Background
His father was knighted on 24 March 1708, while high sheriff of Essex, where he possessed an estate near Ingatestone.
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Daniel Wray
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At the age of thirteen Daniel the son entered Charterhouse School as a day scholar. In 1718 he matriculated from Queens" College, Cambridge, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1722, and Master of Arts in 1728. Between 1722 and 1728 he paid a prolonged visit to Italy in the company of James Douglas.
On 13 March 1729 he was admitted a fellow of the Royal Society, and on 18 June 1731 he was incorporated at Oxford.
He resided generally at Cambridge until 1739 or 1740, but after being elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in January 1741 he became a more habitual resident of London, lodging at the house of Arthur Pond. He was a keen antiquary and collector of rare books, and on 18 June 1765 was appointed one of the trustees of the British Museum.
He had younger men as protegees, including Francis Wollaston, George Hardinge, and William Heberden the younger. Wray died on 29 December 1783, and was buried in the church of Saint Botolph Without, where there is a tablet to his memory.
His portrait by Sir Nathaniel Holland was presented by his widow to Queens" College, Cambridge.
Another, engraved by Henry Meyer from a painting by Nathaniel Dance, forms the frontispiece of the first volume of John Nichols"s Literary Illustrations. A copy of Dance"s portrait by John Powell was presented to the Charterhouse library. His library was presented by his widow to Charterhouse in 1785, and a Catalogue was printed in 1790.
In 1830 James Falconar published a work entitled The Secret Revealed, in which he made out a case for the identification of Wray as Junius.
Membership
Royal Society.
