Neville Wilkinson
Encyclopedia
Major Sir Nevile Rodwell Wilkinson, KCVO
(26 October 1869–22 December 1940) was a British
officer of arms
, British Army
officer, author and a dollhouse
designer.
, Middlesex
, the son of a barrister
. He was educated at Harrow School
and entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in 1889. He was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards
in 1890 and promoted Captain
in 1899. He served in the Second Boer War
and retired in 1907, although he returned to service in the First World War as a staff officer. He was promoted Major
in 1915.
, Principal Herald of Ireland, was created 1552 by Edward VI, with full jurisdiction over Irish heraldry
. There were two disparate heraldic traditions in Ireland
at that time - the old Gaelic Irish tradition, and the Norman
and Anglo-Irish traditions which were part of the European heraldic mainstream. At this time, Ulster King of Arms was Principal officer of arms of all Ireland.
Most of Ulster King of Arms's work was heraldic rather than genealogical
, although collecting genealogies and proving pedigree
s were essential to ensure that arms were used and inherited by the rightful heirs. However, from the start of the eighteenth century Ulster began to acquire other duties, as an officer of the crown intimately linked to the government. These duties were largely ceremonial. For example, Ulster King of Arms had to decide and arrange precedence on state occasions at the court of the English Viceroy (later Lord Lieutenant) of Ireland, formally introduce new peers
to the Irish House of Lords
, and record peerage successions. An additional responsibility came in 1783, when Ulster King of Arms became registrar for the newly established chivalric Order of St Patrick. This was an Irish equivalent of such long-established English institutions as the Order of the Garter
. Ulster became its registrar, responsible for administering its affairs. He continued to be responsible for the recording of peerage successions, since Irish peers (like Scottish
peers) were allowed to elect representative peers to the House of Lords
at Westminster
until 1922. The heraldic and ceremonial duties of Ulster continued down to the twentieth century until 1922. The post was effectively in suspense between 1940 and 1943, after which the heraldic and genealogical duties were carried out by a Chief Herald of Ireland.
Wilkinson was appointed Ulster King of Arms in 1908, succeeding the disgraced previous office-holder Sir Arthur Vicars
after the theft of the St Patrick regalia in 1907. He was the last person to hold that office. As such, he was Principal Officer of Arms of Ireland, and one of the chief heraldic officers in the United Kingdom. It is not known what his qualifications for the job were, apart from his undoubted artistic abilities and his marriage to a well-born lady.
His job was to manage Irish heraldry - mostly the granting and use of arms
. He was also to examine the genealogical records and pedigree relating to Irish families, and to maintain the register of members of the Order of St Patrick, as the premier civilian honor for Irish peers and others. The order was suspended 1922 after the promulgation of the Irish Free State
.
Wilkinson apparently spent most of his time in London
at the Office of the Keeper of Royal Arms. It is not clear why he did so, given that the office of arms (and presumably all records) were located in the Bedford Tower in Dublin Castle
. By 1923, Wilkinson had begun visiting the office regularly, which caused a minor political problem for the fledging Irish government for sixteen years. It was discovered around 1923 that the office of Ulster King of Arms had not been legally transferred to the Irish government and since the office was created by Royal Prerogative in 1552, the British government said that they could not transfer the office to Ireland. Eventually , the Irish government decided in 1930 to let Wilkinson continue his work until his death, at which point the office would be considered by the Irish government to have lapsed.
The National Library of Ireland website shows that Wilkinson granted and confirmed arms right up to 1940. Indeed, more than two dozen confirmations of arms are dated 21 December 1940, the day before he died.
One of Wilkinson's achievements in his capacity as Ulster King of Arms was the establishment of the State Heraldic Museum
in 1909.
Wilkinson was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) after the visit of the King
to Dublin in 1911, knighted
in the 1920 New Year Honours, and appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) after the state opening of the Parliament of Northern Ireland
in June 1921.
and his wife Lady Beatrix Lambton, herself eldest daughter of George Lambton, 2nd Earl of Durham
, in 1903. The couple moved into Mount Merrion
House, south Co. Dublin, Ireland
, where they lived until the start of the First World War in 1914. They had two daughters, Guendolen and Phyllis. To celebrate their births, two redwood trees were planted opposite the entrance to the Church of St Therese.
