David Hubert Boothby Chesshyre (22 June 1940 – 24 December 2020) was a British officer of arms.
Chesshyre served for more than forty years as an officer of arms in ordinary to Queen Elizabeth II and as a member of Her Majesty's Household. He was Clarenceux King of Arms, the second most senior member of the College of Arms and the second most senior heraldic position in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and several other Commonwealth countries.College of Arms Home Page. Accessed 23 November 2019. His other appointments included those of Registrar of the College of Arms, Secretary of the Order of the Garter, and Honorary Genealogist to the Royal Victorian Order. Chesshyre undertook heraldic and genealogical work for high-profile clients such as the former prime minister Sir Edward Heath. He wrote seven books, including the official history of the Order of the Garter.
In October 2015, a jury sitting at Snaresbrook Crown Court found by a unanimous verdict that Chesshyre had committed child sexual abuse offences in the 1990s. He was found to be unfit to plead, and his trial was therefore a trial of the facts. This means that no formal conviction is recorded and Chesshyre was therefore given an absolute discharge.
Early life and family David Hubert Boothby Chesshyre was born on 22 June 1940, the son of Captain (later Colonel) Hubert Layard Chesshyre (d. 1981), an officer in the Royal Engineers, and his wife Katharine Anne (d. 1995), daughter of Major Basil Tanfield Beridge Boothby.Charles Mosley (ed.), Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th ed., vol. 1 (2003), p. 430.Musicians of the Millennium: A Biographical Guide to Members of the Worship Company of Musicians (The Worshipful Company of Musicians), p. 49. Hubert had adopted the surname Chesshyre in 1938, renouncing his previous surname Isacke;The London Gazette, 15 July 1938 (issue 34532), p. 4651. he was the son of Major-General Hubert Isacke and maternal grandson of Sir Charles Layard, the Chief Justice of Ceylon. Among Chesshyre's other ancestors were the Earls of Dundee and Lauderdale,"Royal Standards", The Seaxe: Newsletter of the Middlesex Heraldry Society, no. 25 (February 2001), p. 4. the Boothby baronetsMosley, p. 430. and the lawyer Sir John Chesshyre."The History of St Mary's" , Halton Parish, Runcorn. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
Education and early career
Chesshyre was educated at St Michael's Preparatory School, Otford, where he was a contemporary of John Hurt.'News of OKS', in For the Record [published by the OKS Association], No. 15 (May 2012), p. 1. He went on to The King's School, Canterbury (1954–59).'The Legacy Club', O[ld] K[ing's] S[cholars] Offcuts, no. 29 (May 2010) (scroll to page 5).
Chesshyre studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962, and proceeding by convention to Master of Arts in 1966.The Cambridge University List of Members up to 31 December 1991 (Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. 242. After graduating from Cambridge Chesshyre worked for Moët et Chandon and John Harvey & Sons between 1962 and 1965. He then studied at Christ Church, Oxford, where he was awarded a Diploma in Education in 1967."Chesshyre, (David) Hubert (Boothby)", Who's Who (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2019). Retrieved 4 February 2020.
Chesshyre very briefly served in the Honourable Artillery Company from 1964 until 1965.Debrett's People of Today, s.v. Chesshyre, David Hubert Boothy.
Heraldic career
College of Arms
Having received his Diploma in Education from Oxford, Chesshyre did not enter the teaching profession, but instead was appointed in 1967 to a position as an assistant at the College of Arms.College of Arms Newsletter, no. 26 (September 2010). As archived at the Internet Archive on 15 March 2015. He was a Green Staff Officer at the Investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969. Appointed a member of the Chapter of the College of Arms the following year, he served as Rouge Croix Pursuivant (1970–78), Chester Herald (1978–95), Norroy and Ulster King of Arms and Principal Herald of the North part of England and of Northern Ireland (1995–97), and Clarenceux King of Arms and Principal Herald for the South, East and West parts of England (1997–2010). From 1971 until 1978 he also served on the staff of Anthony Wagner. He was Registrar of the College of Arms from 1992 until 2000 and was the Founder Secretary of the College of Arms Uniform Fund in 1980, serving in that capacity until 1999.Heralds of Today (2nd edn.), p. 11. From early in his career Chesshyre from time to time served as a deputy to Garter Principal King of Arms for the purpose of introducing peers into the House of Lords. For example, in 1975 he introduced Baroness Vickers.Antony Hodgson, 'The College of Arms', Hand in Hand: International Journal of the Commercial Union Assurance Company, vol. 3, no. 5 (June 1980), 16–23 (20, with illustration).
As a herald, Chesshyre designed the coats of arms of a number of notable people, including the former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath,The Heraldry Gazette, NS 51 (March 1994), p. 3 two Speakers of the House of Commons (Baroness Boothroyd and John Bercow),The Heraldry Gazette, NS 53 (September 1994), p. 6 the Archbishop of York David Hope,The Heraldry Gazette, NS 48 (June 1993), p. 6 the businessman Lord Sugar, the musician Sir Paul McCartney,Robert Lampitt, 'College of Arms Visit', Wyre Drawer: Newsletter of the Worshipful Company of Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers, edition 7 (Autumn 2004), pp. 6–7. the author Sir Terry Pratchett and the actor Sir John Hurt.
