Thomas Innes of Learney

Sir Thomas Innes of Learney GCVO WS (1893–1971) was a Scottish officer of arms who was Lord Lyon from 1945[1] to 1969.

He was a very active Lord Lyon, strongly promoting his views of what his office was through his writings and pronouncements in his Court.

His treatise, Scots Heraldry, was first published in 1934 when he was Carrick Pursuivant; then a second, enlarged edition came out in 1956, and it has practically eclipsed earlier works on the subject.

[3] Innes of Learney's writings contain a number of theories which, at a time when English armorial law had come to dominate even Scottish heraldry, may have seemed quite novel, despite his claims that they were grounded in Scotland's feudal past.

Most notable is the claim that a grant of arms in Scotland confers what he calls "noblesse" and equates with nobility in the original sense, namely basic untitled nobility possessed by everyone noble, from Gentleman to Duke – though the word is nowadays generally taken to mean exclusively the Peerage, which is why the French word noblesse seemed to him a better term.