Wilkinson built two famous dollhouses, Titania's Palace
(completed and inaugurated in 1922 by Queen Mary) and Pembroke Palace (completed in 1907). Titania's Palace remained in the family for many years, but was sold after 1960 first to an English
amusement park
and then to Legoland
. Pembroke Palace Dolls House is now at Wilton House
, seat and home of the 18th Earl of Pembroke
.
Wilkinson was survived by his widow
and his two daughters. Lady Beatrix was remarried in 1942 to Ralph Howard, 7th Earl of Wicklow
(1877–1946), a title which is now extinct.
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...
(26 October 1869–22 December 1940) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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...
, British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer, author and a dollhouse
Dollhouse
A dollhouse is a toy home, made in miniature. For the last century, dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children but their collection and crafting is also a hobby for many adults. The term dollhouse is common in the United States and Canada...
designer.
Early life and military career
Wilkinson was born in HighgateHighgate
Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, the son of a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
. He was educated at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
and entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in 1889. He was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards
Coldstream Guards
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
in 1890 and promoted Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
in 1899. He served in the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
and retired in 1907, although he returned to service in the First World War as a staff officer. He was promoted Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in 1915.
Heraldic career
The office of Ulster King of ArmsNorroy 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...
, Principal Herald of Ireland, was created 1552 by Edward VI, with full jurisdiction over Irish heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
. There were two disparate heraldic traditions in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
at that time - the old Gaelic Irish tradition, and the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
and Anglo-Irish traditions which were part of the European heraldic mainstream. At this time, Ulster King of Arms was Principal officer of arms of all Ireland.
Most of Ulster King of Arms's work was heraldic rather than genealogical
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
, although collecting genealogies and proving pedigree
Pedigree chart
A pedigree chart is a diagram that shows the occurrence and appearance or phenotypes of a particular gene or organism and its ancestors from one generation to the next, most commonly humans, show dogs, and race horses....
s were essential to ensure that arms were used and inherited by the rightful heirs. However, from the start of the eighteenth century Ulster began to acquire other duties, as an officer of the crown intimately linked to the government. These duties were largely ceremonial. For example, Ulster King of Arms had to decide and arrange precedence on state occasions at the court of the English Viceroy (later Lord Lieutenant) of Ireland, formally introduce new peers
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
to the Irish House of Lords
Irish House of Lords
The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from mediaeval times until 1800. It was abolished along with the Irish House of Commons by the Act of Union.-Function:...
, and record peerage successions. An additional responsibility came in 1783, when Ulster King of Arms became registrar for the newly established chivalric Order of St Patrick. This was an Irish equivalent of such long-established English institutions as the Order of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
. Ulster became its registrar, responsible for administering its affairs. He continued to be responsible for the recording of peerage successions, since Irish peers (like Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
peers) were allowed to elect representative peers to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
at Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
until 1922. The heraldic and ceremonial duties of Ulster continued down to the twentieth century until 1922. The post was effectively in suspense between 1940 and 1943, after which the heraldic and genealogical duties were carried out by a Chief Herald of Ireland.
Wilkinson was appointed Ulster King of Arms in 1908, succeeding the disgraced previous office-holder Sir Arthur Vicars
Arthur Vicars
Sir Arthur Vicars, KCVO was an English-born genealogist and heraldic expert who spent his adult life in Ireland. He was appointed Ulster King of Arms in 1893, but was removed from the post in 1908 following the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels in the previous year...
after the theft of the St Patrick regalia in 1907. He was the last person to hold that office. As such, he was Principal Officer of Arms of Ireland, and one of the chief heraldic officers in the United Kingdom. It is not known what his qualifications for the job were, apart from his undoubted artistic abilities and his marriage to a well-born lady.
His job was to manage Irish heraldry - mostly the granting and use of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
. He was also to examine the genealogical records and pedigree relating to Irish families, and to maintain the register of members of the Order of St Patrick, as the premier civilian honor for Irish peers and others. The order was suspended 1922 after the promulgation of the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
.
Wilkinson apparently spent most of his time 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...
at the Office of the Keeper of Royal Arms. It is not clear why he did so, given that the office of arms (and presumably all records) were located in the Bedford Tower in Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, was until 1922 the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland...
