William Harvey (officer of arms)

Born June 1510 to Turner and Mary Harvey in Ashill, Somerset.

[1] According to the Dictionary of National Biography William Harvey became a junior officer of the college of arms and was appointed the Bluemantle Pursuivant in ordinary on 18 June 1536.

Under this title he was recorded as being the only officer of arms to attend the funeral of Catherine Queen dowager of King Henry VIII.

Most strikingly he was despatched to France on 7 June 1557 to declare war on behalf of Queen Mary.

Harvey is a central character in James Forrester's 2011 novel Sacred Treason.