The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from an elaborate medieval ceremony for preparing a candidate to receive his knighthood,of which ritual bathing was an element. While not all knights went through such an elaborate ceremony,knights so created were known as "knights of the Bath".
The following is the order of precedence in England and Wales as of May 2024. Separate orders exist for men and women.
The College of Arms,or Heralds' College,is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms,with jurisdiction over England,Wales,Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sovereign and are delegated authority to act on behalf of the Crown in all matters of heraldry,the granting of new coats of arms,genealogical research and the recording of pedigrees. The College is also the official body responsible for matters relating to the flying of flags on land,and it maintains the official registers of flags and other national symbols. Though a part of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom,the College is self-financed,unsupported by any public funds.
Sir John Bernard Burke,was a British genealogist and Ulster King of Arms,who helped publish Burke's Peerage.
Sir Albert William Woods was an English officer of arms,who served as Garter Principal King of Arms from 1869 to 1904. The Woods family has a strong tradition of service at the College of Arms. Albert Woods was the son of Sir William Woods,Garter King of Arms from 1838 until his death in 1842. Likewise,the grandson of Albert Woods was Sir Gerald Woods Wollaston,who also rose to the rank of Garter King of Arms and served there from 1930 until 1944.
Sir Peter Llewellyn Gwynn-Jones was a long-serving Officer of Arms at the College of Arms in London. He was Garter Principal King of Arms,the senior English officer of arms,from 1995 to 2010.
John Philip Brooke Brooke-Little was an English writer on heraldic subjects,and a long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London. In 1947,while still a student,Brooke-Little founded the Society of Heraldic Antiquaries,now known as the Heraldry Society and recognised as one of the leading learned societies in its field. He served as the society's chairman for 50 years and then as its president from 1997 until his death in 2006.
David Hubert Boothby Chesshyre was a British officer of arms.
Sir Thomas Woodcock FRHSC is a genealogist who served as Garter Principal King of Arms at the College of Arms from 2010 to 2021.
Patric Laurence Dickinson is a former English officer of arms. He served as Clarenceux King of Arms from 2010 until 2021. He has worked at the College of Arms in London since 1968.
Sir Anthony Richard Wagner was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He served as Garter Principal King of Arms before retiring to the post of Clarenceux King of Arms. He was one of the most prolific authors on the subjects of heraldry and genealogy of the 20th century.
Sir Conrad Marshall John Fisher Swan was a Canadian-British herald who was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Having been first appointed to work at the College in 1962,he rose to the office of Garter Principal King of Arms in 1992,a position he held until 1995. He was the first Canadian ever to be appointed to the College of Arms.
Sir Henry Farnham Burke,(1859–1930) was a long-serving Anglo-Irish officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.
Sir Algar Henry Stafford Howard was a senior British Army officer and long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He served as the Garter Principal King of Arms from 1944 to 1950 before retiring. He was the third consecutive Fitzalan Pursuivant of Arms Extraordinary to attain the highest rank at the College of Arms.
Sir George Rothe Bellew,,styled The Honourable after 1935,was a long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London. Educated at the University of Oxford,he was appointed Portcullis Pursuivant in 1922. Having been Somerset Herald for 24 years,he was promoted to the office of Garter Principal King of Arms in 1950,the highest heraldic office in England and Wales. He served in that capacity until his resignation in 1961. As Garter,Bellew oversaw the funeral of George VI,proclaimed the late King's daughter,Elizabeth II,as Queen and took a leading role in the organisation of her Coronation in 1953. After his retirement,Bellew was Secretary of the Order of the Garter and Knight Principal of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor. He lived for many years at Dower House in Old Windsor,Berkshire,but later moved to Farnham and died in 1993,aged 93.
Timothy Hugh Stewart Duke,FSA is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.
Robert John Baptist Noel is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Formerly the Bluemantle Pursuivant,then the Lancaster Herald,he has been Norroy and Ulster King of Arms since April 2021.
Alfred Trego Butler MVO,MC,FSA,FASG was a genealogist and officer of arms at the College of Arms in London.
Most prime ministers of the United Kingdom have enjoyed the right to display coats of arms and to this day,prime ministers have their ancestral arms approved,or new armorial bearings granted,either by the College of Arms or the Lyon Court.
The coat of arms of the Prince of Wales is the official personal heraldic insignia of the Princes of Wales,a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,formerly the Kingdom of Great Britain and before that the Kingdom of England.
