| Intro | English antiquary |
| Is | Antiquarian |
| From | United Kingdom |
| Type | Social science |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | Foston, Derbyshire |
Arthur Agarde (1540–1615) was an English antiquary. He was born in Foston, Derbyshire. Agarde was trained as a lawyer, but entered the exchequer as a clerk.
On the authority of Anthony à Wood it has been stated that he was appointed by Sir Nicholas Throckmorton to be deputy-chamberlain in 1570, and that he held this office for forty-five years. His patent of appointment, however, preserved in the Rolls Office, proves that he succeeded one Thomas Reve in the post on 11 July 1603. With his friends, Sir Robert Cotton and William Camden, he was one of the original members of the Society of Antiquaries.
Thomas Hearne, in his Collection of Curious Discourses written by Eminent Antiquaries (Oxford, 1720), includes six essays by Agarde titled as follows:
Opinion touching the Antiquity, Power, Order, State, Manner, Persons and Proceedings of the High-court of Parliament in England
Of What Antiquity Shires were in England?
On the dimensions of the lands of England
The Authority, Office, and Privileges of Heralds in England
Of the Antiquity and Privileges of the Houses or Inns of Court, and of Chancery
Of the diversity of names of this island
He also wrote a large work on the Domesday Book titled Tractatus de usu et obscurioribus verbis libri de Doomsday (lit. A Treatise on the Use and Meaning of the obscure Words in the Doomsday Book) as well as a guide book for his successors in office containing a catalogue of the records of the Treasury and an account of treaties with foreign nations.
Agarde died on 22 August 1615 and was buried in the cloister of Westminster Abbey, on his tomb being inscribed Recordorum regiorum hic prope depositorum diligens scrutator. He bequeathed to the exchequer all his papers relating to that court, and to his friend Sir Robert Cotton his other manuscripts, amounting to twenty volumes, most of which are now in the British Museum.
Agarde married sometime after 8 February 1570, Margaret, daughter of George Butler of Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire