The Arms of Three 19th and 20th Century Bishops of Ely

Having seen the arms of four 17th and 18th Century Bishops of Ely, we're going forward in time to the arms of three 19th and 20th Century Bishops of Ely.

First, we have an armorial bearing the arms of Thomas Danpier, Bishop of Ely 1808-1812.

The shield on the left is the arms of the See of Ely, and that on the right is the arms of Bishop Danpier, Or a lion rampant sable on a chief gules a label of five tags argent.

Next, we see the arms of Joseph Allen, Bishop of Ely 1836-1845, as seen on his tomb in the Cathedral with a statue of his recumbent figure.

It's not easy to see, but if you click on the image above to see the larger version of this photograph, you will see two shields flanking the central inscription. Each shield is the arms of the See of Ely impaling Per bend sinister or and sable six martlets in pale three and three counterchanged (Allen). Each shield is surmounted by a bishop’s mitre.

And finally, we have the arms of Frederick Henry Chase, Bishop of Ely 1905-1924, on a memorial plaque.

Here again, as with the memorial plaque to Bishop Danpier, above, we see the arms of the See of Ely on the left, this time surmounted with a bishop's mitre, and the arms of Bishop Chase, also surmounted with a bishop's mitre, on the right.

The Bishop's personal arms are: Gules four crosses crosslet on a canton argent a lion passant azure.

I have to admit that I'm not certain exactly what it is that causes me to be so attracted to armorial memorials (and tombs and gravestones), but I cannot deny that I am attracted to them, and look for such things wherever I am able to travel.

Do you find yourself consciously looking for heraldry when you travel, too?

The Arms of Four 17th and 18th Century Bishops of Ely

Having looked at a large stained glass window with the arms of four of the Bishops of Ely last time, today we're going to look at the armorial memorials to four more Bishops of Ely, all dating to the 17th and 18th Centuries.

As you will see, these memorials take various forms, and we are going to visit them in chronological order.

First we have the memorial to Benjamin Laney, Bishop of Ely 1667-1675.

The 1674 (rather than 1675) date on the plaque above is an artifact of the fact that at this time in England, the new year did not begin until March 25. As a consequence, while Bishop Laney died on January 24, at the time the year was still 1674. The change to what are termed New Style dates (where the year begins on January 1) was not made in England until December 31, 1751.

At the top of this monument, beneath a bishop's mitre, are these arms:

The See of Ely impaling Or on a chevron between two fleurs-de-lis gules a lion passant guardant or (Laney).

Next we have the memorial set into the floor of Ely Cathedral to Peter Gunning, Bishop of Ely 1675-1684.

The inscription simply reads (in English): Peter, Bishop of Ely. At the top of this marker are these arms, surmounted once again by a bishp's mitre:

The See of Ely impaling Gules on a fess between three doves argent three crosses formy gules (Gunning).

Next we have the memorial to Simon Patrick, Bishop of Ely 1691-1707.

Surmounted with a bishops mitre, the arms are the See of Ely impaling Gules three pallets vair on a chief or a lion passant azure (Patrick).

And finally, we come to the memorial to John Moore, Bishop of Ely 1707-1714.

The monument is beautifully carved with a very long Latin inscription on what is visually a mantle. Immediately above the mantle, surmounted by a bishop's mitre and accompanied with palm branches and two bishop's croziers, are the arms.

Here we have, beautifully carved, painted and gilded, the See of Ely impaling Ermine on a chevron azure three cinquefoils or (Moore).

It's quite a range of types of memorials to these four Bishops of Ely, but they all serve the same purpose of memorializing these men who served the See and the Cathedral for so many years two and three centuries ago.

One Window, Four Panels, and the Arms of Four Bishops of Ely

Ah, cathedrals! Soaring ceilings, wide naves. Oh, yeah, and the feast for the eyes that is stained glass.

This four-paneled window in Ely Cathedral memorializes in wondrous color the arms of four Bishops of Ely, each supported by two angels and surmounted with a bishop's mitre also supported by the angels. Also flanking each coat of arms is a scroll with the dates (in Roman numerals) of each Bishop's tenure in office.

