Planché, JAMES ROBINSON, playwright, archaeologist, and herald, was born in London, 27th February 1796, the son of a watchmaker of Huguenot descent. His first extravaganza, Amoroso, was produced at Drury Lane Theatre in 1818, and others soon followed. In 1823 he designed for Charles Kemble the dresses and appointments for the play of King John, and afterwards for other Shakespearian productions. In 1824 he wrote English words for Weber's Der Freischütz, and in 1826 for Oberon; and in the period following 1831, when he was engaged by Madame Vestris at the Olympic, nearly 200 dramatic pieces came from his pen—the most adaptations, but a large number original dramas (e.g. Charles XII.) and extravaganzas. Of the latter five volumes were published in 1880. In 1843 he helped to found the British Archaeological Association, and for many years he contributed valuable papers to the proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries. In 1854 he was made Rouge Croix Pursuivant, and in 1866 Somerset Herald; in 1872 he received a civil list pension of £200 a year. He died 29th May 1880.
Among Planché's works, besides two histories of British costume and a Cyclopædia of Costume, are his Introduction to Heraldry (18th ed. 1866); Regal Records, or a Chronicle of the Coronations of the Queens Reymant of England (1838); The Pursuivant of Arms (3d ed. 1874); and The Conqueror and his Companions (2 vols. 1874). See his Recollections and Reflections (2 vols. 1872).