Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 59.djvu/296

 is in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. He was married on 24 July 1655; by his wife Ellen (b. 30 April 1633, d. 28 June 1719), daughter of Humphrey Burton, coroner and town clerk of Coventry, he had five children, of whom Humfrey Wanley is separately noticed. Wanley gave or bequeathed to the grammar school library at Coventry a copy of the ‘Imitatio Christi,’ described as ‘Ecclesiastical Music, written on Parchment, about the time of King Edward IV.’

Wanley's opus magnum is ‘The Wonders of the Little World; or a General History of Man. In Six Books,’ 1678, fol., dedicated (17 June 1677) to Sir Harbottle Grimston [q. v.] The Coventry corporation gave him 10l., the Drapers' Company 6l., and the Mercers' Company 4l., in acknowledgment of presentation copies. The work, which is meant to illustrate anecdotically the prodigies of human nature, shows omnivorous reading and indiscriminate credence; it is well arranged, and the authorities are fully given and carefully rendered. Of later editions the best are 1774, 4to, with revision, and index; and 1806–7, 2 vols. 8vo, with additions by William Johnston, a coadjutor of John Aikin (1747–1822) [q. v.] in the ‘General Biography.’ Wanley compiled a history of the Fielding family, which is printed in Nichols's ‘Leicestershire;’ the original, written on fine parchment, is in the possession of Lord Denbigh.

[Colvile's Worthies of Warwickshire (1870), p. 784; Dugdale's Warwickshire, ed. Thomas, 1730, i. 174; Taunton's Coventry, 1870, pp. 194, 198, 205, 257, cf. Hist. and Antiquities, Coventry (1810), p. 81; Notes and Queries, 4th ser. v. 142; Parish Magazine, Holy Trinity, Coventry, July 1884; information from Dr. William Aldis Wright, vice-master, Trinity Coll.]  WANOSTROCHT, NICHOLAS (1804–1876), author of ‘Felix on the Bat,’ eldest son of Vincent Wanostrocht, was born at Camberwell on 5 Oct. 1804. His great-uncle (his father's uncle), Nicolas Wanostrocht (1745–1812), who is believed to have been of Belgian origin, came over to England, after some residence in France, about 1780, and was appointed French tutor in the family of Henry Bathurst, second earl Bathurst [q. v.] A few years after his arrival he founded a school known as the Alfred House Academy near Camberwell Green, ‘a spot very convenient on account of the coaches going to and from London every hour’ (see his flowery prospectus in the British Museum Library, dated 1795). Among his numerous compilations the most noteworthy are ‘A Practical Grammar of the French Language’ (London, 1780, 12mo; 19th edit. revised by Tarver, 1839); ‘Classical Vocabulary, French and English. … to which is added a Collection of Letters, Familiar and Commercial’ (1783, 12mo); ‘Recueil choisi de traits historiques et de contes moraux’ (1785, 12mo; 5th edit. 1797); ‘Petite Encyclopédie des jeunes gens,’ dedicated to Lady Charlotte Cavendish Bentinck (1788, 12mo, numerous editions); and ‘La Liturgie Anglicane’ (1794, 12mo). Dr. Wanostrocht, who printed the letters LL.D. after his name, died at Camberwell, aged 63, on 19 Nov. 1812. His widow Sarah, who with the aid of her husband had issued ‘Le Livre des Enfans, ou Syllabaire Français’ (4th edit. 1808), died at Camberwell on 18 Oct. 1820 (Gent. Mag. 1812 ii. 593, 1820 ii. 380). The school at Alfred House was continued by the doctor's nephew and assistant, Vincent Wanostrocht (the father of the writer on cricket), who, besides revising his uncle's editions of Marmontel, Florian, Barthélemy, and other French classics, published ‘The British Constitution, or an Epitome of Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England’ (London, 1823). He died at Alfred House, aged 43, on 25 Jan. 1824 (Gent. Mag. 1824, i. 188), leaving issue, besides Nicholas, Vincent (1813–1888), who displayed great talent as an inventor, but was unfortunate in his experiments; Sally, who married, in 1820, George Warden of Glasgow; and Mary, who married, in December 1822, Nathaniel Chater of Fleet Street.

After Vincent's death the school was carried on by his eldest son, Nicholas, whose devotion to cricket is said to have been somewhat detrimental to the more strictly academic portion of the curriculum. He studied cricket at Camberwell under Harry Hampton, who had a ground there, and gradually developed into a very brilliant left-handed bat, his cut to the off from the shoulder being specially commended. His slow ‘lobs’ were also described as very fatal. He first appeared at Lord's as ‘N. Felix’ (a name which he always assumed at cricket, in deference, it is supposed, to the feelings of parents) on 23 Aug. 1828; but it was not until 1831 (24 July) that he first played for the gentlemen against the players, his scores being 0 bowled Pilch and bowled Lillywhite 1. He played again in this match in 1833, 1837, 1840, and, with a few exceptions, right down to 1851. In 1846 a match was played at Lord's ‘in his honour’ (1–3 June), at which the prince consort put in an appearance, but Felix's side was badly beaten by Pilch's eleven. On