William Lambarde

William Lambarde (October 18, 1536 - August 19, 1601) was an antiquarian and writer on legal subjects.

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Lambarde was born in London. His father was a draper (serving three times as Master of the Drapers' Company), an alderman and a sheriff of London. In 1556, he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn. He studied Old English with Lawrence Nowell, and in 1568, with Nowell's encouragement, published a collection of Anglo-Saxon laws, Archaionomia, which was printed by John Day.

Related Topics:
Drapers' Company - Alderman - Sheriff - Lincoln's Inn - Lawrence Nowell - John Day

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In 1570, he completed his Perambulation of Kent, the first history of a British county. It circulated in manuscript before being printed in 1576. It proved to be very popular and went through several editions. Lambarde considered writing a similar work for all of Britain, but he set the idea aside when he learned that William Camden was already working on the same project.

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Lambarde served as a member of parliament for Lincoln's Inn, and a Justice of the Peace for Kent. He wrote Eirenarcha: or of the Office of the Justices of Peace (1581) a manual that became the standard work on the subject. He later wrote Archeion, or, A Discourse Upon the High Courts of Justice in England (1591), another important legal work.

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Lambarde founded an almshouse in East Greenwich in 1576. Elizabeth made him Keeper of the Records in the Tower in 1601. He died that same year.

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