Also known as Dr Richard Sandy, he was the brother of Sir Robert Napier of Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire.
[1] He was a pupil of Simon Forman and inherited his manuscripts, including a copy of the Picatrix (now in the British Library).
Napier was appointed a curate to preach in his place while he practised astrology, which was intertwined with his devout Anglicanism and interest in medicine.
[citation needed] His sister, Mary Napier married Sir Thomas Myddelton of Chirk Castle, the son of Sir Thomas Myddelton, Lord Mayor of London who was also one of his patients.
His records have been digitised by a team led by Professor Lauren Kassell of the University of Cambridge.