Joseph Ayloffe

Ayloffe was educated at Westminster School, admitted a student of Lincoln's Inn in 1724, and spent some time at St John's College, Oxford before 1728.

[2] Sir Joseph was the intimate friend of his colleague at the State Paper Office, Thomas Astle, and of Richard Gough; the latter described Ayloffe as the English Montfaucon.

Also in 1751, Sir Joseph issued a prospectus for subscribers to a translation of Diderot's and D'Alembert's Encyclopédie, with additional or expanded articles on subjects of English interest, but the first number, published on 11 June 1752, obtained scanty support and was severely handled in the Gentleman's Magazine (xxii.

[3] Some years previously, Ayloffe had induced Joshua Kirby,[4] a well-known draughtsman of Ipswich, to prepare some engravings of the chief buildings and monuments in Suffolk.

It was Ayloffe's intention to introduce Kirby's drawings into an elaborate history of the county upon which he was apparently engaged for the succeeding 15 years.

In 1764 he had made such progress in collecting and arranging his materials that he issued a lengthy prospectus for publication of an exhaustive Topographical and Historical Description of Suffolk, but sadly he again received too little encouragement to warrant him in pursuing the plan further.

[4] Subsequently, Ayloffe contributed several memoirs to Archæologia, the journal of the Society of Antiquaries, which were highly valued at the time.

On 25 February 1763 he "communicated" an interesting Copy of a Proclamation (1563) relating to Persons making Portraits of Queen Elizabeth (ii.

[4] In 1772 Ayloffe published a work for which he is still known to history students: Calendars of the Ancient Charters, and of the Welsh and Scottish Rolls, Now Remaining in the Tower of London... to Which are Added Memoranda Concerning the Affairs of Ireland [and an] Account of the State of The Public Records [etc.].

[4] Ayloffe also revised for the press new editions of John Leland's Collectanea (1771) and of the Liber Niger Scaccarii (1771), and added valuable appendices of original illustrative documents.

Ayloffe's Collections relative to Saxon and English Laws and Antiquities remain in manuscript at the British Library (Add MS 9051).