CHALONER, THOMAS (d. 1598), of Denbigh and Chester , sometimes described as Ulster King of Arms.
Some particulars of this painter, poet, antiquary, and actor are given by W. J. Hemp in ‘Two Welsh Heraldic Pedigrees, with notes on Thomas Chaloner, Ulster King of Arms,’ in Y Cymm., xl. He was the fourth son of Robert Chaloner of Denbigh by his wife Dowce, daughter of Richard Mathew of Lleweni Green, Denbs. As Hemp points out, several members of the family were students of heraldry and genealogy, Thomas Chaloner being employed as an agent by the College of Heralds for some years under the designation of ‘Deputy to the Office of Arms.’ His appointment as Ulster King of Arms he received on the very day that he died, viz. 14 May 1598. He was buried in S. Michaels church, Chester. His wife, whom he m. 8 Nov. 1584, was Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Alcock, Chester. On 10 Jan. 1587 Chaloner took as his apprentice Randle Holme, the first of four generations of heralds of that name. This Randle Holme I, who m. Chaloner's widow, took his stepson, JACOB CHALONER (1586-1631), as his apprentice. He d. 25 Nov. 1631. (For the Randle Holmes family see Jnl. Chester Arch. and Hist. Soc., 1892).
Thomas Chaloner's great-nephew, ROBERT CHALONER (1612-1675), of Lloran, Denbs., and Roundway, Wilts., became Bluemantle Pursuivant in 1660 and Lancaster Herald in 1665.
To the references given above add Anthony R. Wagner, Catalogue of English Mediaeval Rolls of Arms (London, 1950); in this work in a note it is suggested that Chaloner's appointment received on the day of his death was that of deputy herald for Chester, not that of Ulster King of Arms.
Author:
Sir William Llewelyn Davies, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A. (1887-1952), Aberystwyth
