Francis Vernon

was born near Charing cross in the Parish of S. Martin in the Fields within the liberty of Westminster, but descended from those of his name in Worcestershire, was elected Student of Ch. Ch. from Westminster School, an. 1654 aged 17 years or thereabouts, took his rambles before, and partly after, he was Master of Arts. At length being possess’d with an insatiable desire of seeing, he travelled into various parts of the world, was taken by Pyrats, sold and endured much misery. Afterwards, being let loose, he retired to his native Country with intentions to spend his time there, but having got an itch of rambling ventred again, tho disswaded to the contrary, and was afterwards hack’d to pieces in Persia. He hath written,

Oxonium Poema. Oxon. 1667. in 3 sh. and an half in qu. But the author being absent when ’twas printed, are committed many faults therein, especially in the Margin.

Letter to Mr. Hen. Oldenburg, dat. Jan. 10, an. 1675, giving a short account of some of his observations in his travels from Venice through Istria, Dalmatia, Greece, and the Archipelago, to Smyrna, where this Letter was written.—This is printed in the Philosophical Transactions, num. 124. p. 575. an. 1676. Afterwards being in Persia, arose between him and some of the Arabs a small quarrel concerning an English Pen knife, that Mr. Vernon had with him; who shewing himself cross and peevish in not communicating it to them, they fell upon him and hack’d him to death near Spahan or Aspachan a City in Persia, in sixteen hundred seventy and seven or thereabouts.1677. Whereupon his body was conveyed to that City and there inter’d. He then left behind him a piece of po [•] etry to be printed, and several observations made in his travels not fit to be published, because imperfect and indigested.