No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 December 2013
Almost everyone interested in the classical topography of Asia Minor is acquainted with the name of Leake. To Ramsay (1890, 51) he was “the greatest of modern topographers”. But few will know more than that he was a scholar to be reckoned with when attempting to locate classical sites or reconstruct ancient topographies. This paper outlines his career and his work on Asia Minor.
Colonel Leake (Plate II a), as he was generally known during the last 47 years of his life, was born in Bolton Row, off Bolton Street, Piccadilly, on 14 January, 1777. The family name was actually Martin-Leake. It was adopted by William's great-grandfather, Captain Stephen Martin, in 1721 after he had inherited much of the property of his life-long friend, brother-in-law and commander, Sir John Leake (1656–1720), Rear-Admiral of Great Britain (Markham 1895). William's grandfather, after a spell in the Navy Office, became a herald (1727) and finally (1754) Garter King of Arms. Stephen Martin Leake, in fact, was one of the great holders of that office. Not only did he save the College of Arms from foundering, but he also launched it on a major phase of revival. He was a considerable heraldic scholar, as well (Noble 1805, 408–14; Wagner 1967, 380–406). Garter's second son, and William's father, was John Martin Leake (1739–1836).