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, knt. garter king at arms, is said to have been the son of a gardener or a brewer at Sandwich, who appears, however, to have been a person of considerable opulence, as he married into the family of the Dennes of Dennehili, and gave his son a very liberal education. He studied law in Gray’s-inn, and in 1623, was appointed keeper of the records in the Tower, and about the same time became secretary to the Earl Marshal. In the former reign (Elizabeth) he had been created Mowbray herald extraordinary, to enable him to become a king at arms, upon, a vacancy, and was knighted by king James I. July 17, 1624. He attended Charles I. when he wetit to Scotland to be crowned. In 1633 he was made garter king at arms. In 1636, he obtained a grant to entitle him to the fees and perc “e. of his office, because he had been abroad upon the L^siness of the crown, which enabled him to take his share of the dues of his office, the same as if he had been personally present in the college. In 1640, he attended the treaty held by the sovereign with his subjects in Scotland, and upon the civil war breaking out, withdrew from the college, to attend his duty upon his royal master. Whilst in this service, a grace passed in convocation at Oxford for the degree of LL. D. but Wood says it does not appear by the register whether he was admitted, which, however, is highly probable. He died at Oxford, Oct. 21, 1643, and was buried in Christ church cathedral. He wrote, 1.” Impetus juveniles, et quaedam sedatioris aliquantulum animi epistolae,“Oxon. 1643, 8vo, in which his name is Latinized into Burrhus. Most of the epistles are written to Philip Bacon, sir Francis Bacon (lord Verulam), Thomas Famabie, Thomas Coppin, sir Henry Spelman, &c. 2.” The Sovereignty of the British Seas, proved by records, &c.“written in 1633, but not published until 1651, 12mo. Wood says he also made” A Collection of Records in the Tower of London." There are many ms pedigrees remaining of his drawing up. In the Inner Temple library is a commentary in ms. from his pen, on the formulary for combats before the constable and marshal. His abilities and erudition were universally acknowledged during his life.

, Mowbray herald extraordinary, F. S. A. and an able heraldic writer, was a man who raised himself by dint of ingenuity and perseverance from a very humble station to considerable celebrity. He was originally an apprentice to a barber, but discovering some knowledge of the art, became an herald painter, and was much employed in emblazoning arms upon carriages. This led him to study heraldry as a science, which imperceptibly led him also to genealogical researches, and his progress hi both was rapid and successful. When the baronets of England wished for some augmentation to their privileges, as appendages to their titles (in which, however, they were flot successful), they chose Mr. Edmoudson their secretary. In 1764 he was appointed Mowbray herald extraordinary. He died in Warwick-street, Golden -square, Feb. 17, 1786, and was buried in the church-yard of St. James’s, Piccadilly. He was a man of good sense as well as skill in his profession, and maintained an excellent private character. His works, which will convey his name to posterity with great credit, were, 1. “Historical account of the Grevillc Family, with an account of Warwick Castle,” Lond. 1766, 8vo. 2. “A Companion to the Peerage of Great Britain and Ireland,” ibid. 1776, 8vo. 3. “A Complete Body of Heraldry,” ibid. 1780, 2 vols. folio; and 4. his very magnificent work, entitled “Buronagium Genealogicum, or The Pedigree of English Peers,” 176 84, 6 vols. folio.

, eminent for being the first who formed a plan for a natural history of England, the son of Robert Plot, esq. captain of the militia, in the hundred of Milton, in Kent, was born in 1640, at Sutton Baron, in the parish of Borden, in that county, and educated at the free -school of Wye, in the same county. In March 1658, he went to Magdalen-hall, in Oxford, where Josiah Pullen was his tutor took a bachelor of arts degree in 1661, a master’s in 1664, and both the degrees in law in 1671. He removed afterwards to University-college, where he was at the expence of placing the statue of king Alfred over the hall-door. His general knowledge and acuteness, and particularly his attachment to natural history, procured his being chosen, in 1677, a fellow of the royal society and in 1682, elected one of the secretaries of that learned body. He published their “Philosophical Transactions,” from No. 143, to No. 166, inclusive. In 1683, Elias Ashmole, esq. appointed him the first keeper of his museum and about the same time he was nominated by the vicechancellor the first reader in chemistry in that university. In 1687, he was made secretary to the earl-marshal, or court of chivalry, which was then renewed, after it had lain dormant from the year 1641. In 1690, he resigned his professorship of chemistry, and also his place of keeper of the museum; which he then augmented by a very large collection of natural curiosities, being such as he had figured and described in his Histories of Oxfordshire and Staffordshire, and there distinguished by the names of “Scrinium Plotianum Oxoniense,” and “Scrinium Plotianum Staffordiense.” In 1688 he received the title of Historiographer to James II. which he could not long retain, as this was just before the abdication of that sovereign. In 1694-5, Henry Howard, earl-marshal, nominated him Mowbray herald extraordinary; and two days after, he was constituted registrar of the court of honour. He died of the stone, April 30, 1696, at his house in Borden, and was buried in the church there, where a monument was afterwards erected to his memory. He left two sons by his wife Rebecca, widow of Henry Burman, to whom he was married in August 1690.