Regalia and Ceremonies

Abstract

Shortly after receiving the charter for the RCPCH, Keith Dodd, the Honorary Secretary, told me that the executive committee had requested that I should enquire about the production of a coat of arms. David Baum, the President-elect, and I, Honorary Archivist, were to make the arrangements. I phoned the College of Arms for advice and was put through to the Richmond Herald, who was duty herald for the day. After asking a few questions, he said that, provided that we were prepared to pay £7,000, there should be no difficulty. I made an appointment to meet him with David Baum, at the College of Arms, near St Paul’s Cathedral. The ground floor contains a court where cases of dispute on heraldic matters can be heard. We went up the creaking wooden staircase lined with framed sheets of parchment containing coats of arms belonging to dynasties long dead.