Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. In the year 1448 Somerset Herald is known to have served Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, but by the time of the coronation of Henry VII in 1485 his successor appears to have been raised to the rank of a royal officer, when he was the only herald to receive coronation liveries.

By 1525 Somerset was again in private service, on the staff of Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, although he was appointed by the King and shared the heralds' fees as a herald extraordinary. On the death of that nobleman in 1536 the herald returned to the service of the crown, and all later officers called Somerset have been members of the royal household as heralds in ordinary. The badge of office is A Portcullis Or Royally Crowned. This is a version of the Beaufort badge.

The current Somerset Herald of Arms is Mark Scott.

Holders of the office Arms Name Date of appointmentRef Royal Herald of Henry VIIJohn Yonge(1493)John Pounde(1511) Herald to Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and SomersetJohn Pounde(1511)William Hastings(1528)Thomas Traheyron or Trahern(1536) Somerset Herald of Arms in OrdinaryThomas Traheyron or Trahern1536–1542Richard Radcliffe1543–1545William Harvey1545–1551Edmond Atkinson1551–1571Robert Glover1571–1588William Segar1589–1597Robert Treswell1597–1624John Philipot1624–1645George Owen1657–1658Henry Bysshe1658–1660Sir Thomas St George1660–1680Francis Burghill1680–1700Samuel Stebbing1700–1720John Warburton1720–1759Ralph Bigland1759–1773Henry Hastings1773–1777John Charles Brooke1777–1794John Atkinson1794–1813James Cathrow1813–1854William Courthope1854–1866James Planché1866–1872Stephen Tucker1880–1887Sir Henry Farnham Burke1887–1911Everard Green1911–1926Sir George Bellew1926–1950Michael Trappes-Lomax1951–1967Rodney Dennys1967–1982Thomas Woodcock1982–1997David Vines White2004–2021Mark John Rosborough Scott2024–present

See also Heraldry Officer of Arms

References Notes

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