or ATKINS, Sir Robert, lord chief baron of the Exchequer, was born in 1621, and educated at the university of Oxford, from whence he removed to the inns of court, and became eminent in the law. He was made knight of the bath at the coronation of King Charles II. In 1672 he was appointed one of the judges of common pleas, in which office he continued till 1679, when, foreseeing the troubles that soon afterwards ensued, he resigned his office and retired into the country. In 1689 he was made lord chief baron of the Exchequer by King William; and about the same time held the office of speaker to the House of Lords, which had previously been refused by the Marquis of Halifax. He distinguished himself by an unshaken zeal for the laws and liberties of his country. He wrote several pieces, which have been collected into an octavo volume under the title of Parliamentary and Political Tracts, which afford much sound information on the true constitution of the country, and on the grounds and reasons of the Revolution. He died in 1709.

Sir Robert, son of the preceding, was born in 1646, and died in 1711. He wrote The Ancient and Present State of Gloucestershire, a work much esteemed.

ATRYNS, Richard, was born of a good family at Trefleigh in Gloucestershire, in the year 1615. He was educated at Oxford, from whence he removed to Lincoln's Inn. During the civil wars he distinguished himself by his loyalty to King Charles I, and after the Restoration was a constant supporter of the government. Being committed to the Marshalsea prison for debt, he died there on the 14th of September 1677. He wrote a treatise On the Original and Growth of Printing, and several other pieces.