Two memoranda books, 1800, 1818.

2 v. ; various sizes.

English

For information on the source of acquisition, consult the appropriate curator.

Sir Isaac Heard (1730-1822) was an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. At age 15, he entered the navy, serving in the Mediterranean and on the African coast. Heard rose through the college to become Clarenceux king of arms in 1780. He was created Garter king of arms in 1784 and knighted in 1786. His first wife, whom he married in 1770, was Katherine Tyler of Boston. She died in 1783, and in 1787 he married Alicia Hayes (d. 1808). He died in the College of Arms in 1822.

Manuscript, in a single hand, of two memoranda books. The first, "April 1800," primarily contains notes on Parliamentary history, many in Latin. The second, "May 1818," is a commonplace book with an index at the beginning of the manuscript. The manuscript contains a variety of notes, including financial accounts; a list of death dates; medicinal recipes; lists of royal and noble funerals attended; an autobiographical account of his life, especially of a sea voyage to Boston in 1755, with mentions of Katherine Tyler, his future wife; and some notes concerning the dispersal of his effects after his death. The volume also contains numerous notes concerning Heard's antiquarian interests, including one about a possible forgery in the Ravenfield Register.

January 12, 2005

Sir Isaac Heard, Two Memoranda Books. James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Sir Isaac Heard, Two Memoranda Books. James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.