Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 46.djvu/441

 Pryce he had an only son, Thomas Prujean, who graduated M.D. at Cambridge in 1619. He died on 23 June 1666, and was buried at Hornchurch, Essex. Dr. Baldwin Hamey the younger [q. v.] composed a Latin epitaph for him, in obedience to a clause in his will. His portrait was painted by Streater, and is in the College of Physicians, having been purchased by that society in 1873 from Miss Prujean, his last surviving descendant. He lived by the Old Bailey, and the place of his residence was named after him Prujean Square (Notes and Queries, 8th ser. vol. v. passim).

 PRYCE. [See also, , and .]

PRYCE, GEORGE (1801–1868), historian of Bristol, born in 1801, was for the most part self-educated. He was at first engaged in a school, but subsequently became an accountant at Bristol. He devoted his leisure to the study of archæology, and was regarded as an authority on the early history of Bristol. In April 1856 he obtained the city librarianship there. It was chiefly through his exertions that the valuable collection of local literature in the library was brought together. He died on 15 March 1868. His portrait hangs in the reference room of the Free Library at Bristol.

Pryce was elected fellow of the Society of Antiquaries on 30 April 1857. To 'Archæologia' (xxxv. 279) he contributed a paper 'On the Church of St. Mary Redclifle, Bristol.' His chief work, entitled 'Popular History of Bristol,' 8vo, Bristol, 1861, is marred by many absurd theories. Besides articles in local papers, he also wrote: 1. 'Notes on the Ecclesiastical and Monumental Architecture and Sculpture of the Middle Ages in Bristol,' 8vo, London, 1850. 2. 'Memorials of the Canynges' Family and their Times, with inedited Memoranda relating to Chatterton,' large 8vo, Bristol, 1854. 3. 'Westbury College, Redcliffe Church, and Chatterton,' undated, but published between 1854 and 1858. 4. 'Fact versus Fiction: a Descent among Writers on Bristol History and Biography,' 12mo, Bristol, 1858.

 PRYCE, WILLIAM (1725?–1790), antiquary, born about 1725, was said to be descended from Sir John Pryce of Newtown Hall, Montgomeryshire, who was created a baronet in 1638, and whose family in direct line and title became extinct in 1791. He prided himself on kinship with the Cornish family of Borlase. His father was Dr. Samuel Pryce of Redruth in Cornwall. Philip Webber of Falmouth was 'the indulgent father and protector of his orphan state during a long minority.' He claims to have 'dissected under the instructions of the accurate Dr. Hunter' (Mineralogia Cornub. p. 57), and from about 1750 he practised as a surgeon and apothecary at Redruth. He owned 'a small part' in the copper mine of Dolcoath in Cornwall. For ten years he was similarly interested in the adjoining mine of Pednandrea, which was worked for both tin and copper (ib. p. 130). Soon after the publication of his volume on mineralogy he 'became M.D. by diploma' (, Cornwall, v. 119-21), and on 26 June 1783 he was elected F.S.A. He was buried at Redruth on 20 Dec. 1790. His portrait, a very good likeness, was painted by Clifford and engraved by Basire; a print is prefixed to the 'Mineralogia Cornubiensis.' He married Miss Mitchell of Redruth, and left two sons, William Pryce and Samuel Vincent Pryce, both of whom were surgeons at Redruth.

Pryce published his chief work, the 'Mineralogia Cornubiensis,' in 1778. It was the result of careful study of the mining world of Cornwall, and is still of value, both for historical purposes and for practical mining.

Pryce's second volume, the 'Archæologia Cornu-Britannica,' was published in 1790. The value of the work depended mainly on the vocabulary of sixty-four leaves and the Cornish grammar. Much of the matter was taken wholesale from the collections of Thomas Tonkin and William Gwavas; and Prince L. L. Bonaparte, who owned the original manuscript, accused Pryce of having disingenuously published the treatise as his own. But the preface records Pryce's obligations to both of these antiquaries.

 PRYDYDD BYCHAN, Y (i.e. 'The Little Poet') (1200–1270?), Welsh bard, was of Deheubarth, i.e. South Wales. The title under which his poems have been handed down is a bardic nickname, and his real name and parentage are unknown. Twenty