William Burrell

[close] Sir William Burrell (1732 – 1796) was an English antiquarian. He was the third son of Peter Burrell of Beckenham, Kent. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, whence he graduated as LL.B. in 1755, and LL.D. in 1760, and in the latter year was admitted as an advocate at Doctors' Commons. He practised chiefly in the admiralty court.

Burrell was made chancellor of Worcester in 1764, and held the same office in the diocese of Rochester, continuing in both posts till his death. He was elected M.P. for Haslemere in 1768, and became a commissioner of excise in 1774, being re-elected for Haslemere in that year. He was also F.R.S. and F.S.A., and a director of the South Sea Company. By his marriage in 1773 with his cousin Sophia Raymond, a noted poet and dramatist and daughter of Sir Charles Raymond, he acquired considerable wealth.

From an early period in life he was interested in antiquarian pursuits and ultimately concentrated his attention upon the history of the county of Sussex. Nearly every parish of Sussex was personally visited by him and its records inspected and partly copied. Drawings were made for him of churches, houses and sepulchral monuments, and he spared no labour in tracing the descent of the county families. He did not print any portion of his work, but bequeathed the entire collection to the British Museum, where it is now deposited among the Add. MSS.