Sir Henry Edgar Paston-Bedingfeld, 10th Baronet (born 7 December 1943) is a British baronet and retired officer of arms.
Paston-Bedingfeld is the only son of Sir Edmund Paston-Bedingfeld, 9th Baronet of Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk, by his wife Joan Lynette Rees. He succeeded to the family title upon his father's death on 24 May 2011.[1] He was educated at Ampleforth College, then an all-boys Catholic private school in Ampleforth, Yorkshire.
Paston-Bedingfeld served as Rouge Croix Pursuivant from 1983, and then in 1993 became York Herald. In 2010 he was promoted to Norroy and Ulster King of Arms, the junior of the two provincial Kings-at-Arms, with jurisdiction over the north of England and Northern Ireland.[2] In July 2014, he retired and was succeeded by Timothy Duke.[3]
He is an Honorary Vice-president of the Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society and of the Norfolk Record Society;[4] Sir Henry is also a liveryman of the Bowyers' Company and served as Master of the Scriveners' Company for 2012–13.
In 1968, Paston-Bedingfield married Mary Kathleen, a daughter of Brigadier Robert Ambrose CIE OBE MC, and they have two sons and two daughters; their elder son, Richard (born 1975) is heir apparent to the baronetcy.[1]
| Crest: | 1. An Eagle displayed Or (Bedingfeld), 2. A Griffin sejant wings elevated Or gorged with a Collar Gules therefrom a Line held in the beak and terminating in a Ring of the Last (Paston) |
| Helm: | That of a Knight |
| Escutcheon: | Quarterly, 1st & 4th Ermine an Eagle displayed Gules (Bedingfeld), 2nd & 3rd Argent six Fleurs-de-lys three two and one Azure a Chief indented Or (Paston) |
| Motto: | 1. Despicio terrena, Solem contemplor ("I despise earthly things, I gaze upon the Sun"), 2. De mieulx je pense en mieulx ("I think of better and better things") |
| Orders: | A baronet's badge suspended beneath the arms |
| Symbolism: | A Baronet's badge: |
| Previous Versions: | Sir Henry impaled his company's arms with those of his family during his year of office as Master Scrivener[8] |