tion to be called the Veterinary College of London, with Sainbel as professor. The college began its work, but Sainbel died, after a short illness, on 21 Aug. 1793, in the fortieth year of his age. He was buried in the vault under the Savoy Chapel in the Strand. The college granted his widow an annuity of 50l.
Sainbel may justly be looked upon as the founder of scientific veterinary practice in England. Hitherto, owing to the ignorance of cattle-disease, the loss of animal life had been very great, and farriers had depended upon antiquated or empirical treatises such as those of Gervase Markham [q. v.] Like all innovators, Sainbel had much to contend against; but the lines which he laid down have been faithfully followed in England and in Scotland, and led from the merest empiricism to the scientific position now held by veterinary science. Sainbel was essentially an honourable man, following the best traditions of the old régime in France. That he was a first-rate anatomist and a scientific veterinary surgeon is proved by his writings. An engraving of a half-length portrait is prefixed to Sainbel's collected works.
He was author of:
- ‘Essai sur les Proportions Géométrales de l'Éclipse,’ French and English, London, 4to, 1791; 2nd edit. 1795. This work was originally inscribed to the Prince of Wales, and was illustrated with careful geometrical drawings, representing the exact proportions of the famous racehorse. Sainbel endeavoured in this essay to analyse the component parts of a horse's gallop, but his conclusions have lately been much modified by the instantaneous photographs obtained by Marey, Stanford, Muybridge, Stillman, and other observers.
- ‘Lectures on the Elements of Farriery,’ London, 1793, 4to.
- A posthumous volume, issued in 1795 for the benefit of Sainbel's widow, containing translations into English of four essays originally published in French; the English titles ran: ‘General Observations on the Art of Veterinary Medicine;’ ‘An Essay on the Grease or Watery Sores in the Legs of Horses’ (this essay was written when Sainbel was only eighteen, and it gained him the prize given by the Royal Society of Medicine of France); ‘Experiments and Observations made upon Glandered Horses with intent to elucidate the Rise and Progress of this Disease, in order to discover the proper treatment of it;’ ‘Short Observations on the Colic or Gripes: more particularly that kind to which racehorses are liable.’
- (Also posthumously published) ‘The Sportsman, Farrier, and Shoeing Smith's New Guide, edited by J. Lawrence,’ London, (1800?), 12mo.
[Memoir prefixed to the Works of Sainbel, London, 1795; Huth's Bibl. Record of Hippology, 1887.]
SAINSBURY, WILLIAM NOEL (1825–1895), historical writer, third son of John and Mary Ann Sainsbury, was born at 35 Red Lion Square, Holborn, London, on 7 July 1825. On 1 April 1848 he entered the old state paper office as an extra temporary clerk. On 28 Nov. he was confirmed in the appointment, and eventually was transferred to the record office when it absorbed the state paper office in 1854. In August 1862 he became a senior clerk, and in November 1887 an assistant-keeper of the records.
Sainsbury chiefly devoted himself to calendaring the records which bore on the history of America and the West Indies. The first volume of his calendar of the colonial state papers relating to America and the West Indies was published in 1860. That on the papers of East India, China, and Japan followed in 1862. At intervals of three or four years other volumes have appeared, making nine in all. The value of his public work was not greater than that of the aid which he gave unofficially to the historians and historical societies of the United States. In his early days he collected for Bancroft, the American historian, from the papers of the board of trade, all evidence bearing upon the history of the American colonies. In recognition of his services to American historical writers he was made an honorary or corresponding member of the principal historical societies in the States.
Sainsbury retired from the public service in December 1891, but continued, with the help of a daughter, to edit the calendar up to the time of his death, which took place on 9 March 1895. Besides various uncollected papers on colonial history, he published:
- ‘Original unpublished Papers illustrative of the Life of Sir P. P. Rubens as an artist and diplomatist,’ London, 1859, 8vo.
- ‘Hearts of Oak: stories of early English Adventure,’ London, 1871, 8vo.
He married twice: first, in 1849, Emily Storrs, second daughter of Andrew Moore, by whom he had two sons and eight daughters; secondly, in 1873, Henrietta Victoria, youngest daughter of John Hawkins, and widow of Alfred Crusher Auger, whom he also survived.
[Proceedings of American Antiquarian Society, 1895, vol. x. pt. i. p. 28; Times, 14 March 1895; private information.]
