Edwin
No, neither the College of Arms nor the Earl Marshal's court are public
record bodies, since neither is 'under Her Majesty's Government in the
United Kingdom' (Public Records Act 1958, sch 1 para 2(1)(b)), and neither
is mentioned in the lists of bodies later in the schedule.
This does not of course mean that the records of either are the property of
the grantees of arms. All the grantee pays for, as I understand it, is the
design for a coat and the right to bear them. The records created in that
process do not belong to the grantee, any more than the records created by a
solicitor when administering a will belong to his client.
If anyone thinks that they need to know the current definition of public
records, I can supply a copy of the Public Records Act as amended (some 80
and more times since 1958).
Tim
---------------
Tim Padfield
Copyright Officer
Curator of Photographs
Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council on Public Records
Public Record Office
Tel: 020-8876 3444 ext 2351
Fax: 020-8392 5295
> ----------
> From: Edwin King[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To: Edwin King
> Sent: 30 November 1999 23:18
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: College of Arms - Public or Private Records?
>
> In another place the question has been asked whether the records of the
> College of Arms are public records or not.
>
> The arguement for is that some records of the CoA were stated as as such
> by the 1833 Commission on Public Records. My argument is that they are
> not, unless stated as such by the Public Records Acts (which superceeded
> any decision by a mere Commission) and that if so, the records relating
> to the Earl Marshal's Court and the granting of arms are public, but
> that the records relating to the design of and petitioning for arms are
> the property of the petitioners (who have paid a fee for their
> creation).
>
> However, I don't have a copy of the acts at hand. Do the Public Records
> Act bear on these records? Is the College of Arms listed in the
> Schedule to the Act?
>
> For those who don't revel in the Internet as a place for rooting out
> trivia, I apologise. But I *do* think that the definition of Public
> records is on-topic for us.
>
> Edwin
>
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