Rev. Edward Henry Abney

     Rev. Edward Henry Abney, son of William Wootton Abney and Elizabeth Richardson, was born on 22 September 1811 in Fulford, Yorkshire, England.¹ Edward graduated in 1833 from Exeter College, Cambridge, England.

Edward married Catherine Strutt on 31 January 1833 in Duffield, England.²

Edward received his ordinations as deacon 16 Nov 1834 and priest 6 Dec 1835. He was appointed curate of York Holy Trinity Micklegate 16 Nov 1834.³ He was was appointed vicar of St. Alkmund's in 1841 in Derby, England. He lived in a Regency mansion on Burton Road until 1866, when his son inherited the family estate at Measham. He then retired there in 1886.¹

Edward was a pioneer in the use of photographs to record topography when the "art-science", as Richard Keene later called it, was in its infancy. Always a welcome guest at the nearby Markeaton Hall, he was introduced to Francis Mundy's brother-in-law, William Henry Fox-Talbot, of Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire. Fox-Talbot was not only married to Mundy's sister, Constance, but was only the second man (the first British person) ever to take and fix a photographic image. He had managed this only two years before the Abneys moved to Derby. Edward quickly became enthusiastic about his friend's new invention and the two of them took to touring the countryside, photographing the scenery and old buildings, using Fox-Talbot's "Talbotype" method.

By 1850, with the improved calotype process available, Edwa rd was sharing his knowledge with two young enthusiasts, John Alfread Warwick, then a junior signalling manager on the Midland Railway, and Richard Keene, a printer and print seller in Iron Gate. Within the decade these two had founded the Derby Photographic Society and, by 1860, had taken Abney's teen-aged sons, William and Edward, under their wings.Warwick also taught William all he knew about telegraphy, his railway specialty.

Rev. Edward Henry Abney died on 13 May 1892 in Derby, Derbyshire, England, at age 80.¹ He was buried in St. Peter's Churchyard, Littleover, Derbyshire, England.