DVGDALE, Sir WILLIAM, a celebrated antiquary and historian, was b. in 1605 at Shustoke, near Coleshill, Warwickshire. He was educated for some time at the free school of Coventry, but left it at the age of 15, and continued his studies under the care of his father, who, having a decided predilection for the branches of civil law and his tory, seems to have encouraged similar tastes in his son. His antiquarian pursuits led to his being created (1638) a pursuivant-at-arms extraordinary by the name of Blanche Lyon; and shortly afterwards, he was made rouge croix pursuivant-in•ordinary. Dur ing thecivil war, D. adhered to the royal cause, and lived for several years in Oxford, employed in researches for his great works. On the restoration, D. was made norrov king of arms, and in 1677 garter king of arms; at the same time, the king, much against the wishes of D., whose estate was but a poor one, conferred upon him the honor of knighthood, He died at his estate of Blythe hall, Feb. 10, 16S6. His chief works are
ifonasticon Anglican= (Lond. 1655-61-73), (which, though for the most part writ ten by another antiquary, named Dodsworth, was concluded, indexed, and corrected by D.); a new and greatly enlarged edition of the MonaSticon by Bandinel, Caley,.and Ellis, was published in 1817-30, and reissued in 1846; The Antiquities of liTarietcyczre (1656; second edition revised and continued, 1730); The Baronage of .Eng land (1075-76); Origins Juridicales, or Historical Memoirs of the English etc. (1666; third edit. 1680); Short View if the Late Troubles in England (Oxford, 1681); The Usage in Bearing Arms (1682; .new edition, 1811). D. bequeathed upwards of 27 folio MS. volumes, written in his own hand, to the university of Oxford. They are now in the Bodleian library, the Heralds' college, and the Ashmolean museum.