Robert Burchfield (1923-2004) was a New-Zealander lexicographer. When attending Oxford University (OED) in the 1950s as a Rhodes scholar, he was given the task of completing an edition of the Ormulum by J.R.R. Tolkien. At that time, Tolkien was a member of the board of the Early English Text Society and was attempting to add a range of poorly represented early Middle English texts to the series. Burchfield had only two years remaining on his scholarship and did not complete the work. In 1956 he became chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, which occupied him until retirement. He returned to the Ormulum later in life but was affected by declining health and left his transcript to the OED, who use it as a primary source.
In addition to this transcript, he published several important articles on MS 783.