Sir Francis Palgrave, (; born Francis Ephraim Cohen, July 1788 – 6 July 1861) was an English archivist and historian. He was Deputy Keeper (chief executive) of the
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...
from its foundation in 1838 until his death; and he is also remembered for his many scholarly publications.
Early life
Francis Cohen was born in London, the son of Meyer Cohen, a Jewish stockbroker (d. 1831) by his wife Rachel Levien Cohen (d. 1815). He was initially articled as a clerk to a London solicitor's firm, and remained there as chief clerk until 1822. His father was financially ruined in 1810 and Francis, the eldest son, became responsible for supporting his parents. Around 1814, Francis Cohen began contributing to the ''
Edinburgh Review
The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929.
''Edinburgh Review'', ...
''; he made the acquaintance of the banker
Dawson Turner
Dawson Turner (18 October 1775 – 21 June 1858) was an English banker, botanist and antiquary. He specialized in the botany of cryptogams and was the father-in-law of the botanist William Jackson Hooker.
Life
Turner was the son of Jam ...
and his daughter Elizabeth in 1819, offering to correct the proofs of Turner's ''Architectural Antiquities of Normandy''. In 1821, Francis Cohen was admitted to the
Fellowship of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics ...
, one of his sponsors being Turner. Cohen converted to
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
Christianity before his marriage to Elizabeth Turner on 13 October 1823.
Around the time of his marriage, Cohen also changed his surname to "Palgrave" (his wife's mother's maiden name) by
royal licence
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
. It is not clear if either the religious conversion or the name change were conditions of his marriage; however, his father-in-law paid for the expenses of the name change, and settled £3,000 on the couple.
Career
Palgrave was
called to the bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
in 1827 (after a long period working for solicitors, 1803–1822).
In 1822, he had advocated publishing the national records, and from 1827 he edited several volumes of medieval texts for the
Record Commission
The Record Commissions were a series of six Royal Commissions of Great Britain and (from 1801) the United Kingdom which sat between 1800 and 1837 to inquire into the custody and public accessibility of the state archives. The Commissioners' work ...
, including ''Parliamentary Writs and Writs of Military Summons'' (2 volumes, 1827 and 1834; including in vol. 2 a text of ''
Nomina Villarum
''Nomina Villarum'' was a survey carried out in 1316 and contains a list of all cities, boroughs and townships in England and the Lords of them. The document was compiled for King Edward II. The survey was a feudal aid, a payment which by traditi ...
'') and ''Rotuli Curiae Regis: Rolls and Records of the Court held before the King's Justiciars or Justices'' (2 volumes, 1835). Meanwhile, he was also publishing historical works of his own, including ''A History of England'' (1831), ''The Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth'' (1832), ''An Essay on the Original Authority of the King's Council'' (1834), ''Truths and Fictions of the Middle Ages: the Merchant and the Friar'' (1837) and ''The History of Normandy and England'' (1851–64, 4 volumes, of which the last two appeared posthumously).
Palgrave is considered the founder of the
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...
. In 1834 he succeeded
John Caley
John Caley (1760–1834) was an English archivist and antiquary.
Life
He was the eldest son of John Caley, a grocer in Bishopsgate Street, London. Acquaintance with Thomas Astle led to a place in the Record Office in the Tower of London. In 1787 ...
as the Keeper of the Records in the
chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...
of
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
, in which were stored the ancient records of the
Exchequer
In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's ''current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government reven ...
(including
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
), as well as various parliamentary records. From this appointment emerged another important editorial work for the Record Commission, ''The Ancient Kalendars and Inventories of the Treasury of His Majesty's Exchequer'' (3 volumes, 1836). In 1838 he was appointed Deputy Keeper of the new Public Record Office, holding that position until his death. In this position, he issued a series of 22 annual reports.
Palgrave was knighted in 1832. In 1834, he was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
,
and a member of the
American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...
in 1860.
American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
/ref>
Family
Palgrave married Elizabeth Turner (1799–1852) on 13 October 1823. She was the daughter of Dawson Turner
Dawson Turner (18 October 1775 – 21 June 1858) was an English banker, botanist and antiquary. He specialized in the botany of cryptogams and was the father-in-law of the botanist William Jackson Hooker.
Life
Turner was the son of Jam ...
(1775–1858) and Mary née Palgrave (1775–1858). Her sister Maria Dawson Turner (1797–1872) married Sir William Jackson Hooker
Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew he ...
(1785–1865).
Francis and Elizabeth Palgrave were the parents of four sons, all distinguished and all authors in their respective fields:
#Francis Turner Palgrave
Francis Turner Palgrave (; 28 September 1824 – 24 October 1897) was a British critic, anthologist and poet.
Life
He was born at Great Yarmouth, the eldest son of Sir Francis Palgrave, the (born Jewish) historian to his wife Elizabeth, daught ...
(1824–1897), poet, anthologist, educationist and bureaucrat, editor of ''Golden Treasury of English Songs and Lyrics'', better known as ''Palgrave's Golden Treasury
The ''Golden Treasury of English Songs and Lyrics'' is a popular anthology of English poetry, originally selected for publication by Francis Turner Palgrave in 1861. It was considerably revised, with input from Tennyson, about three decades late ...
''
# (William) Gifford Palgrave (1826–1888 Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
, Uruguay), Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
priest and missionary turned diplomat, anthropologist and traveller
# Sir Robert Harry Inglis Palgrave (1827–1919), economist, knighted 1909, author of ''Palgrave's Dictionary of Political Economy'', and editor of ''Palgrave's Collected Historical Works''. He married in 1859 Sarah Maria Brightwen, daughter of George Brightwen.
#Sir Reginald Francis Douce Palgrave
Sir Reginald Francis Douce Palgrave (28 June 1829 – 13 July 1904) was a British civil servant who was Clerk of the House of Commons.
Life
Reginald Palgrave was born in Westminster, London, the fourth son of Francis Palgrave (born Cohen) and hi ...
(1829–1904), Clerk of the House of Commons
The Clerk of the House of Commons is the chief executive of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and before 1707 of the House of Commons of England.
The formal name for the position held by the Clerk of the House of Comm ...
1886–1902. Married Grace Battley, daughter of Richard Battley, in 1857.
Palgrave's wife predeceased him in August 1852.
References
External links
A chronology of the Palgraves
Portrait of Palgrave
by his mother-in-law Mary Dawson Turner
Mary Dawson Turner, before her marriage Mary Palgrave (1774–1850), was an English artist. She is known for her series of portraits, making etchings from drawings collected by her husband.
Life
She was the daughter of William Palgrave, one of 12 ...
, née Palgrave.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palgrave, Francis
1788 births
1861 deaths
Anglo-Saxon studies scholars
Converts to Anglicanism from Judaism
19th-century English historians
English Jews
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fellows of the Royal Society
Jewish historians
Knights Bachelor
English archivists
People associated with The National Archives (United Kingdom)
Members of the American Antiquarian Society