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PREFACE.

it seems doubtful whether that of the Order of Saint Patrickhas been regularly kept, even if any be in existence.

Many of the difficulties which arose out of these circum-stances were, however, materially lessened by the kindness ofSir William Woods, Garter; of Sir William Betham, Ulster;and of Albert William Woods, Esquire, Deputy Secretary andDeputy Registrar of the Order of the Bath. Sir WilliamWoods, in the most obliging manner, furnished Extracts from“ Garter’s Register,” which commences in 1644, of the Elec-tions, Investitures, Installations, and Deaths of the Knights,and supplied every other information in his power. SirWilliam Betham was no less serviceable, with respect to theOrder of Saint Patrick; and Mr. Albert Woods, at the sacri-fice of much time and labour, afforded that assistance in com-pleting the Lists, with the various facts and dates, of theKnights Grand Cross, Knights Commanders, and Compa-nions of the Bath, without which they could not have beenmade either so full, or so correct, as they are now presumedto be.

As the Register and other records of the Order of theThistle, and of Saint Michael and Saint George (the latter ofwhich are in the Author’s official custody) have been consulted,and as the earliest Register of the Order of the Garter, nowextant, is printed, every existing authority has been referredto, except the Register of the Garter between the years 1553and 1644; and it is only just that the reason of those recordsnot having been as carefully examined as all the other mate-rials, should be stated.