Portrait of Thomas Tanner

Thomas Tanner was the eldest son of Thomas Tanner, the vicar of Market Lavington from 1671 until his death in 1719. He was born in 1674 and was noted as a scholar of exceptional promise at Queen's College, Oxford. As an antiquarian he edited and revised important works, such as Camden's Britannia and books by John Leland and Robert Hegge. He intended to write a history of Wiltshire but unfortunately this was never published. He did write and publish, in 1695, Notitia monastica, or, A Short History of the Religious Houses in England and Wales. After various posts in the diocese of Norwich, where he researched Norfolk history, he became a canon of Christchurch, Oxford, in 1724, and later was consecrated bishop of St. Asaph in 1732. He died in 1735, leaving a bequest of £200 towards the provision of education and for the relief of the poor in Market Lavington.