William Camden

William Camden (May 2, 1551–November 9, 1623) was an English antiquarian and historian. He wrote the first topographical survey of Britain and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I.

Final years

In 1609, Camden moved to Chislehurst. Though often in ill health, the continued to work diligently. In 1622, he founded an endowed lectureship in History at Oxford--the first in the world--which continues to this day as the Camden Chair in Ancient History. That same year he was struck with paralysis. He died in Chislehurst on November 9, 1623, and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Related Topics:
Chislehurst - Westminster Abbey

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Camden left his library to his closest friend, Sir Robert Bruce Cotton. His circle of friends and acquaintances included Lord Burghley, Fulke Greville, Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, John Stow, John Dee, Jacques de Thou and Ben Jonson, who was Camden's student at Westminster and who dedicated an early edition of Every Man in His Humor to him.

Related Topics:
Robert Bruce Cotton - Fulke Greville - Edmund Spenser - John Stow - John Dee - Jacques de Thou - Ben Jonson

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Among Camden's other works are a Greek grammar, very popular at one time; Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine (1605), a collection of material gathered for Britannia but not included; the official account of the trial of the Gunpowder Plotters; and a catalogue of the epitaphs at Westminster Abbey.

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The Camden Society was named in his honour in 1838.

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