. By 1923, Wilkinson had begun visiting the office regularly, which caused a minor political problem for the fledging Irish government for sixteen years. It was discovered around 1923 that the office of Ulster King of Arms had not been legally transferred to the Irish government and since the office was created by Royal Prerogative in 1552, the British government said that they could not transfer the office to Ireland. Eventually , the Irish government decided in 1930 to let Wilkinson continue his work until his death, at which point the office would be considered by the Irish government to have lapsed.
The National Library of Ireland website shows that Wilkinson granted and confirmed arms right up to 1940. Indeed, more than two dozen confirmations of arms are dated 21 December 1940, the day before he died.
One of Wilkinson's achievements in his capacity as Ulster King of Arms was the establishment of the State Heraldic Museum
State Heraldic Museum
The State Heraldic Museum in Kildare St., Dublin was founded in 1909 and is one of the first and oldest such museums in the world. It is housed in part of the building occupied by the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland. Among its many exhibits are representations of corporate and civic arms and...
in 1909.
Wilkinson was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) after the visit of the King
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....
to Dublin in 1911, knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in the 1920 New Year Honours, and appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) after the state opening of the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...
in June 1921.
Personal life
Wilkinson married Lady Beatrix Francis Gertrude Herbert, first daughter of the 14th Earl of PembrokeSidney Herbert, 14th Earl of Pembroke
Sidney Herbert, 14th Earl of Pembroke, 11th Earl of Montgomery GCVO, PC , styled The Honourable Sidney Herbert between 1861 and 1895, was a British politician and peer.-Background and education:...
and his wife Lady Beatrix Lambton, herself eldest daughter of George Lambton, 2nd Earl of Durham
George Lambton, 2nd Earl of Durham
George Frederick D'Arcy Lambton, 2nd Earl of Durham , known as Viscount Lambton from 1831 to 1845, was a British peer....
, in 1903. The couple moved into Mount Merrion
Mount Merrion
Mount Merrion is an area of Dublin, Ireland. It is roughly 7 kilometres south of the city centre. It is situated on and around a hill of the same name.-Location and access:...
House, south Co. Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, where they lived until the start of the First World War in 1914. They had two daughters, Guendolen and Phyllis. To celebrate their births, two redwood trees were planted opposite the entrance to the Church of St Therese.
Wilkinson built two famous dollhouses, Titania's Palace
Titania's Palace
Titania's Palace is a miniature castle that was hand-built in Ireland by James Hicks & Sons, Irish Cabinet Makers who were commissioned by Sir Neville Wilkinson from 1907 to 1922....
(completed and inaugurated in 1922 by Queen Mary) and Pembroke Palace (completed in 1907). Titania's Palace remained in the family for many years, but was sold after 1960 first to an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
and then to Legoland
Legoland
Legoland is a chain of Lego-themed theme parks. They are not fully owned by Lego Group itself; rather they are owned and operated by the British theme park company Merlin Entertainment.The chain currently consists of:* Legoland Billund...
. Pembroke Palace Dolls House is now at Wilton House
Wilton House
Wilton House is an English country house situated at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire. It has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years....
, seat and home of the 18th Earl of Pembroke
Earl of Pembroke
Earl of Pembroke is a title created ten times, all in the Peerage of England. It was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, which is the site of Earldom's original seat Pembroke Castle...
.
Wilkinson was survived by his widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
and his two daughters. Lady Beatrix was remarried in 1942 to Ralph Howard, 7th Earl of Wicklow
Ralph Howard, 7th Earl of Wicklow
Ralph Francis Howard, 7th Earl of Wicklow was an Irish aristocrat and politician.He was the son of Cecil Howard, 6th Earl of Wicklow and Francesca Maria Chamberlayne. He married Lady Gladys Mary Hamilton , daughter of James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn and Lady Mary Anna Curzon, on 14 January 1902...
(1877–1946), a title which is now extinct.
Heraldry
- The College of Arms
- Clans and Families of Ireland - an excerpt on Heraldry in Ireland
- Newsgroup Discussion
- Office of Chief Herald
- Debate on National Cultural Institutions Bill
- Genealogy & Heraldry Bill, 2006 http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2006/2306/b2306s.pdf
- Grant of arms to WH Odum 1929
- Heraldry in Ireland