HERALDRY: Chavasse Coat of Arms

Martlets sable (St Peter's
Website)

The St Peter's College arms are impaled with the St Peter's Church arms dexter and the Chavasse arms sinister. The arms of the church are straightforward – keys for St Peter and a building for the church.

The arms of Chavasse include a four martlets (shown sometimes in outline as at left and sometimes as sable as at right) around a cross of St George, with a miter or at center. The miter is explained by the bishopric of Francis James Chavasse. But where do the martlets come from?

University College. One possible source of the martlets is the Univ coat of arms, which includes five martlets sable. The Chavasse family has had an association with Univ at least since May 1880, when after a bump supper an undergraduate played a practical joke on Fellow Albert Sidney Chavasse, cousin of Francis James Chavasse, by screwing tight the door to his room. Since Chavasse, who was a Univ. Fellow from 1864 to 1902, had recently been appointed Senior Proctor, both the university and College were angered at this affront to their authority. After a vote by the Univ Fellows, the Master (George Bradley) responded by sending down ("rusticating") the entire Univ student body unless the guilty person(s) came forward. Chavasse was the sole Fellow who was good-humored about the prank and who voted against the proposal. The undergraduates who knew the name of the perpetrator refused to squeal (snitch, peach) and the others refused to engage in a witch-hunt among their members. So they all left en masse that day. In any case, the perpetrator – one Samuel Sandbach – had already gone down to a yeomanry camp. When he was informed what had happened he confessed immediately and the undergraduates were permitted to return after a week's involuntary absence. The incident attracted newspaper comment to the effect that while the prank was ill conceived, the scope of the College's punishment was excessive. A large number of cartoons appeared about the incident, one of them with Chavasse climbing into his bedroom on a ladder. Possibly the Chavasse family takes special pride in the incident because Albert Chavasse, the victim, took the incident in his stride and did not overreact like his colleagues.

Sutton Coldfield. Bishop Chavasse was born in Sutton Coldfield and his arms may incorporate the birds in the Sutton Coldfield arms, which were in turn derived from the arms of bishop John Vesey. However, these birds are not martlets because they have feet, like the birds of the arms of Thomas More–or the choughs in the arms of Thomas à Becket. The Chavasse arms may hark back to the attributed arms of Edward the Confessor, the blazon for which is "Azure a cross flory between five martlets or."

Liverpool. Bishop Chavasse was the second Bishop of Liverpool, and the Liver Bird is a symbol of the city. However, this bird looks like a cormorant, with a beak, long neck and feet. The martlets of the Chavasse family don't look like liver birds. (Paul McCartney adopted a singing liver bird with guitar for his coat of arms.)

Bottom Line. My best guess right now is that the martlets sable in the Chavasse arms reference the arms of Univ. or those of Edward the Confessor. However, I continue to be puzzled about this and would welcome alternative hypotheses or evidence.

Sources:
Chavasse, Albert S. Undergraduate Diary, 1865-68.
Darwall-Smith, Robin, A History of Univ. College Oxford (Oxford, 2008), 402-6.   
Mitchell, L.G. "The Screwing up of the Dean", Univ. College Record, XI:4 (1996), 69-81.
Sutton Coldfield. Town website.
Univ. Library. UC:P45/MS/1, originally sent to Wild by the son of Sir Michael Sadler.
Univ. website: The Sending Down of 1880. Further Sources on the Sending Down of 1880. (Both catalogued Jan. 1996.)
Univ. website: Cartoons about the Sending Down of 1880. (Catalogued June 2013)
Wild, J.H.S. Collection, Univ. Muniment Room, Aug. 1951.

Other Posts on the Arms of Oxford Colleges and PPHs: Original Article in Oxford Today . Heraldry as Branding . Heraldry as Fun .  Coat of Arms vs. Crest . Sinister Questions . Visit to the College of Arms . Windsor Herald Talks to New Yorkers . Shaming of Harvard Law Shield :: Rapid Expansion of Oxford's Colleges and Halls . Oxford Stars . HERALDRY SUPERLINK . Harris Manchester College . Linacre College . St Catherine's . St Cross College . St Edmund Hall . St Peter's College . Trinity College :: Regent's Park College . St Benet's Hall

Other Related Posts: Douglas Arms in France

HERALDRY: St. Peter's College and the Chavasse Arms

Arms of St Peter's College.

Blazon: Per pale Vert and Argent dexter two Keys in saltire Or surmounted by a triple towered Castle of the second masoned Sable sinister a Cross Gules surmounted by a Mitre of the third between four Martlets Sable the whole within a bordure Or. 

Authority: St. Peter's Hall was granted arms the year it was founded, on 19 Dec 1929. In 1947 St. Peter's Hall was given the full privileges of a College as a "New Foundation" and the name has been St Peter’s College since 1961.

