William Tans’ur

TANS’UR, William. b. Dunchurch, near Rugby (baptised 6 November 1706); d. St Neots, Huntingdonshire, 7 October 1783. He was the son of a Warwickshire labourer named Edward Tanzer; he seems to have invented the curious spelling of his surname. He was a typical figure in Anglican country psalmody, travelling to many parts of the country, where he set up temporary singing schools to teach the local choirs, using the books that he himself compiled, printed and published. The sale of these books was probably his chief source of income, but he also wrote and published on other subjects, and in later life settled in St Neots as a stationer and bookseller. Through his successful publications...