Henry Chauncy

Chauncy stated that the manor house (Ardeley Bury) and demesne had been held for above 200 years by his ancestors, who had had several leases for lives from the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's.

Chauncy asked the rector of Walkern to arbitrate, but when complaints about Wenham continued he issued a warrant for her arrest and gave instructions that she be searched for "witch marks".

In writing the work Chauncy paid a team of researchers to gather historical anecdotes and determine genealogical lines for him.

It was dedicated to its principal sponsor, the third Earl of Bridgewater; and was illustrated by forty-six engravings (thirty-three of them by Jan Drapentier), most of which were bird's-eye views of the seats of the major subscribers.

In the family pedigree published in the Antiquities he did not record the marriage, although in the preface he speaks darkly of degenerate relatives and their malicious accomplices.