(1701 - 83), antiquarian, yst. s. of Sir Daniel Wray, Kt., of London; Queens' Camb. 1718; FRS 1729; FSA 1741; BM Trustee 1765; m. Mary Darell.
- 1726 - 7 Venice (Jan. 1726), Padua (20 Mar.), Leghorn (spring), Rome (Easter and Nov.), Florence, Rome (Nov. 1726), Turin (1727)
Little is known concerning Wray's visit to Italy,1 which followed his graduation from Cambridge in 1722. He is said to have spent six years there (1722 - 8) with the Hon. John King2 and James Douglas, a Cambridge contemporary (DNB).
Wray was in Padua on 20 March 1726 (without King or Douglas).3 His friend Thomas Edwards (a London barrister) addressed letters to him at Venice in January 1726, at Leghorn that spring, and at Rome in November (acknowledging Wray's description of Holy Week at Rome). Wray's profile medallion portrait, dated 1726, was cast in bronze by G.F. Pozzo in Rome, where Wray, Douglas and King met Arthur Pond and George Knapton. In 1727 Wray was in Turin.
Douglas was in Bologna on 13 April 1728 and Venice on 27 May, about to leave for Germany, apparently on his own,4 and in July 1728 five parcels (some containing earthenware and books) for Douglas were sent to England from Venice.5 In London Wray was a founder member of the Roman Club, others including George Knapton, John Dyer and Arthur Pond.
1. See L. Lippincott, Selling Art in Georgian London, 19 - 22 (letters from Edwards to Wray in Italy from Edwards letter bk. [Bodl., MS 1007]). 2. J. Nichols, Lit.Anecdotes, 2:441 - 2. 3. Brown 1808. 4. Abercairny MSS 464 (letters from Douglas to Jn.Drummond). 5. Ibid. (P. Rousseau, 6 Jul. 1728).