A.E. Whitley describes this image as being of Edward I and Henry VI. It is unclear as to why he identified them each as such, but this image is very likely to symbolise the Wars of the Roses, with St. George as patron of England, at the center of the two kings. Henry VI, of the Lancastrian house, was killed in the Battle of Tewksbury, leaving Edward IV, of the House of York, to claim the crown of England. The metaphor can be that whilst England fights in a civil war, Art, Science, and England itself (as represented by St. George) will always endure, as reinforced by the bottom panels which retell the story of St. George and the dragon.There remains some question, however, whether 'Rex Edwardus' is actually Edward IV of the House of York, or his great-great-great grandfather, Edward III. The heraldric banner both behind the king and on his armour, was first used by Edward III. In 1340, to strengthen his claim to the throne of France, Edward III adopted the French fleur-de-lys in the first and fourth quarter of his coat of arms, in conjunction with the three gold lions passant guardant in the other two quarters. Also, the figure appears older and in a more antique style of armour than Henry, which is an argument in favour of Edward III rather than Edward IV (also a great-great-great grandson). On the whole however, there seems to be no other reason why Edward III and Henry VI would appear together in a stained glass cartoon or window without other key figures present, particularly someone like Edward IV or another representative of the House of York. It was the death of Edward III that split the House of Plantagenent into the Houses of Lancaster and York.
Edward Robert Robson (1836-1917) became architect and surveyor to the Liverpool Corporation in 1864, at that date he had already commissioned from Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. an Altar Cloth, a drinking fountain, stained glass for St Oswald's Church (featuring The Life of St Oswald by Ford Madox Brown), Durham and Shotley Hall, (in which the Company had installed ten lights with musical figures). It is a possibility that Robson suggested MMF&Co. when the window at St George's Hall, Liverpool was put out for tender. The lunette shape of this design is identical to that found in the St George's Hall. The seated figures emblematical of "Arts" and "Science" relate to those made by Burne-Jones c.1865, St George and St Henry, relate to stained glass designs by Burne-Jones for St. Nicholas's Church, Beaudesert, Henley in Arden of 1864. The artist was working on his series of St George in 1865 and these designs, though entirely different may well have initiated the set of oils which he made for Birket Foster. This workshop design, not from the hand of Burne-Jones, must have been taken from sketches by the Master. As cartoons are not in evidence, it would seem likely that owing to it's unsuitable scale for its position in the building, the design was rejected. A St George subject on a larger scale today occupies the lunette which was supplied by Forrest & Sons, a local firm in 1883. See Sketchbook V&A E.4. 1955 c.1865-67 No 19 A knight being crowned by Angels