John Leland or Leyland (13 September, c. 1503 – 18 April 1552) was an English poet and antiquary. Leland has been described as "the father of English local history and bibliography".[5] His Itinerary provided a unique source of observations and raw materials for many subsequent antiquaries, and introduced the county as the basic unit for studying the local history of England, an idea that has been influential ever since.