Henry Wansey was an 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, who was born in 1751 or 1752, was the son of William Wansey of Warminster, Wiltshire. 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

Society of Antiquaries of London

The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...

, in 1794 he visited the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and in 1796 he published his observations under the title An Excursion to the United States of America, Salisbury, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1798. While residing at Salisbury

Salisbury

Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...

 in 1801 he turned his attention to the condition of poorhouse

Poorhouse

A poorhouse or workhouse was a government-run facility in the past for the support and housing of dependent or needy persons, typically run by a local government entity such as a county or municipality....

s, 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

Richard Colt Hoare

Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet FRS was an English antiquarian, archaeologist, artist, and traveller of the 18th and 19th centuries, the first major figure in the detailed study of the history of his home county, Wiltshire.-Career:Hoare was descended from Sir Richard Hoare, Lord Mayor of...

 in preparing the account of the hundred of Warminster

Warminster

Warminster is a town in western Wiltshire, England, by-passed by the A36, and near Frome and Westbury. It has a population of about 17,000. The River Were runs through the town and can be seen running through the middle of the town park. The Minster Church of St Denys sits on the River Were...

 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, 8vo.
• A Letter to the Bishop of Salisbury on his late Charge to the Clergy of his Diocese, London, 1798, 8vo.
• A Visit to Paris in June 1814, London, 1814, 8vo.

He also contributed several papers to the Archæologia of the Society of Antiquaries.