SIR WILLIAM HEARNE, Knight of Maidenhead, County of Berks, was born December 5, 1745. This gentleman, a lawyer by profession, was elected Sheriff of London in 1797, on which occasion he had the unusual honor of being opposed by a nobleman in the person of the Earl of Lauderdale. Sir William secured the honor of Knighthood. He afterwards was Deputy Lieutenant of Berkshire. He derived his lineage from

MR. ALDERMAN RICHARD HEARNE, of an ancient family of the city of London, who was elected Sheriff in 1618. He left a son and successor, NICHOLAS HEARNE, who married and left two sons.

1. SIR NATHANIEL HEARNE, Knight, Alderman, and in 1674 Sheriff of London, who married Judith, daughter of Sir John Frederick, Lord Mayor of London, and had with other issue a son, Frederick, of London, whose daughter Judith married William, the second Earl of Jersey.

2. BASIL HEARNE, Esq. (son of Nathaniel), who was succeeded by his son Basil Hearne, Esq., who was succeeded by his son Basil Hearne, Esq., the father of Sir William Hearne of Maidenhead, Berkshire.

I insert here an interpretation of the Coat of Arms, from an eminent scholar, Rev, William S. Rvland LL.D. and D.D., President of Bethel College, Russelville, Kentucky.

“The shield is described as sable (sa.) or black, and it is the field, or ground, on which the armorial bearings are grouped. Some are red, gold or silver. Rothschild is red shield and is pronounced ‘Rote-shild.’ ‘A chevron’ means a bar whose width is one-fifth the length of the shield, the ornamentation of which is ‘ermine.’ This, you know, is the fur lining, or trimming, of royal robes, and of a judge’s robe, in the higher courts of Great Britain, The ermine itself is supposed to be spotless. symbolizing the purity of justice. but the ornaments on it are intended to stand for the tips of the tails of the little animals whose skins make the valuable lining in ques- tion, the whole fur except these tips being a pure white. ‘Between three herons argent’ means between three silver herons. Argent is

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