Palgrave, Sir Francis

Palgrave, Sir Francis (păl`grāv, pôl`–), 1788–1861, English historian. His antiquarian interests led him to edit with scrupulous accuracy and to publish a number of historical records, such as the Rotuli Curiae Regis (1835), and to stress their importance as materials for historical writing. He was knighted in 1832, and he was from 1838 the official head of the Public Record Office. He wrote in the medieval field, emphasizing legal history and the continuity of the Roman tradition in English development. One of his best works was his History of Normandy and England (4 vol., 1851–64). R. H. I. Palgrave edited his father's Collected Historical Works (10 vol., 1919–22).