SIR

See also:

• FRANCIS
• FRANCIS (FRarrcols) OF SALES, ST (1567-1622)
• FRANCIS (Lat. Franciscus, Ital. Francesco, Span. Francisco, Fr. Francois, Ger. Franz)
• FRANCIS, SIR PHILIP (174o-1818)

FRANCIS

See also:

• PALGRAVE, FRANCIS TURNER (1824-1897)
• SIR FRANCIS PALGRAVE (1788-1861)

PALGRAVE (1788-1861)  , English historian, was the son of Meyer Cohen, a Jewish stockbroker, and was born in London in July 1788 . He was educated privately and was so precocious a boy as to translate a Latin version of the Battle of the Frogs and Mice into French in 1796, which was published by his father in 1797 . In 1803 Palgrave was articled to a firm of solicitors, but was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1827 . On his marriage in 1823 with Elizabeth, daughter of Dawson Turner of Great Yarmouth, he had become a Christian, and had changed his name to Palgrave, the maiden name of his wife's mother . His work as a barrister was chiefly concerned with pedigree cases before the House of Lords . He edited for the Record Commission Parliamentary Writs (London, 1827—1834); Rotuli curiae regis (London, 1835); The antient kalendars and inventories of the treasury of his majesty's exchequer (London, 1836); and Documents and records illustrating the history of Scotland (London, 1837), which contains an elaborate introduction . In 1831 he published his History of England, Anglo-Saxon Period, later editions of which were published as History of the Anglo-Saxons; in 1832, his Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth, pronounced by Freeman a " memorable book "; and in 1834 his Essay upon the original authority of the king's council . In 1832 he was knighted, and after serving as one of the municipal corporations commissioners, became deputy-keeper of the public records in 1838, holding this office until his death at Hampstead on the 6th of July 1861 . Palgrave's most important work is his History of Normandy and England, which appeared in four volumes (London 1851-1864), and deals with the history of the two countries down to 11os . He also wrote Truths and Fictions of the Middle Ages (London, 1837, and again 1844); The Lord and the Vassal (London, 1844); and Handbook for Travellers in Northern Italy (London, 1842, and subsequent editions) . Palgrave's four sons were: Francis Turner Palgrave (q.v.), sometime professor of poetry at Oxford; William Gifford Pal-grave; Sir Robert Harry Inglis Palgrave (b . 1827), an authority upon banking and economics generally; and Sir Reginald Francis Douce Palgrave .