Sir William Burrell (10 October 1732 – 20 January 1796) was an English

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

Biography

He was the third son of Peter Burrell of

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Prior to 1965, it was part of Kent. It is situated north of Elmers End and Eden Park, east of Penge, south of Lower Sydenham and Bellingham, and west ...

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, and was born in

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on 10 October 1732. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, whence he graduated as LL.B in 1755, and LL.D in 1760, and in the latter year (3 November) was admitted as an advocate at

Doctors' Commons Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil law (legal system), civil (as opposed to common) law in London, namely ecclesiastical and admiralty law. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawye ...

. He practised chiefly in the

admiralty court Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all admiralty law, maritime contracts, torts, injuries, and offenses. United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest records, ...

, and there were in the possession of his grandson, Sir Walter Burrell, two volumes of his own manuscript reports of cases decided in that court between the years 1766 and 1774. They were edited by Mr. R. G. Marsden in 1885. Burrell was made chancellor of

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

in 1764, and held the same office in the

diocese of Rochester The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bishop's Latin episcopal si ...

, continuing in both posts till his death. He was elected M.P. for

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south-west Surrey, England, around south-west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill (Hindhead, Surrey), Beacon Hill, they comprise ...

in 1768, and became a commissioner of excise in 1774, being re-elected for Haslemere in that year. He was also FRS and FSA, and a director of the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially: The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

. By his marriage in 1773 with his cousin Sophia Raymond, a noted poet and dramatist and daughter of Sir Charles Raymond, he acquired considerable wealth. His father-in-law was created a baronet in 1773 with reversion of the title to Burrell and his heirs, which allowed him to succeed Raymond as 2nd baronet in 1789. From an early period in life he was interested in antiquarian pursuits and ultimately concentrated his attention upon the history of the county of

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. Nearly every parish of Sussex was personally visited by him and its records inspected and partly copied. Drawings were made for him of churches, houses and sepulchral monuments, and he spared no labour in tracing the descent of the county families. He did not print any portion of his work, but bequeathed the entire collection to the British Museum, where it is now deposited among the Add. MSS. His interest in local history was not confined to England however, as he traveled

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

extensively in 1758. Tourism had scarcely touched Scotland before the middle of the 18th century, making Burrell's travel journals an important early source of local history and Scotland's social and economic conditions. Burrell was seized with paralysis in August 1787, and, though he partially recovered, found it necessary to resign his public appointments. He retired to Deepdene in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

with his wife Sophia, and there died on 20 January 1796. He was buried at St George's Church, West Grinstead, Sussex, where a simple monument to his memory by Flaxman has been placed in the church. A secondary monument (also by Flaxman) was erected at West Grinstead. Lady Burrell married secondly the clergyman William Clay. She died on the Isle of Wight 20 June 1802.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrell, William English antiquarians Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 1732 births 1796 deaths Members of Doctors' Commons Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

People from Beckenham People from Dorking