On the left side of the window (and please click on either of the images below to see the full-size photographs in all of their glorious detail), we find:

On the left, the arms of Hugh Northwold, Bishop of Ely 1229-1254. The arms consist of the See of Ely impaling the Bishop's personal arms, Azure three crowns each enfiling two arrows in saltire or; and 

on the right, the arms of Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely 1256-1286. Here also, the See of Ely impaling the Bishop's personal arms, Or three pallets gules.

And on the right side of the window, we see:

To the left, the arms of John de Hotham, Bishop of Ely 1316-1337. Again, the See of Ely impaling his arms, Barry of eight azure and argent on a canton or a martlet sable; and

to the right, the arms of John Alcock, Bishop of Ely 1486-1500. The See of Ely impaling Argent on a fess between three cock’s heads sable combed and wattled gules a bishop’s mitre or. We have seen these arms before, with the addition of a bordure charged with crowns, in the arms of Jesus College, Cambridge, which Bishop Alcock founded in 1496.

These windows are a testament to the stained glassmaker's art, and are, frankly, a riot of color. If you ever get the chance to visit Ely Cathedral in person, make sure you do not miss this window! My photographs are nice, but they do not really do these windows the kind of justice that they deserve.

Wait! What?? I Think There May Be an Error Here

Researching this next memorial found in Ely Cathedral, I was reminded of a line from the Star Trek parody, and homage, movie, Galaxy Quest: "That's not riiiight."

This large brass memorial is, as it says on its face, "in Memory of the Men of the Isle of Ely Who lost their lives in the War in S. Africa 1899-1902".

The Isle of Ely, as we are told, is an historic region around the City of Ely in Cambridgeshire which formed an administrative county between 1889 and 1965, when it was incorporated into Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely.

Until it was granted arms on May 1, 1931 (for which see https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Isle_of_Ely), it used the arms of the See of Ely which we have reviewed here recently, Gules three crowns or.*

So can you see in the detail image below what the problem is?

The shield here is clearly colored as Azure three crowns or, not gules (that is, blue, not red).

Indeed, it was the red field with three gold crowns which was carried over into the grant of arms in 1931, establishing pretty firmly, I think, that the blue field here is an error.

Now, admittedly, the arms of the See of Ely are based on the attributed arms of East Anglia, which has a blue field. Of course, these arms with a blue field never existed, the Kingdom of East Anglia ceasing to exist as an independent kingdom in the 10th Century, a couple hundred years before heraldry came into being.

Yes, I know that basically I am picking nits, and that most people looking at this memorial to so many local men who lost their lives in the Boer War would not notice that the coat of arms here is incorrectly colored.

Still, I thing it would have been nice if they could have better respected those lost lives by putting the correct color on the shield of this memorial.

* For purposes of this post, I am not going to get into the propriety, or impropriety, of the County Council of the Isle of Ely appropriating (or misappropriating) the arms of the See of Ely to represent the Isle. That's a whole other discussion in itself!

Personal Crests on Military Memorials

Having looked at memorials in Ely Cathedral to military men containing in the first instance Regiment badges and in the second instance personal coats of arms, we now come to memorials to soldiers, all from the 4th Battalion Suffolk Regiment bearing the personal crests of those being memorialized.

This is the memorial to Col. Harry Frost (1845-1898), placed here by his brother officers, past and present.

At the top of the memorial is his crest: A trefoil slipped between a pair of wings erect azure.

Next is the memorial of Capt. and Hon. Major Albert Julian Pell (1864-1916) (another casualty of World War I).

Here, too, at the top is his crest: On a mural crown a mullet pierced sable, along with his motto: Mente Manuque (With mind and hand).

And finally, we have the memorial of Lt. Col. William Browne Ferris (1841-1906), erected here by his family.

At the top we find his crest: Issuant from a crest coronet a sinister hand appaumy between a pair of wings erect all proper, along with his motto: Toujours pret (Always ready).

The variety in crests is almost as great as that in coats of arms, and it always is of interest (at least to me) to see crests used as a means of memorializing someone.

