William Fordyce Mavor was a Scottish educationist. Born in Aberdeenshire, Mavor travelled to England at the age of seventeen, where he briefly lived in London before taking up a position as assistant master of a school in Burford, Oxfordshire. He would remain at Burford until 1782 when he travelled to Woodstock and established an academy. At Woodstock, Mavor offered tuition to the children of the Duke of Marlborough and in later life became headmaster of the grammar school and ten times served as mayor of the town.

Aside from his work as a teacher, Mavor was a prolific author, writing books on a great variety of subjects, from guidebooks, histories and travel accounts to grammars, miscellanies and magazines aimed at women. He also wrote essays on education and during the illness of his eldest son in 1788, Mavor began to write natural history books to entertain him.

This book on agricultural improvements in Berkshire was written for the Board of Agriculture in 1809. The work is notable for both its overview of the changes new technology and farming methods were bringing and for its observations on the living conditions of agricultural workers in the county.