William Bray

Born in 1736, William Bray was an English attorney and antiquary. He is best known as the editor and continuator of Owen Manning’s The History and Antiquities of the County of Surrey, a landmark work of local history that helped secure his reputation among early English historians and collectors of historical records.

Bray combined legal work with a deep interest in manuscripts, genealogy, and the past of his home county. Archival records show that he left behind correspondence, journals, notes, and papers relating to Surrey, along with material from his legal practice, suggesting a long life spent balancing professional work with careful historical research.

He died in 1832. Today, he is remembered less as a literary celebrity than as one of those steady, invaluable scholars whose patience preserved local history for later generations.