William Gunn (writer)

[1] He took holy orders, in 1784 became rector of Sloley, Norfolk, and in 1786 obtained the consolidated livings of Barton Turf and Irstead.

The latter he resigned in 1829 in favour of John Gunn, on receiving the vicarage of Gorleston, Suffolk.

During a residence in Rome he obtained permission to search the Vatican and other libraries for manuscripts relating to the history of England, and published anonymously, as the result of his research, in 1803, a collection of Extracts from sixteenth-century state papers.

In the Vatican he discovered a tenth-century manuscript of the Historia Brittonum, commonly ascribed to Nennius, which he printed in 1819 with an English version, facsimile of the original, notes, and illustrations (another edition of the translation only, with a few additions, was published by J.

Original register held by Norfolk Record Office (NRO: NCC, will register, Traxton, 203) (downloadable PDF file http://www.norfolkwills.co.uk/1841-001.pdf ) (Transcript © Colin Gilbert) This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Gunn, William".