Meaning: The St Peter's shield incorporates devices representing: (1) On the right (green) half as seen from the perspective of the shield-holder are the arms of the church of St Peter-le-Bailey, i.e., the crossed keys of St Peter and the superimposed bailey or castle fortification. (2) On the left half, the four birds around the English St George's red cross and the bishop's miter signify the arms of the founder Bishop Francis James Chavasse,

History: St Peter’s College was founded as St Peter's Hall in 1929 by Bishop Francis James Chavasse (1846-1928) and his son Christopher Maude Chavasse (1884-1962), later bishop of Rochester. Bishop Francis Chavasse's dreamed of a new Oxford hall that would seek out eligible young men from poor circumstances. It was realized the year after the Bishop's death. Bishop Chavasse's son Christopher became the first Master of St Peter's. Christopher Chavasse was awarded the Military Cross in World War I.

Noel Chavasse.

Christopher's twin brother Noel Chavasse won the only Victoria Cross with bar in World War I. Noel Chavasse has been described as the "Oxford's greatest military hero in the 20th century" by David Horan, author of Oxford: A Cultural and Literary Companion.

Noel and his twin brother Francis matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford in 1904 or 1905 and competed in sports (rugby and athletics) for the University; both ran for Britain in the Olympics. The 1920 Oxford University Roll of Service included the names of 820 Trinity men who served in the Great War. Of them, 153 or nearly one-fifth, died while serving their country.

Here are the names of the four Chavasse men, two of whom were killed in action in World War I:

Capt Noel Chavasse was in the medical corps, treating injured soldiers, and for his bravery in August 1916 in Guillemot, Noel was awarded his first Victoria Cross, the highest military honor. He won a second VC in a battle in Belgium that killed him in 1917. He is the only soldier in World War I who won the VC a second time ("with Bar"). He is also only one of three soldiers ever to have won the VC with bar and the only Oxford alumnus. He is buried in Belgium.

Christopher Chavasse was an Army chaplain wounded at Cambrai in 1917, and, as mentioned, was awarded the MC.

Capt Francis Bernard Chavasse, also a medic with the RAMC, was wounded at Hooge and was awarded the MC. Francis became the first Master of St Peter's in 1929 and co-founder with his father of St. Peter's Hall (later College), Oxford.

Lt Aidan Chavasse, the youngest brother, also served with the 11th Battalion of the King’s Liverpool regiment, renowned as volunteering for dangerous missions and was judged by his Brigade-Major to be the bravest man under his command. He was wounded on a mission to inspect German wire near Sanctuary Wood in July 17. He sent his patrol back to safety and took cover in a shell-hole. His body was never found.

In total, the Chavasse boys were awarded 21 medals for their actions during WWI. Their two sisters, Marjorie and May, served as volunteer nurses at soldiers’ hospitals.

Memorials, 2016-2017

Several centennial events celebrate the bravery of the Chavasse family, and Noel in particular, along with an exhibition at the west end of the St Peter's College Chapel:

May 2016. General Sir Nicholas Houghton, then Chief of the Defence Staff, and a St Peter’s alumnus and Honorary Fellow, spoke about Noel Chavasse.

Oct. 13, 2016.  Award-winning broadcaster and author Jeremy Paxman delivered the second Chavasse memorial lecture at the Sheldonian Theatre before an audience of hundreds, including descendants of the Chavasse family. He spoke on "World War I: The War to End War", reminding his audience of the daily horrors of trench warfare and the sequence of events that led to it. He answered questions from the Master, Mark Damazer CBE, and members of the audience.

Memorial to Noel Chavasse at Trinity
College. Photo by JT Marlin.

Oct. 23, 2016. A ceremony at St Peter's College Chapel commemorated Noel Chavasse's two Victoria Crosses. The Chapel, originally the church of St Peter-le-Bailey, was where the twins were both baptized. The service was conducted by the chaplains of St Peter’s and Trinity and the two chapel choirs combined to number about 40 producing what is reported as "a glorious sound". The service concluded with the famous quatrain of Laurence Binyon (Trinity 1888) from his poem, “They shall not grow old” set to music by 13-year-old Zachary Roberts.

Feb. 2, 2017. A Trinity College lecture to commemorate Noel Chavasse will be delivered by Professor Mark Harrison, Professor of the History of Medicine, Director of the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine. His topic was "Part of the Family–the Medical Officer on the Western Front." A bronze of Noel Chavasse showing him dragging a wounded soldier from no-man’s land is located outside the library entrance. A bust of Chavasse is inside the library and a portrait of Chavasse in the Chavasse Suite on Staircase 16.

Sources: David Horan, Oxford: A Cultural and Literary Companion. Websites of St Peter's and Trinity College. Ian Senior, Trinity College Newsletter.

Other Posts on the Arms of Oxford Colleges and PPHs: In Alphabetical Order . 
Chavasse Coat of Arms . Original Article in Oxford Today . Heraldry as Branding . Heraldry as Fun .  Coat of Arms vs. Crest . Sinister Questions . Visit to the College of Arms . Windsor Herald Talks to New Yorkers . Shaming of Harvard Law Shield :: Rapid Expansion of Oxford's Colleges and Halls . Oxford Stars . HERALDRY SUPERLINK . Harris Manchester College . Linacre College . St Catherine's . St Cross College . St Edmund Hall . St Peter's College . Trinity College :: Regent's Park College . St Benet's Hall .