A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Palgrave, Sir Francis
Palgrave, Sir Francis (1788-1861). -- Historian, s. of Meyer Cohen, a Jewish stockbroker, but at his marriage in 1823, having previously become a Christian, assumed his mother-in-law's name of Palgrave. He studied law, and was called to the Bar in 1827. From 1838 until his death in 1861 he was Deputy Keeper of the Records, and in that capacity arranged a vast mass of hitherto inaccessible documents, and ed. many of them for the Record Commission. His historical works include a History of England in Anglo-Saxon Times (1831), Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth (1832), and History of Normandy and England (4 vols., 1851-64), pub. posthumously. He was knighted in 1832. His works are of great value in throwing light upon the history and condition of mediæval England.