John Aubrey was born in Wiltshire, England to a wealthy, educated country family. This respectable, non-threatening position, along with his natural charm, allowed him to mingle with a wide range of people, from famous writers and aristocrats to merchants and palace seamstresses. He drew upon his genuine interest in these people in his immortally entertaining biographical works. While he is now best remembered as a biographer, Aubrey was also accomplished in the fields of archaeology, folklore, and chorography. Several of the manuscripts he wrote in these fields were never published, but remain preserved at the University of Oxford.