Randle Holme facts for kids
The Randle Holme name was shared by four generations of a family who lived in Chester, England. They lived from the late 1500s to the early 1700s. All of them were skilled at painting heraldic designs, like family crests, and they were also genealogists, meaning they studied family histories. They were part of the Stationers' Company of Chester, a group for people involved in printing and books.
These Randle Holmes painted special boards for memorials and funerals, called hatchments. You can still find some of these in churches around Cheshire today.
Contents
Randle Holme I (1570/71–1655)
The first Randle Holme was born in Chester. His father was a blacksmith, and his family came from Tranmere. He learned his trade by becoming an apprentice to Thomas Chaloner, who was a deputy to the Norroy King of Arms, a high-ranking heraldry official.
Randle Holme I became an important person in Chester. He was chosen as an alderman (a city council member) and worked for Prince Henry. He was also appointed as a deputy herald for the College of Arms in Cheshire, Lancashire, and North Wales.
His main job was to organize funerals for important people who had the right to display a family crest. He also earned money by painting memorial boards and hatchments. Later in life, he had health problems that made it hard for him to travel. His son, Randle Holme II, often helped him with his duties.
Randle Holme I was sheriff of Chester in 1615–16 and mayor in 1633–34. He stayed in Chester during the Civil War and a serious plague. He helped oversee the repair of the city walls after the war. He passed away in 1655 and was buried at St Mary's on the Hill.
Randle Holme II (c.1601–1659)
Randle Holme II worked closely with his father. He became a deputy herald for Lancashire in 1627. He also held important city jobs in Chester, like city treasurer and clerk for the Stationers' Company.
He was sheriff of Chester in 1633–34, the same year his father was mayor. Later, he became mayor himself in 1643–44. During the siege of Chester in the Civil War, he supported the Royalist side. After the city was captured, he lost his positions as alderman and justice of the peace. In his later years, he focused mostly on being a genealogist. He was buried at St Mary's on the Hill in 1659.
Randle Holme III (1627–1700)
Born in 1627, Randle Holme III was the eldest son of Randle Holme II. He was involved with the Stationers' Company and became an alderman.
King Charles II gave him a special job that didn't require much work, called a "sinecure." However, he got into trouble with Sir William Dugdale, the Norroy King of Arms, for creating heraldry items and charging fees without permission. Dugdale took him to court, and Randle Holme III lost. The court ordered that all the items he had made without permission should be removed or destroyed. Dugdale even traveled north himself to make sure this happened.
Eventually, Randle Holme III made peace with Dugdale and started making funeral certificates for him. In 1678, he became a deputy herald for Chester, Lancashire, and North Wales. He was the only one of the four Randle Holmes not to hold a major city office in Chester. He was also one of the first Freemasons in Chester.
He wrote a large book called The Academie of Armorie. He tried to print parts of it himself, but it was too expensive to finish. The rest of the book was published much later, in 1905. Book 1 is all about heraldry, and the other parts are like an encyclopedia of many different topics. He passed away in 1700 and was buried at St Mary's.
Randle Holme IV (c.1659–1707)
Randle Holme IV worked with his father, Randle Holme III. He was sheriff of Chester in 1705–06 and also served as a deputy herald. He had five children, but sadly, they all passed away young. He died in 1707 and was buried at St Mary's.
Legacy
The Randle Holme family left behind a large collection of 261 volumes of manuscripts, which are now kept in the British Library. All four Randle Holmes collected legal and other important documents. This collection is a very important source for learning about the history of Cheshire.
Many churches in Cheshire still have memorial boards from the time the Randle Holme family was active. It's hard to know for sure which ones were painted by the Holmes, because the boards don't usually say who painted them. However, experts can often tell by the style of the paintings and their dates.
Some examples of memorial boards believed to be by the Randle Holme family can be found in churches like St James' Church, Audlem, St Boniface's Church, Bunbury, St Mary's Church, Thornton-le-Moors, and many others in and around Chester.
A large part of Randle Holme III's book, The Academie of Armorie, was made available on a CD in 2000. This CD, from the British Library, was called Living and Working in Seventeenth Century England: an Encyclopedia of Drawings and Descriptions from Randle Holme's Original Manuscripts for The Academy of Armory (1688).
