Editing Christopher Anstey (section)

==Life==
Anstey was the third child and only son of the Rev.&nbsp;Dr.&nbsp;Christopher Anstey, the rector of [[Brinkley, Cambridgeshire|Brinkley]] in Cambridgeshire, and his wife Mary Thompson, born on 31 October 1724 in [[Trumpington]].<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB|id=579|first=Robert James|last=Merrett|title=Anstey, Christopher}}</ref> He was educated at [[Eton College]] and [[King's College, Cambridge|King's College]], Cambridge,<ref>{{acad|id=ANSY742C|name=Anstey, Christopher}}</ref> where he distinguished himself for his Latin verses. He became a fellow of his college in 1745 but the degree of M.A. was withheld from him in 1749 owing to his defiance of the university authorities and the offence caused by an address that is said to have begun "Doctors without doctrine, artless masters of arts, and bachelors more worthy of the rod than the laurel..."<ref>Anstey, pp. vi–vii.</ref>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=84}}{{refn|group=n|[[Latin]]: ''{{lang|la|Doctores sine doctrina, magistri artium sine artibus, et baccalaurei baculo potius quam lauro digni...}}''}} He joined the [[Middle Temple]] in 1746, but was not [[called to the bar]].<ref name="ODNB"/>

In 1754, having succeeded to the prosperous family estates (including Anstey Hall in [[Trumpington, Cambridgeshire|Trumpington]]), Anstey withdrew from the university. Two years later, he married Ann Calvert (1732–1812), daughter of Felix Calvert and the sister of his friend John Calvert of [[Albury, Hertfordshire|Albury Hall]], Hertfordshire.{{sfnp|''EB''|1878}}<ref name="ODNB"/> For a considerable time Anstey lived the life of a country squire, cultivating letters as well as his estates,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=84–85}} but publishing little of any note for many years. His family grew to include thirteen children, eight of whom survived him.<ref name="ODNB"/>

Following a period of depression aggravated by ill health after the death of a beloved sister in 1760, Anstey was advised to [[hydrotherapy|take the waters]] at the fashionable spa of [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]. Impressed by the place, he returned annually and decided to settle there permanently in 1770, his home being at No.&nbsp;4 [[Royal Crescent]] for the next thirty-five years.{{Refn|group=n|The plaque recording this is actually displayed outside No.&nbsp;5.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lowndes|first=William|title=''The Royal Crescent in Bath''|publisher=Redcliffe Press|year=1981|isbn=978-0-905459-34-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/royalcrescentinb0000lown}}</ref>}} In 1766, he achieved fame following the publication of  ''The New Bath Guide: or Memoirs of the B__n__r__d Family in a series of Poetical Epistles'', which went through some twenty editions before 1800. The work was enthusiastically praised for its gently satirical humour by such literary figures as [[Horace Walpole]] and [[Thomas Gray]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=85}}

Later Anstey composed a work in the same vein, ''An Election Ball, in Poetical Letters from Mr Inkle at Bath to his Wife at Gloucester'', published in 1776.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=85}} The theme had been suggested to him at the literary gatherings of the Batheaston Literary Circle which he had been attending and to the last of whose regular anthologies he contributed. Other suggested themes occasioned published works of some length, but the connection did his reputation more damage than otherwise and was ended with the death of the coterie's patroness, [[Anna, Lady Miller]], in 1781.<ref>Bishop pp. 68ff.</ref> In the years that followed, he thought of collecting his poems for general publication but the project was only finally completed by his son [[John Anstey (poet)|John]] in 1808.

Although Anstey declared himself uninterested in public office,<ref>Anstey p. xii.</ref> he had served as [[High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire]] for 1770–71, on the eve of his move to Bath. Once there, he busied himself in various philanthropic ventures, such as supporting the scheme for the support of the poor on behalf of which the Batheaston Circle's ''Poetical Amusements'' were sold. In addition he served between 1781 and 1795 on the board of governors of [[Bath Hospital]], for whom he wrote effective fund-raising poems.<ref>Anstey pp. l–liii.</ref> Later he supported the work of [[Hannah More]], in whose series of [[Cheap Repository Tracts]] appeared his long ballad, "The Farmer's Daughter, a poetical tale" (1795). His final Latin poem, the [[Alcaic stanza]]s addressed to [[Edward Jenner]] on his work on inoculation (1803),<ref>Anstey pp. 499–503.</ref> demonstrated the persistence of his humanitarian interests.

Anstey's normally strong constitution gave way early in 1805. He died on 3 August,{{sfnp|''EB''|1878}} and was buried at St. Swithin's Church in [[Walcot, Bath]]. Later a white marble memorial tablet was placed in the [[Poets' Corner]] of Westminster Abbey.