There Was A(nother) Herald in the Family

As I noted in my last post, by golly, there appear to have been others in the family who used coats of arms. But in addition to that, my descent goes from Edward III through his son John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and John’s mistress and third wife, Katherine Roet (it was her second marriage), whose father was Sir Paon (or sometimes, Paonet) Roet (or Ruet), Guienne King of Arms.

It’s very difficult to find out very much “hard” information about Sir Paon; it’s a lot easier to find out information about his daughters: Katherine who was mistress and later wife to John of Gaunt; and Philippa, who married Geoffrey Chaucer. But most references to him note that he was Guienne/Guyenne King of Arms, which means that, by golly!, I’m not the first herald in the family.

So apparently, I come by my interest in heraldry honestly - I inherited it from my 19th great-grandfather, Sir Paon Roet.