Charles Franklyn

Dr Charles Aubrey Hamilton Franklyn M.A. M.D. (August 25, 1896 - November 26, 1982) was a British medical doctor, and scholar of genealogy, heraldry, and academic dress. He was the son of Captain Aubrey H. Franklin and his wife Ethel M. Franklin. It seems that Charles altered the spelling of his surname later in life.

He traced his interest in academic dress to September 1910, when he became a pupil at Tonbridge School, and it retained considerable fascination for him for the rest of his life. Between 1949 and 1956 he designed complete systems of academic dress for the universities of Malaya, Southampton, Hull, the Australian National University, and the Chichester Theological College. At various times he contributed to the academic dress schemes of several other universities (in particular, the universities of Cambridge and Nottingham, and the University of Ulster at Coleraine). He also served as Bedell of Convocation at the University of London.

His 1970 monograph on academic dress, the result of many years' research, is unfortunately rather difficult to find (primarily due to its limited print run, and the author's insistence that any unwanted copies be returned to him rather than sold on) but contains a large amount of valuable information on the subject. Its tone is in places somewhat opinionated, and other scholars have questioned a number of the assertions it contains; however it remains a standard text on the subject.