Gerard Legh or Leigh (died 1563) was an English lawyer, known as a writer on

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

Life

He was the son of Henry Legh, draper, of

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

, London, by his first wife Isabel Cailis or Callis. He was educated by Robert Wroth of Durants in Enfield, Middlesex, and probably by Richard Goodrich. Though Anthony Wood places him in the ''Athenæ Oxonienses'' (i. 428), he was not a student at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. He served an apprenticeship to his father and became a member of the Drapers' Company. Subsequently, he became a member of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

. He travelled in France, and in 1562 was preparing for a journey to Venice. He died of the plague on 13 October 1563, and was buried on the 15th at St. Dunstan-in-the-West, where a monument was erected to his memory. He left a widow, Alice, and five daughters.

''The Accedens of Armory''

Legh's only work, entitled ''The Accedens of Armory'', London, 1562 (later editions, some published as ''The Accedence of Armorie'', 1568, 1572, 1576, 1591, 1597, and 1612), is written in form of a colloquy between 'Gerarde the Herehaught and Legh the Caligat Knight.' Richard Argall of the Inner Temple supplied a prefatory address and probably part of the latter passages of the book. In endeavouring to explain the art of heraldry, Legh is purposely obscure from fear of trenching on the official privileges of the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

. The work supplies what appears to be a portrait of Legh himself in the fictitious character of 'Panther Herald.' J. P. Cooper described the book as "perhaps the most popular heraldic work of the later 16th-century." Its theories on gentility are based on those of the '' Boke of St Albans'', with minor modifications; the consequence being that "highly restrictive definitions of gentility and right to bear arms without foundation in common law or long established usage were widely circulated." The work strongly influenced the ''Workes of Armorie'' (1572) of John Bossewell.

References

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Legh, Gerard Year of birth missing 1563 deaths English lawyers Heraldists Writers from London 16th-century English writers 16th-century English male writers 16th-century English lawyers