert Fayery or Fairy1516–1549Richard Withers1550–1553John Cocke1553–1559Edward Merlin1559–1559Ralph Langman1559–1567Robert Glover1567–1571Richard Lee1571–1585William Segar1585–1588Thomas Lant1588–1597Samuel Thompson1597–1619Philip Holland1619–1625Thomas Preston1625–1633John Beauchamp1633–1660John Wingfield1660–1663Thomas HolfordFrom 1663Thomas Holford, junior(James II)Laurence CrompFrom 1689John Hesketh(William III)Thomas Wightwick1713–1718Richard Mawson1718–1745Thomas Thornberry1745Peter Toms1746–1780John-Doddington Forth1780–1817George Frederick Beltz1817–1822James Pulman1822–1838Sir Albert Woods1838–1841George Collen1841–1878Arthur Larken1878–1882William Lindsay1883–1894Thomas Joseph-Watkin7 April 1894 – 1913Keith Murray1913–1922George Bellew1922–1926Alfred Butler1926–1931Sir Anthony Wagner1931–1943Charles Murray Kennedy St Clair, 17th Lord Sinclair1949–1957Sir Alexander Colin Cole1957–1966Michael Maclagan1970–1980Peter Spurrier1981–1992William Hunt1992–1999Christopher Fletcher-Vane2012–2017Dominic Ingram2022–2024Caroline McWilliams2026—present
See also Pursuivant Officer of Arms College of Arms
References Citations
Bibliography The College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street : being the sixteenth and final monograph of the London Survey Committee, Walter H. Godfrey, assisted by Sir Anthony Wagner, with a complete list of the officers of arms, prepared by H. Stanford London, (London, 1963) A History of the College of Arms &c, Mark Noble, (London, 1804)
External links The College of Arms CUHGS Officer of Arms Index