Thomas Astle ( eng. Thomas Astle , December 22, 1735, Joksoll village, Nidwood Forest , Staffordshire - December 1, 1803) - British antiquarian, paleographer, trustee of the British Library , member of the Royal Society of London .
| Thomas Astle | |
|---|---|
| English Thomas Astle | |
 | |
| Date of Birth | December 22, 1735 |
| Place of Birth | Staffordshire |
| Date of death | December 1, 1803 (67 years) |
| Place of death | London |
| Occupation | |
| Children | |
| Awards and prizes | [d] ( January 23, 1786 ) [d] |
Biography
Born in the family of Daniel Astle, a forester. He studied law, but did not work in his specialty. He went to London, where he worked on the creation of a catalog of the collection of Harley's manuscripts, published in 2 volumes in 1759 .
He was elected a full member of the Society of Antiquaries in 1763 , and at about the same time, George Granville hired Astla to work with texts and resolve issues that required knowledge of ancient writing, and also appointed, along with Joseph and Ayloff and Andrew Duquerel, a member of the Commission of public observers records in Westminster. On December 18, 1765, he married Anna Maria, the only daughter and heiress of Philip Morant, historian of Essex [1] . He had nine children with his wife.
In 1766 he became a member of the Royal Society of London. In the same year, consultations were held with the House of Lords Committee on the printing of ancient records of Parliament. Thomas Astle offered to hire his father-in-law. After the death of Henry Rook, the chief clerk of the Chamber of Records in the Tower in 1775 , Astley took his post, and after the death of Sir John Shelley in 1783 became the keeper of the records.
After his death in 1770, Philip Morant, through his wife, Thomas Astle, inherited a library of his father-in-law, which contained many rare books and manuscripts. By the end of his life, Astle himself had assembled the largest private collection of manuscripts in the country. Astle died in his home in Battersea Rise, near London, from dropsy.
Notes
- Mary Rosemary Sweet (2004), Antiquaries: The Discovery of the Past in Eighteenth-Century Britain