Chesshyre was Secretary of the Order of the Garter from 1988 until 2003, having been trained for the role by his predecessor Walter Verco and by Verco's predecessor-but-one, Anthony Wagner. Upon his resignation Chesshyre had an audience with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, during which he surrendered his badge of office. Following the 1992 Windsor Castle fire Chesshyre was, together with Peter Begent, appointed heraldic consultant for the reconstruction of St George's Hall.Peter J. Begent and Hubert Chesshyre, The most noble Order of the Garter 650 years, with a foreword by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh KG and a chapter on the statutes of the Order by Lisa Jefferson (London: Spink, 1999), p. 300. Chesshyre was also Honorary Genealogist of The Society of the Friends of St George's and Descendants of the Knights of the Garter.Heralds of Today (2nd edn.), p. 12. He also served for twenty-three years as Honorary Genealogist to the Royal Victorian Order (1987–2010), again, succeeding Walter Verco.The London Gazette no. 51108 (2 November 1987), 13495. As Ulster King of Arms (merged with Norroy) Chesshyre also held the technically extant position of King of Arms, Registrar, and Knight Attendant of the Order of St Patrick. He was therefore briefly one of just two members of the Order of St Patrick, the other member being Queen Elizabeth II, who remained Sovereign of the Order.Ronald Allison and Sarah Riddell, The Royal Encyclopedia (London: Macmillan, 1991), p. 356.Peter Galloway, The Most Illustrious Order: The Order of St Patrick and its Knights (2nd edn., Unicorn, 1999), p. 211.Brian Hoey, At Home with the Queen: Life Through the Keyhole of the Royal Household (London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2003), p. 268.
Chesshyre retired from the College of Arms on 31 August 2010. His last public duties took place at the State Opening of Parliament on 25 May 2010 and at the Garter Day ceremony on 14 June 2010. Commentating on the State Opening for the BBC, Huw Edwards remarked upon Chesshyre's forty years of service.
Other work
In 1973, Chesshyre completed a report into the missing collar on the tomb of Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey.The National Archives: Manuscripts in the Society of Antiquaries of London. Regalia of Queen Elizabeth. "The Restoration of the Regalia to the Tomb of Queen Elizabeth the First in Westminster Abbey: Research into the Identity of the Collar Missing from the Queen's Marble Effigy", by David Hubert Boothby Chesshyre, FSA, Rouge Croix Pursuivant. SAL/MS/852 1973. Paper; ff. 69. 1973. Cloth, red. Presented by Brian Court-Mappin, May 1974. Giftbook entry, 9 May 1974. Accessed 27 October 2011. He was a member of the Abbey's Architectural Advisory Panel from 1985 until 1998, and then of its Fabric Commission from 1998 until 2003. He was also heraldic advisor for the west window of the Henry VII Lady Chapel, donated by John Templeton and devised by Donald Buttress, which Elizabeth II unveiled in 1995.Donald Buttress, "Restoring the chapel, 1991–6", in Tim Tatton-Brown and Richard Mortimer, eds., Westminster Abbey: The Lady Chapel of Henry VII (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2003), pp. 343ff. (354).Susan Matthews, "Stained glass history and technique", The Escutcheon: The Journal of the Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society, vol. 9, no. 2 (Lent Term 2004), 19–20 (19)
Chesshyre served as heraldic advisor to the committee that organised the re-enactment of the funeral of Arthur, Prince of Wales in Worcester on 3 May 2002. On the day of the re-enactment, Chesshyre processed through the streets of Worcester bearing Arthur's crested helm, followed by other heralds bearing his sword, tabard, gauntlets, and spurs.Steven Gunn and Linda Monckto, eds, Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales: Life, Death and Commemoration (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2009), pp. 168, 171, colour plate IX).
Chesshyre worked as a freelance lecturer in the United Kingdom and abroad. For many years he lectured for the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies and Speaker Finders.
Chesshyre has been credited with establishing the probable origins of the common error of using the term crest to refer to the whole achievement. He explains that in the 18th century it was common for smaller items, such as spoons and forks, to be engraved with the crest alone, while the full achievement was reserved for larger items such as salvers. For this reason a number of publications appeared from the late 18th century through to the early 20th century which recorded only crests. Chesshyre later successfully lobbied the chief revise editor of The Times to include an explanation of the precise meaning of the term crest in a new edition of the newspaper's staff manual.'Up in arms' and 'And about time too', in The Seaxe: Newsletter of the Middlesex Heraldry Society, no. 7 (September 1995), p. 4.
Chesshyre was a choral clerk of Trinity College, Cambridge during his time as an undergraduate at the college.Who's Who 2010 (162nd year of issue) (London: A. & C. Black, 2009), s.v. 'Chesshyre, David Hubert Boothby' (p. 418). From 1979 until 1993 Chesshyre was a member of The Bach Choir.List of Associate Members published in all Bach Choir concert programmes, e.g. Verdi, Requiem and Glazunov Violin Concerto, performed by The Bach Choir and Chetham's Chamber Choir and Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Hill, at Chester Cathedral on 27 February and at the Royal Festival Hall on 2 March 2010, with an introduction by HRH The Earl of Wessex and notes by Katharine Richman and Molly Cockburn (printed by the Brunswick Press). Chesshyre sang for the London Docklands Singers, which he joined in 2002. He was, from 1980, a member of the Madrigal Society, the oldest musical society in Europe (see Madrigal). He became a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians in 1994 and a Liveryman of the Company in 1995.
Scholarly publications