Sir William Burrell was born at Leadenhall Street, London on 10th October 1732, he was educated at Westminster School and St John's at Cambridge where in 1755 he took the LL.B degree and five years later he received his doctor's diploma. At this time he was recognized by the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries and elected a Fellow of both. At the age of forty William Burrell married Miss Sophia Raymond daughter of Sir Charles Raymond the wealthy Essex squire and subsequently inherited the baronetcy in 1789. Ill health dogged William Burrell's later life and in 1790 he retired to his country house at Deepdene near Dorking, in Surrey. He died on 20th January 1796. In his will Burrell bequeathed fifteen folio volumes of manuscript notes on Sussex, and eight large volumes of several hundred water-colour drawings by Samuel Heironymus Grimm and James Lambert to the trustees of the British Museum where they remain to this day.