Henry Wansey (10 August 1751 – 19 July 1827) was an English antiquary, who was by trade a clothier, but retired from business in middle life and devoted his leisure to travel, to literature, and to antiquarian research.

Life

Wansey was the son of George and Esther Wansey of

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

.''Wiltshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812'' He was a member of the Bath and West of England Agricultural Society, in which he served the office of vice-president, and in connection with which he published in 1780 ''A Letter to the Marquis of Lansdowne on the Subject of the Late Tax on Wool'', in which he pointed out the policy mistakes in the tax, and maintained that commercial restrictions of such a nature were generally injurious. In 1789, Wansey was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, in 1794 he visited the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and in 1796 he published his observations under the title ''An Excursion to the United States of America'', Salisbury; 2nd edit. 1798. While residing at

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

in 1801 he turned his attention to the condition of poorhouses, and published in that year a pamphlet entitled ''Thoughts on Poorhouses, particularly that of Salisbury, with a view to their reform.'' Wansey, however, principally occupied himself with the study of local antiquities, and for some years he laboured in conjunction with Sir

Richard Colt Hoare Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (9 December 1758 – 19 May 1838) was an English antiquarian, archaeologist, artist, and traveller of the 18th and 19th centuries, the first major figure in the detailed study ...

in preparing the account of the hundred of

for Hoare's ''History of Wiltshire''. The volume containing Wansey's labours was not, however, published until 1831, four years after his death. Wansey died at Warminster on 19 July 1827. By his wife Elizabeth he had one daughter, Emma, who died in childhood.

Other works

Besides the works referred to, Wansey was the author of: * ''Wool encouraged without Exportation'', published by the Highland Society of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1791. * ''A Letter to the Bishop of Salisbury on his late Charge to the Clergy of his Diocese'', London, 1798. * ''A Visit to Paris in June 1814'', London, 1814. He also contributed papers to the '' Archæologia'' of the Society of Antiquaries.

References

Attribution * This source cites: **''Gentleman's Magazine''. 1827, ii. 373; Ann. Biogr. and Obituary, 1828, p. 472; ** ''Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica''. 2nd ser. i. 116; **''Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors'', 1816; **''Notes and Queries'', 4th ser. iv. 58, 161. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wansey, Henry 1751 births 1827 deaths People from Warminster English businesspeople English antiquarians Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London