Charles Franklyn

Background

He was the son of Captain (later Major) Aubrey Hamilton Franklin and his wife Ethel Mary Franklin (née Gray), altering the spelling of his surname in 1932, as a result of his research into his own family history.

Career

He traced his interest in academic dress to September 1910, when he became a pupil at Tonbridge School, and it retained considerable fascination for him for the rest of his life. Between 1949 and 1956 he designed complete systems of academic dress for the universities of Malaya (which bestowed upon him an honorary Master of Arts in 1951), Southampton, Hull, the Australian National University, and the Chichester Theological College. At various times he contributed to the academic dress schemes of several other universities (in particular, the universities of Cambridge and Nottingham, and the New University of Ulster).

He also served as Bedell of Convocation at the University of London.

His 1970 monograph on academic dress, the result of many years" research, is somewhat difficult to find (primarily due to its limited print run, and the author"s insistence that any unwanted copies be returned to him rather than sold on) but contains a large amount of valuable information and remains a standard text on the subject. Franklyn"s coat of arms was as follows:

Arms: Sable, on a bend invected between two martlets or, a dolphin hauriant proper, between a lion"s head and a leopard"s head both erased gules.

Differenced with a crescent. Mantling: Gules and or.Crest: On a wreath of the colours, a demi-conger eel erect or, between two sprigs of hawthorn fructed proper.Motto: Pro rege, patria et familia.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The bearing of coat-armour by ladies;: A guide to the bearing of arms by ladies of all ranks, whether maid, wife, or widow, in England, Scotland, & Ireland,
  • The Bearing of Coat-Armour by Ladies, A Guide to the Bearing of Arms by Ladies of all Ranks, whether Maid, Wife or Widow, in England, Scotland & Ireland