PALGRAVE, Sir FRANCIS, a distinguished antiquary and historian, was b. in London in July, 1788, of Jewish parentage, being the son of Mr. Meyer Cohen, a member of the stock exchange. He was educated at home under a Dr. Montucci, and even when a child showed extraordinary genius. When only eight years old, he made a translation into French of the Battle of the Frogs and Mice from the Latin version of Beauclere, which was printed by his father in 1797. In 1803 he was articled as a clerk to a legal firm, and at the expiration of his articles, continued with the same firm as managing clerk until 1822, when he took chambers in the Temple, and was employed under the record commission. He bad previously made himself known as a literary antiquarian, by the publication, in 1818, of some Anglo-Norman chansons, which he edited with much care. On the occasion of his marriage in 1823, he changed his name of Cohen to Palgrave. that being the-maiden name of his wife's mother. He was called to the bar in 1827, and had considerable practice for some years in pedigree cases before the house of lords. In 1831 he published a History of England, which formed a part of the Family Library; and in 1832 appeared his Rise and Progress of the English Common wealth; also Observations on the Principles, etc., of New Municipal Corporations. In that year he received the honor of knighthood, and was subsequently one of the munici pal corporation commissioners. In 1835 the commissioners issued their report, which was signed, however, by only 16 of the members—sir Francis Palgrave being one of the four dissentients. In the same year he published a " Protest " against the commissioners' report, in which he called in question several of its statements, views, and arguments.
In 1838, on the reconstruction of the record service, sir Francis Palgrave was appointed deputy-keeper of her majesty's records, and held that office during the rest of his life. Besides the works already mentioned, sir Francis Palgrave edited for the government the following: Calendars of' the Treasury of the Exchequer, Parliamentary Writs, Curia Regis Records, and Documents illustrative of the History of Scotland. In his private capacity he produced the Merchant and the Friar, an imaginary history of Marco Polo and Friar Bacon; also a Hand-book for Travelers in Northern _Italy, and a History of England and Normandy. Of this last work a' volume appeared in 1851, and a second in 1857; and• the third and fourth volumes were published within three years after their author's death. Sir Francis Palgrave also wrote numerous, articles for the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews, principally of an antiquarian character, but some of them purely literary or artistic. His great merit, in his historic writings, consists in the extensive use made by him of original documents, by aid of which he not only himself very much enlarged our acquaintance with the history and social aspects of the middle ages, but pointed out to others the advantage to be derived from a careful the original sources of infor mation now known to abound among our public records. Sir Francis Palgrave died at Hampstead, on July 6, 1861.