Thomas Lediard (1685–1743) was an English writer and surveyor.

Life

In early life, by his own account, he was attached to the staff of the

Duke of Marlborough General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S.) was a British army officer and statesman. From a gentry family, he ...

, particularly in 1707, on the occasion of the Duke's visit to

Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...

. He is assumed to have been there as a diplomat, an attaché to the embassy at

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, seconded as a foreign secretary. He was then for many years secretary to the British envoy extraordinary in Hamburg. There he was a stage designer at the

Oper am Gänsemarkt The Oper am Gänsemarkt was a theatre in Hamburg, Germany, built in 1678 after plans of Girolamo Sartorio at the Gänsemarkt square. It was the first public opera house to be established in Germany: not a court opera, as in many other towns. ...

, for his chief,

Sir Cyril Wyche, 1st Baronet Sir Cyril Wyche, 1st Baronet ( – 1756) was an English diplomat who served as Envoy Extraordinary to Hamburg Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia. Early life He was the only son and heir of Bethesda ( Savage) Wyche and J ...

, who beginning in 1722 served as one of the theater's directors. Lediard returned to England some time before 1732 and settled in

Smith Square Smith Square is a square in Westminster, London, 250 metres south-southwest of the Palace of Westminster. Most of its garden square, garden interior is filled by St John's, Smith Square, a English Baroque, Baroque surplus church, the inside of w ...

, Westminster. In February 1738 he wrote a proposal for

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge crossing over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats ...

.''A Scheme, humbly offered to the Honourable the Commissioners for building a Bridge at Westminster, for opening convenient and advantageous Ways and Passages (on the Westminster side) to and from the said Bridge, if situated at or near Palace Yard; as likewise to and from the Parliament House and the Courts of Justice,'' 1738. Possibly as a consequence, he was appointed Agent and Surveyor of Westminster Bridge. On 13 July 1742 the Crown lands from Westminster Bridge to

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

were granted to him and Sir Joseph Ayloffe, to hold in trust to the Commissioners appointed to build the bridge. On 9 December 1742 Lediard was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

. Early in 1743 he resigned his appointment as Surveyor of the bridge, and died shortly afterwards, in June 1743. He was succeeded in the post by his son Thomas.

Works

In England Lediard brought out ''The Naval History of England in all its branches, from the Norman Conquest ... to the conclusion of 1734'', 2 vols. 1735; ''The Life of John, Duke of Marlborough'', 3 vols. 1736, 2nd edit. 2 vols. 1743, in the preface to which he claims to write from personal knowledge of some of the transactions, and to have had access to important letters and papers; and ''The History of the Reigns of William III and Mary, and Anne, in continuation of the History of England by Rapin de Thoyras'', 3 vols. 1737. He also published translations of the ''

Life of Sethos Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, organisation, metabolism, growth, adaptation, respon ...

'', by

Jean Terrasson Jean Terrasson (31 January 1670 – 15 September 1750), often referred to as the Abbé Terrasson, was a French Catholic priest, author and member of the Académie française. The erudite Antoine Terrasson was his nephew. Life Jean Terrasson, bo ...

, 1732; ''A History of the Ancient Germans'', by Johann Jacob Mascon, 2 vols. 1737; and of ''A Plan of Civil and Historical Architecture'', by

Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (20 July 1656 – 5 April 1723) was an Austrian architect, sculptor, engraver, and architectural historian whose Baroque architecture profoundly influenced and shaped the tastes of the Habsburg Empire. His inf ...

, 2nd edit. 1738. Lediard assisted in the etymological work in

Nathan Bailey Nathan Bailey (died 27 June 1742), was an English philologist and lexicographer. He was the author of several dictionaries, including his '' Universal Etymological Dictionary'', which appeared in some 30 editions between 1721 and 1802. Bailey' ...

's ''Dictionarium Britannicum'' (1736). He is described on the title-page as a "professor of modern languages in Lower Germany". He was the author of ''Grammatica Anglicana Critica, oder Versuch zu einer vollkommen Grammatic der englischen Sprache'', Hamburg (1726); ''Eine Collection verschiedener Vorstellungen in Illuminationen . . . 1724-8, unter der Direction und von der Invention Thomas Lediard's'', Hamburg (1730); and ''Britannia, an English Opera as it is performed at the New Theatre in the Haymarket'', London, 1732. He also edited, with introduction and notes, ''The German Spy, in familiar letters . . . written by a Gentleman on his Travels to his Friend in England'', London, 1738.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Lediard, Thomas 1685 births 1743 deaths English surveyors Fellows of the Royal Society 18th-century English translators 18th-century English writers