Vincent, Augustine (1584 -1625)

Augustine Vincent was the third and youngest son of William Vincent, of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, and Elizabeth, daughter of John Mabbott, of Walgrave, Merchant of the Staple. Early in his career, he was employed at the Tower of London, where he had access to the state papers, from which he made transcripts. As he became increasingly known as an antiquary, he was appointed Rouge Rose Pursuivant extraordinary in 1616, and employed by William Camden, then Clarenceux King of Arms, as his deputy to conduct a visitation of Northamptonshire and Rutland in 1618, of Warwickshire and Leicestershire in 1619, and of Surrey and Shropshire in 1623. In 1621 he was promoted to Rouge Croix Pursuivant, and was granted new arms, those used on Stamp 2, Or on a pile azure three pierced quatrefoils argent. In 1622 he published A discoverie of errours in the first edition of the catalogue of nobility, an attack on Ralph Brooke, York Herald's A catalogue and succession of the kings, princes, dukes, marquesses, earles, and viscounts of this realme. Discovering, and reforming many errors, which had been published by William Jaggard in 1619. Brooke had previously published an attack on Camden, A discoverie of certaine errours in the much commended Britannia. When Brooke tried to shift the blame for his mistakes on his printer, Vincent successfully defended Jaggard. In 1624 Vincent was appointed Windsor Herald. He married, 30 June 1614, Elizabeth, third daughter of Vincent Primount of Canterbury, who came originally from Bivill la Baignard in Normandy. They had one son John, who also was a zealous antiquary and died in 1671. He annotated his father's manuscripts, wrote several of his own, and added largely to his father's collection of printed books, many of which he had bound with stamp 2 on the sides. He bequeathed his father's manuscripts to Ralph Sheldon, who left them to the College of Arms on his death in 1684.