author
William Bray
1736–1832
Best known for helping complete a landmark history of Surrey, this English antiquary spent decades turning local records, churches, and estates into lasting historical work. He also brought wider attention to John Evelyn by editing and publishing Evelyn’s memoirs and diary.
1 Audiobook
Extracts from the Diary of William Bray
by William Bray
About the author
Born in Surrey in 1736, he was educated at Rugby School and later worked for many years at the Board of Green Cloth. After inheriting family estates in Shere and Gomshall, he became deeply involved in county life and in the kinds of local civic and charitable responsibilities that matched his legal training and standing.
He is chiefly remembered for completing The History and Antiquities of the County of Surrey after the death of Owen Manning, personally visiting parishes and churches across the county as he carried the project through publication in three volumes between 1804 and 1814. Elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1771, he later served as its treasurer and contributed often to Archaeologia.
His other writings included Sketch of a Tour into Derbyshire and Yorkshire, and his final major literary work was editing the Memoirs of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, including Evelyn’s Diary. He died at Shere on December 21, 1832, in his mid-nineties.