John de HAVILLAND

John de Havilland (1826–1886) was a British officer of arms and member of an ancient Anglo-Norman family. As a young man, he served as a lieutenant in the American army during the Mexican-American War (1846–1848). Upon his return to England, he became a barrister in London and was received as a Knight of Justice of the Order of Malta. In 1866, he entered the College of Arms as Rouge Croix Pursuivant, where he devoted himself to genealogy and heraldry, before being promoted to York Herald in 1872. His connection with Mexico continued in his writings: in 1863, he published Le Mexique sous la maison de Habsbourg, a pamphlet in favor of Maximilian of Austria. His career illustrates heraldic scholarship, monarchist commitment, and transatlantic military experience.