Grant of a Badge to Sir John Carre of Hart co. Durham: The White Lion Society has generously given the College of Arms one of the earliest surviving patents granting a livery badge. Purchased at the Morningthorpe Manor sale on 9 September 2016, it is the grant of a badge to Sir John Carre of Hart in the Bishopric of Durham made by Thomas Wriothesley, Garter King of Arms, and John Yonge, Norroy, dated 14 March 1515/16 and bearing their armorial seals. Described as a device or cognizance, the badge is the head of a cerf (hart), so a clear pun on Sir John Carre's place of residence. It is depicted on a standard, a tapering flag with the Cross of St George in the hoist.
The patent is known to have been in the possession of the Marquess of Bristol in the 20th century, and is presumed to have been inherited by his family through the marriage in 1688 of his ancestor John Hervey, Earl of Bristol, to Isabella, daughter of Sir Robert Carr, Bt., of Sleaford in Lincolnshire. However, the link between the Carrs of Sleaford and Sir John Carre of Hart has not been established with certainty.