Thomas Tanner (bishop)

Tanner's chief work published during his lifetime is the Notitia Monastica, a short account of all the religious houses in England and Wales.

He also wrote Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, a dictionary of all the authors who flourished in England, Scotland and Ireland before the opening of the 17th century, at which he laboured for forty years.

When Tanner moved from Norwich to Oxford, his books were conveyed by water but the barge sank at Benson Lock, near Wallingford on 11 December 1731 and they were submerged for twenty hours with lasting effects.

[4] Tanner died in 1735, bequeathing to the Bodleian his English historical papers, 17th century correspondence, manuscripts, and printed books not already held by the library.

[7] The printed books had been collected for Tanner's work on the Bibliotheca, helped by his association with John Moore, the Bishop of Norwich and a book-collector in his own right.

Tanner was already interested in autograph letters, but in 1718 bought a significant number of papers held by the historian and pamphleteer John Nalson.

According to Hearne, she was "a short squabb dame", who was "remarkable for drinking of brandy", and Tanner after marrying her was obliged to abandon for a time his studies, and was involved in lawsuits about his chancellorship.

[14] When John Loveday visited Tanner in July 1732, his house was kept by his sister, "a widow lady",[15] but he married in May 1733 as his third wife Elizabeth Scottowe of Thorpe by Norwich.