Thomas; (3) Elizabeth, who married successively John Jackson and--Burdett;
(4) Rachel, married (1)--Hook, by whom she had two children, William and
Catherine, married to Michael Walton; in 1634 Rachel Hook had married (2)
Edward Biggs; (5) Mary, married (1) Henry Hawksworth, by whom she had four
sons, William, Henry, George and John; (2) Thomas Falconbridge. Anne Byrd,
who is mentioned in the proceedings _Shelley_ v. _Byrd_ (_Exchequer
Decrees_, 7 James I., series ii. vol. vii. fol. 294 and 328), was probably
a fourth daughter who died young.

Besides the works already mentioned Byrd was the composer of three masses,
for three, four and five voices respectively, which seem to have been
published with some privacy about 1588. There exists a second edition (also
undated) of the four-part mass; all three have recently appeared in modern
editions, and increase Byrd's claim to rank as the greatest English
composer of his age. In addition to his published works, a large amount
still remains in MS., comprising nearly every kind of composition. The
Fitzwilliam _Virginal Book_ contains a long series of interesting pieces
for the virginal, and more still remains unpublished in Lady Neville's
_Virginal Book_ and other contemporary collections. His industry was
enormous, and though his work is unequal and the licences he allowed can
hardly be defended on strict grounds, his Latin church music and his
instrumental compositions entitle him to high rank among his
contemporaries. As a madrigalist he was inferior to Morley, Wilbye and
Gibbons, though even in this branch of his art he often displays great
charm and individuality.

(W. B. S.*)

BYROM, JOHN (1692-1763), English poet, writer of hymns and inventor of a
system of shorthand, was born at Kersal Cell, near Manchester, on the 29th
of February 1692, the younger son of a prosperous merchant. He was educated
at Merchant Taylors school, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, of which he
became a fellow in 1714. His first poem, "Colin to Phoebe," a pastoral,
appeared in the _Spectator_, No. 603. The heroine is said to have been Dr
Bentley's daughter, Joanna, the mother of Richard Cumberland, the
dramatist. After leaving the university Byrom went abroad, ostensibly to
study medicine, but he never practised and possibly his errand was really
political, for he was an adherent of the Pretender. He was elected a member
of the Royal Society in 1724. On his return to London he married his cous