Personal Arms on Memorials to Military Men

Having seen the unit badge for the 4th Suffolk Regiment on memorials in Ely Cathedral last time, today we're going to look at personal coats of arms on similar memorials. (As always, you can, of course, click on any of these images to go to a larger photograph where the details are more clearly seen.)

First up is the memorial to Col. Lancelot Reed (1829-1884) of the 4th Suffolk Regiment.

At the top of this memorial brass is Col. Reed's personal coat of arms: Or on a chevron between three garbs gules three ears of corn or. His crest is: A demi-griffin grasping in the foreclaw a sprig of oak leaves.

Next we have the memorial to Surgeon Lt. Col. Frederick Fawssett, M.D. (1835-1918), again of the Fourth Battalion Suffolk Regiment.

This is clearly an impaled (marital) coat of arms: Argent on a bend sable three stag’s heads cabossed argent (Fawcett) impaling Sable three wolves passant or (Bouchier). His crest is A stag's head argent. And the motto: Vincit qui se vincit (He conquers who conquers himself).

Finally, we have the brass memorial to a former member of a different Regiment, the 3rd Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment, Henry Tansley Luddington (died 1922). 

The arms here are a differenced version of Luddington of London (found in Burke's General Armory): Paly of six argent and gules on a chief gules a lion passant guardant argent. Here, the arms would be blazoned: Argent two pallets and on a chief gules a lion passant guardant between two mascles argent. The arms are accompanied with the motto: Patriæ fidelis (Faithful to the country). It is a beautifully rendered personal coat of arms. I especially like the way the diapering on the pallets (the vertical stripes) has been done. 

What a great way to memorialize these three soldiers, wouldn't you agree?

A Regimental Badge on Personal Memorials

Continuing our all too brief look at some of the heraldry in Ely Cathedral, we come to a section with a number of memorials to various officers of the 4th Battalion Suffolk Regiment.

Not surprisingly, two of those memorials prominently display the badge of the Regiment.

The first is that of Lt. Col. Henry William Hurrell (1858-1917).

The badge of the Regiment is clearly seen here: A castle with port above a key palewise wards to base and dexter, all beneath a scroll with the word Gibraltar. The motto on the belt surrounding the castle is Montis insignia calpe (The insignia of the mountain). I am going to make a leap here and suggest that the mountain spoken of is Tarik’s mountain in southern Spain, in Arabic Jebel Tariq, which is anglicized as Gibraltar.

The other memorial which displays the Regiment's badge is that of Col. Robert Gregory Wale (1820-1892).

The Regimental badge is shown at the top of the memorial (not quite as before, here it is: Above a castle with port a key palewise wards to base and dexter), with the motto appearing on a scroll below the castle.

The memorial also displays his own coat of arms at the bottom: Argent on a cross sable five lions rampant or. The crest is: A lion rampant or supporting a long cross sable. The motto is Cum cruce salus, Salvation with the cross. (The motto does not appear in that old standby for researching crests and mottoes, Fairbairn's Crests.)

I always find memorials to soldiers to be moving, whether they died at the age of 72 after many years of service, as Col. Wale did, or died a little younger than that during the Great War, as Lt. Col. Hurrell did. These plaques, whether armorial or not, always bring me to remembrance of the labor and sacrifices of those memorialized, too many of them cut down before their due time.

That they have heraldry on them is only a bonus to me.

Some Arms of Affiliation

One of the fun things about using heraldry is that, in addition to bearing your own coat of arms, you may, in appropriate places, also display what are called "arms of affiliation"; that is, the coats of arms of places and institutions with which you have been a part, or affiliated with in some significant way.

It is especially appropriate to point this out as we come to the memorial tomb of Bishop James Russell Woodford, Bishop of Ely 1873-1885.

Much of Bishop Woodford's biography here was taken from his entry in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Woodford_(bishop).

