LELA.ND, or LAYLONDE, JOHN, an eminent English antiquary, was born in London in the beginning of the 16th century, and edu cated at St. Paul's School under the celebrated William Lily. Ho first entered at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he is said to have been a Fellow, but afterwards removed to Oxford, and passed several years in All Souls College, where be prosecuted his studies not only iu Latin and Greek but in Saxon and Welsh. From thence he went to Paris, and learned French, Italian, and Spanish. On his return home he entered into orders, and being esteemed an accomplished scholar, King Henry VIII. made him one of his chaplains; gave him the rectory of Popeling in the marches of Calais in 1530; appointed him his library-keeper ; and by a commission dated in 1533 dignified him with the title of his Antiquary. By this commission lie was ordered to make search after England's antiquities, and peruse the libraries of all cathedrals, abbeys, colleges, and other places where "records and the secrets of antiquity were deposited ;" a stipend was allotted to him ; and he received a dispensation for uon-residence upon his liviug. He spent six or seven years in travelling through England aud Wales, collecting materials for the history and antiquities of the nation ; and noticed in his journey not only the more important manuscripts which he met with, but all the localities and local antiquities of the country of whatever description—tho rivers, forests, chases, woods, cities, castles, manor-houses, monasteries, colleges, and everything that seemed memorable. In 1542 Henry VIII. presented him to the rectory of Hasely in Oxfordshire, and the year following to a canonry of King's College, now Christchurch, Oxford. In 1545, upon the surrender of that college to the king, he lost his canonry, but seems to have been compeneated for it iu the prebend of East and West Knowle, in the cathedral of Sarum. In that same year, having digested into four books that part of his collections which contains an account of the illustrious writers in the realm, with their lives and monuments of literature, he presented it to his majesty, under the title of A Newe Year's Gift,' with a scheme of what he intended to do further for the general history and topography of England and Wales. For the purpose of digesting his collections he retired to a house of his own in the parish of St. Michael-le-Querne in London.
In 1547 Leland's royal patron died, aud the attention of the Court, according to Bale, became slackened towards his labours. Whether this was really the cause of the disorder by which he became afflicted is matter of doubt, but within a year or two he became insane : and his distemper being made known to King Edward VI., his majesty by letters patent, dated March 5th, 1550, granted the custody of him, by the name of John Layland the Younger, to Johu Layland the Elder, "with all his lands, tenements, routs, &c., in as large and ample manner as the said John the Younger, being in his right mind, had the same." In this state he continued, without recovery for two years, when he died, April 18th, 1552. He was interred in the church of St. Miohael-le-Querne, which then stood at the west end of Cheapside, between the conduit and Paternoster-row.
Leland's papers, upon his death, were committed by King Edward VI. to the custody of Sir John Cheke ; but subsequently became dispersed. Sir John Choke, being obliged to go abroad, left four volumes of Leland's Collections in the hands of Humphry Purefoy, Esq., from whom they descended to Burton, the historian of Leicestershire, who, having obtained possession of eight other volumes of Leland's manu scripts containing his Itinerary,' deposited the whole, in 1632, in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
Part of a volume of Leland's Collections, in his own handwriting, will be found in the Cottonian Manuscript, Julius C. VI., iu the British Museum ; and it is probable that other libraries contain fragments of his productions. He and Nicholas Udall, between them, propared the verses iu English and Latin which were spoken in the Pageant as Anne Boleyn went to her coronation.
The publications by which Leland is most known are his Com montarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis,' not very faithfully edited by Anthony Hall, 2 vols. 8vo, Oxon, 1709 ; his ' Itinerary,' published by Thomas Hearne, 9 vols. Svo, Oxford, 1710.12; reprinted as the third edition in 1770 ; and 'De Rebus Britanuicis Collectanes,' edit.. Thema. Ilearue, 6 tom. Svo, Oxon, 1715; reprinted at London in 1770.
(Lirea 4f 1.4Iand, Rearne, and Wood, 2 vole. Svo, 1772 ; Chalmers, Any. Dict., vol. ax.; Bliss, edit. of Wood's A thence armientra.)