The Arms of Sir Stephen Arthur, Bt
Noel Cox
first published (Spring 2000) 76 New Zealand Armorist 2-3
Sir Stephen John Arthur, sixth baronet of Upper Canada, in the baronetage of the United Kingdom, succeeded in 1985. Sir Stephen lives at Grene Gables, Seadown, RD3, Timaru.
Sir Stephen's father, the Honourable Sir Basil Malcolm, Bt, was a Member of Parliament for Timaru from 1962, and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1984, until his death in 1985. He was Minister of Transport 1972-75. Sir Basil, who succeeded to the title in 1949, was a prominent unionist, and was President of the Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Workers Union, and a member of its national executive. A hatchment of Sir Basil Arthur's armorial bearings is illustrated in the New Zealand Armorist no 26.
The Arthur family, originally from Cornwall, settled in Devon in the early eighteenth century. The origin of the name would appear to be a personal name, and given its west country origins, the family doubtless could have laid claim to a connection with King Arthur himself. The relationship of the present family with the ancient family of Arthur is uncertain.
The first baronet, created 1841, was the Right Honourable Sir George Arthur, KCH, a Lieutenant-General in the British army. He was successively Governor of Honduras, Van Diemen's Land, Upper Canada, and Bombay, and provisional Governor-General of India 1846.
The arms of the baronets are Or, on a chevron Azure, between two clarions in chief Gules and a kangaroo sejant in base Proper, two swords the points upward also Proper pommels and hilts Or; on a chief Gules a horse courant Argent.
The family were amongst the first to include kangaroos as a charge in their armorial bearings. In this case it was a reference to the service Sir George saw in Australia. The clarion, or rest (a musical instrument), shaped like a mouth-organ with a curved handle, is from the ancient arms of Arthur. Sir Thomas Arthur bore, at the siege of Rouen in 1418, Gules, a chevron Argent between three clarions Or.
The horse courant Argent is from the arms of Hanover. This emblem was first introduced to England with the Celtic invasions of the second century BC, and returned with the Saxons in the fifth century AD. It is best known however as the White Horse of Hanover, and as such entered the Royal Arms in 1714 on the accession of King George I, as the symbol of Westphalia.
The crest is In front of two swords in saltire Proper pommels and hilts Or, a pelican in her piety Sable the nest Or. The pelican is "in its piety" when depicted standing in its nest and with its brood of young.
The motto is Stet Fortuna Domus.
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