James Russell Woodford (1820-1885) was an English churchman. He was the only son of James Russell Woodford, a hop-merchant in Southwark, and Frances, daughter of Robert Appleton of Henley (no relation to me). He was sent to Merchant Taylors' School at the age of eight, and was elected to Pembroke College, Cambridge, as Parkins exhibitioner in 1838. He graduated B.A. in 1842, and M.A. in 1845. He was ordained deacon in 1843 and priest in 1845, and in the intervening years held the second mastership of Bishop's College, Bristol. His first incumbency was the parish of St. Saviour's, Coalpit-heath, Bristol. He then worked as vicar of the parish of St. Mark's, Easton, in the same district, between 1847 and 1855, in which year was presented to the vicarage of Kempsford, Gloucestershire.

During the thirteen years he was at Kempsford he attracted attention as a preacher, and was made one of his examining chaplains by Bishop Samuel Wilberforce. Woodford became honorary canon of Christchurch, and in 1864 was a select preacher at Cambridge, He also acted as proctor for the clergy of his diocese in the Canterbury convocation, In 1868 Woodford was appointed vicar of Leeds. In 1869 he received a D.D. degree, and in 1872 was appointed one of the queen's chaplains. In the following year he succeeded Harold Browne as bishop of Ely, being consecrated in Westminster Abbey on December 14, 1873.

Above the recumbent figure of Bishop Woodford flanking the three Baroque arches over his memorial are six coats of arms which are not his, but which are "arms of affiliation"; that is, places and institutions which played a significant part of his life at one time or another, as you will see as we identify them one by one.

These six arms of affiliation are, from left to right:

The City of Leeds (Azure a fleece or pendant from a chief sable charged with three mullets argent); and Pembroke College, Cambridge, which we have seen before in Cambridge, as well as the other Cambridge College arms further below (Barry of ten argent and azure an orle of martlets gules (de Valence) dimidiating Gules three pales vair on a chief or a label of five points azure (de St. Pol));

The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors (Argent a royal tent between two parliament robes gules lined ermine the tent garnished or, tent staff and pennant also or, on a chief azure a lion passant guardant or); and St. John’s College, Cambridge, (Quarterly France modern and England, all within a bordure compony argent and azure (Beaufort));

Jesus College, Cambridge (Argent on a fess between three cock’s heads sable combed and wattled gules a bishop’s mire or within a bordure gules semy of crowns or); and Peterhouse, Cambridge (Or three pales gules on a bordure gules eight crowns or (a combination of the personal arms of Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely, with a bordure representing the See of Ely, whose arms are Gules three crowns or).

The whole memorial is quite complex, with roses and floriated decoration and curves and cutouts and all sorts of embellishments. But it was this use of arms of affiliation that really elevates this memorial above and beyond the usual, at least in my eyes.

The Arms of a See, a Bishop, His Daughter, and Her Husband

This particular combination of arms threw me a little, until the book that I told you about before, The Heraldry of Ely Cathedral, helped to explain to to me.

But first, let me show you what confused me.

You may wish to click on the image above to see a larger picture that shows the detail of the two shields better.

The initially confusing part to me was the same coat of arms on the sinister side (to the viewer's right) on each of these two shields. I mean, the shield on the left was pretty clearly an ecclesiastical impalement of the arms of the See of Ely with one of it's bishops. But the arms of the bishop would not also appear on the sinister side of an impaled coat of arms where the dexter arms were not those of a See.

But just a little bit of research brought enlightenment!

The shield on the left is the See of Ely (Gules three crowns or) impaling James Yorke, Bishop of Ely 1781-1808 (Argent on a saltire azure a bezant). And the shield on the right the arms of Thomas Waddington, Canon of Ely (Argent a chevron between three martlets gules) impaling Margaret Yorke, the eldest daughter of Bishop James Yorke (Argent on a saltire azure a bezant).

So the Yorke arms in the two shields refer to two different individuals, not one, and that was wherein my confusion lay. (It is widely accepted usage in England, and a number of other places, for a daughter to use her father's arms, even in a marital achievement like the one on the right, above.)

And thus was my initial question of "What exactly is going on here?" was answered quickly and concisely, and it will no longer keep me awake at night wondering about it.

Problem solved! Time for a good night's rest.