Arthur Cochrane
Encyclopedia
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
(27 April 1872 – 11 January 1954) was a long-serving officer of arms
Officer of arms
An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions:*to control and initiate armorial matters*to arrange and participate in ceremonies of state...
at the College of Arms
College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Biography
Arthur Cochrane was the third son of Rev. David Crawford Cochrane, Master of EtwallEtwall
Etwall is a civil parish and village in Derbyshire, England. It is located southwest from Derby on the A50.-Geography:Etwall is squeezed between the A516, which bypassed the village in February 1992, and the A50. The A516 draws a lot of heavy traffic heading for the M1 north.The village has its...
Hospital (almshouses) and his wife Jane Tomlinson. He was born at Etwall Lodge and educated at Repton School
Repton School
Repton School, founded in 1557, is a co-educational English independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the British public school tradition, located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, in the Midlands area of England...
. After serving for a term as secretary to Sir Alfred Scott-Gatty
Alfred Scott-Gatty
Sir Alfred Scott Scott-Gatty, KCVO, KStJ, FSA was a long serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London and a successful composer.-Personal life:...
, Garter King of Arms, his heraldic career began on 19 July 1904 when he was appointed Rouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary
Rouge Croix Pursuivant
Rouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is a junior officer of arms of the College of Arms. The office is named after St George's Cross which has been a symbol of England since the time of the Crusades...
. Cochrane took part in the coronation
Coronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally crowned and invested with regalia...
of King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
and was made MVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
in 1911. In 1915 he was promoted to the office of Chester Herald of Arms in Ordinary
Chester Herald
Chester Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. The office of Chester Herald dates from the 14th century, and it is reputed that the holder was herald to Edward, Prince of Wales, the Black Prince. In the reign of King Richard II the officer was attached...
and held this office until 1926 when he was promoted to Norroy King of Arms
Norroy and Ulster King of Arms
Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is one of the senior Officers of Arms of the College of Arms, and the junior of the two provincial Kings of Arms. The current office is the combination of two former appointments...
. Two years later, on the death of Gordon Ambrose de Lisle Lee
Gordon Lee (officer of arms)
Gordon Ambrose de Lisle Lee, CB, CVO was a British officer of arms.Born in Aberdeen, the son of the Reverend F. G. Lee, vicar of All Saints, Lambeth, he was educated at St Mary's College, Harlow and Westminster School and became an artist and designer. In 1889 he joined the College of Arms as...
, Cochrane was chosen to succeed him as Clarenceux King of Arms
Clarenceux King of Arms
Clarenceux King of Arms is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Clarenceux is the senior of the two provincial kings of arms and his jurisdiction is that part of England south of the River Trent. The office almost certainly existed in 1420, and there is a fair degree of...
on 26 July 1928. Cochrane was made CVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
in 1931 and in 1934, was appointed Advisor on Naval Badges in succession to Major Foulkes its originator. Commander P K Kemp, naval archivist and a fellow member of the committee wrote in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
"Meetings of the Ships Badges Committee with Sir Arthur present were always a delight, for his sense of humour was keen and contagious and his deep and intimate knowledge of heraldic matters was always freely at the disposal of those of us on the committee who fancied themselves as amateur kings of arms." Since then, the post has been held by an officer of the College of Arms. Cochrane took part in the coronation of King George VI in 1937 and was knighted that year. He also took part in the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 and held the office of Clarenceux until his own death in 1954.
Cochrane had many interests apart from heraldry. For nearly 30 years he served on the Court of the New England Company—a charity originally set up by Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
to evangelise the native inhabitants of North America. He was Governor of the Company from 1938 and never missed a meeting. His main active sport was shooting, but he took a lifelong interest in cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and followed most other games with devotion. He was for many years a member of the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
and a well-known figure in the pavilion at Lords
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
. He was devoted to his old school and was president of the Reptonian Society. From 1950, Cochrane also served as the first Patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
of the Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society
Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society
The Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society was formed as the result of the merger in 1957 of a previous Heraldic Society with the Cambridge University Society of Genealogists .-Foundation of the society:...
. Andrew Noble described him as "a man of great charm and an engaging companion with an encyclopaedic knowledge of pedigrees." He was a tall distinguished figure and his leonine head made him easily recognisable at State occasions
Cochrane married Margaret Peregrina Ilbert (1882-1952) the fourth daughter of Sir Courtenay Ilbert
Courtenay Ilbert
Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert GCB KCSI CIE was a distinguished British lawyer and civil servant.Ilbert served as the legal adviser to the Viceroy of India's Council for many years until his eventual return from India to England...
, clerk to the House of Commons at St Margaret’s Westminster on 15 May 1907. They had six children, but his son David disappeared while walking in Greece in 1931, and a daughter Myrtilla died in 1933. A second son Francis died of wounds received in action at El Alamein
El Alamein
El Alamein is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. As of 2007, it has a local population of 7,397 inhabitants.- Climate :...
in 1942. His surviving daughters were married to Sir John Winnifrith
John Winnifrith
Sir Alfred John Digby Winnifrith KCB was a senior British Civil Servant at the Ministry of Agriculture.Winnifrith was born at Ightham, Kent, the son of Rev Bertram Winnifrith. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church College, Oxford. He entered the Board of Trade in 1932 and went to...
(permanent secretary
Permanent Secretary
The Permanent secretary, in most departments officially titled the permanent under-secretary of state , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis...
at the Ministry of Agriculture) and Alec Peterson
Alec Peterson
Alexander Duncan Campbell Peterson OBE was a British teacher and headmaster, greatly responsible for the birth of the International Baccalaureate educational system. He was instrumental in the formation of the International Baccalaureate Organisation in 1968, and served as the organisation's first...
(pioneer in international education). Cochrane was the brother of Alfred Cochrane
Alfred Cochrane
Alfred Henry John Cochrane, was an English cricketer who played first class cricket for Derbyshire between 1884 and 1886, and for Oxford University between 1885 and 1888. He subsequently made his name as a writer on sporting subjects and of light verse.Cochrane was the second son of Rev...
cricketer and author and Charles Walter Hamilton Cochrane
Charles Walter Hamilton Cochrane
Charles Walter Hamilton Cochrane, MCS, CMG was the 17th British Resident of Perak and Chief Secretary to Government of Malaya from 1929 to 1930....
of the Federated Malay States service.