Thomas Abney

Who was Thomas Abney?

Sir Thomas Abney was an English barrister and later judge. He was the younger son of Sir Edward Abney, by his second wife, Judith, daughter and co-heir of Peter Barr, of London.

He became a King's Counsel in 1733, attorney-general for the duchy of Lancaster in 1733, steward of the Marshalsea Court in 1736, in November 1740 a Baron of the Exchequer, and in February 1743 a Justice of the Common Pleas. Abney fell a victim to the gaol distemper at the 'Black Sessions' at the Old Bailey in May 1750, when, "of the judges in the commission, only the chief justice, and the recorder escaped. Those who fell a sacrifice to the pestilence were Mr. Justice Abney, who died 19 May; Mr. Baron Clarke, who died on the 17th; Sir Samuel Pennant, lord mayor; and alderman Sir Daniel Lambert; besides several of the counsel and jurymen."