Henry Ainslie was a physician. Educated at Hawkshead Grammar School

Hawkshead Grammar School

Hawkshead Grammar School in Hawkshead, Cumbria, England was founded in 1585 by Archbishop Edwin Sandys, of York, who petitioned a charter from Queen Elizabeth I to set up a governing body. The early School taught Latin, Greek and sciences, including arithmetic and geometry...

 and then Pembroke College, Cambridge

Pembroke College, Cambridge

Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...

 (where he graduated Senior Wrangler), he became a fellow of Pembroke in 1782, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians

Royal College of Physicians

The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...

 in 1795. He was a Junior Commissioner for madhouses in 1797 and 1798, and a Senior Commissioner in 1809 and 1817.

In 1785 he married Agnes Ford of Monk Coniston (an estate near Coniston Water

Coniston Water

Coniston Water in Cumbria, England is the third largest lake in the English Lake District. It is five miles long, half a mile wide, has a maximum depth of 184 feet , and covers an area of . The lake has an elevation of 143 feet above sea level...

 in the English Lake District) in the church at Colton

Colton, Cumbria

Colton is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, which was historically part of Lancashire. Its name has been recorded as Coleton and Coulton, and its existence has been recorded as early as 1202....

. Agnes Ford was the daughter of Richard Ford, founder of the Newland Company, later known as Harrison Ainslie

Harrison Ainslie

The firm of Harrison Ainslie & Co. was a British firm of ironmasters and iron ore merchants, selling high quality haematite from their mines on Lindal Moor to smelters in Glasgow, Scotland, South Wales and the Midlands. From a 21st century perspective, they are more interesting as the last...

. The couple owned Ford lodge at Grizedale

Grizedale

Grizedale is a hamlet in the Lake District of England, in the middle of the Grizedale Forest, located north of Satterthwaite and south of Hawkshead...

 and planted many thousands of larch trees in the valley and on the surrounding hills and moorland which effectively started Grizedale Forest

Grizedale Forest

Grizedale Forest is a 24.47 km² area of woodland in the Lake District of North West England, located to the east of Coniston Water and to the south of Hawkshead. It comprises a number of hills, small tarns and the settlements of Grizedale and Satterthwaite...

. They had a son Montague Ainslie

Montague Ainslie

Montague Ainslie was an English forester and businessman whose interests included the iron ore company Harrison Ainslie....

.