PALGRAVE, pal'grriv, Sir FRANCIS (1758 1861). An English historian. He teas horn in London of Hebrew parentage. his father, Meyer Cohen. being a member of the stock exchange. He studied law and for a time was prominent in pedigree eases before the House of Lords. In 7823 he married, and on that occasion changed his faith and assumed the maiden name of his wife's mother. Paltrrave. Ile became known as a literary antiquary by publishing some Anglo Norman chansons. Gradually. however, he turned to the study of English history. and in 1531 published a History of England. In 1532 appeared hi. best work, the Rise and Progress of the Enftlish Commonwealth, and in the same year Palgrave also received the honor of knight hood. In 1538 he was appointed deputy keeper of Ilex :\lajesty's record., and held this office until his death. To him was due the gathering of the valuable records and their from their various insecure repositories to the great Public I Zeeord Office. It 1551 Pa Igra ye pub
lished the first volume of his History of Normandy and England, but most of the work appeared after his death, which took place on .1 uly 0, 1561. As deputy keeper of the records, he published twenty-two annual reports. Ile also edited for the Record Commission the following work.: The Parliamentary Writs (1S27); Essay on the Original .1 u horit y of the Icing's Council (1834); Rotuhv Cariev Regis ( Iti33). His his torical works display a union of research. dar ing. and ingenuity. Nevertheless. they are not monumental, and they have been superseded by later works. The author lays great stress on the development of legal institutions. on which he was an authority: but his style is discursive, and the subject matter is badly arranged. Sir Francis Palgrave was the father of Francis Tur ner, William Gifford, Robert Henry Inglis. and Reginald Francis Douse Palgrave (qqx.).