Ralph Sheldon

Ralph Sheldon (1623–1684) was a Roman Catholic Royalist and an antiquary, who bequeathed his library of books and manuscripts to the College of Arms, the authority over heraldry and pedigree in England.

Sheldon was born on 1 August 1623 at Beoley, Worcestershire, eldest son of the landowner William Sheldon (1589–1659) of Beoley and of Weston in Long Compton, Warwickshire, and his wife Elizabeth (1592–1656), daughter of William, Lord Petre. He was a nephew of Edward Sheldon, the translator of Catholic religious works.

The Sheldons were among the wealthiest gentry families in their own region; however, their Catholicism prevented any prominent position in public life."

Ralph Sheldon left England for France and Italy in 1642 and returned just before his marriage in 1647 to Lady Henrietta Maria, daughter of John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers (c. 1603–1654), a wealthy Catholic politician and Royalist from Cheshire. In the English Civil War, Beoley Hall was burnt down, apparently to stop it falling into the hands of the Parliamentarian forces. The estate was sequestered.

After the Restoration of 1660, Sheldon was nominated for a contemplated Order of the Royal Oak, in honour of his family's devotion to Royalism.

Sheldon's wife died childless in 1663, possibly of the plague, after which he devoted himself wholly to genealogy, heraldry, and antiquities and drew up a Catalogue of the Nobility of England since the Norman Conquest. He created a fine library at Weston, which was catalogued by his fellow antiquary Anthony Wood. He also kept a cabinet of curiosities. Sheldon again travelled to Rome in 1667 and spent three years there expanding his collection. He was described by Wood as "a munificent favourer of learning and learned men".

Sheldon granted a pension to the antiquary John Vincent and purchased from him an important collection of manuscripts which had belonged to his father, Augustine Vincent, the Windsor Herald (c. 1584–1626). This and many of his own possessions were left in his will to the College of Arms.

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