William de Wiveleslie Abney

Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney (24 July 1843 – 3 December 1920) was an English astronomer, chemist, and photographer. In his early career as a military engineer, he worked with the Royal Engineers in India and then taught at the Chatham School of Military Engineering. He developed the eponymous Abney level used in surveying.

Life and career

Abney was born in Derby, England, the son of Rev. Edward Henry Abney (1811–1892), vicar of St Alkmund's Church, Derby, and his wife, Catharine Strutt. His father was owner of the Firs Estate. William was educated at Rossall School, the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and joined the Royal Engineers in 1861, with which he served in India for several years. In 1870 he became an instructor in telegraphy at the Chatham School of Military Engineering. He also worked on photography and offered instruction on the topic to officers. While working here he invented the "Abney level", a combined clinometer and spirit level, used by surveyors to measure slopes and angles. He was responsible for the "Abney mounting" of a concave grating spectrograph in which the photographic plate was fixed and the entry slit moved to accommodate different regions of the spectrum. In 1877 he moved from Chatham to the Science and Art Department, South Kensington, under Sir John Donnelly. He retired with the rank of captain in 1881. From 1899 to 1903 he served as a secretary in the Board of Education, later serving as an advisor.

Abney was a pioneer of several technical aspects of photography. His father had been an early photographic experimenter and friend of Richard Keene, an early Derby photographer. Keene became a close friend of William and his brother Charles Edward Abney (1850–1914). Both Abney sons subsequently became founder members of the Derby Photographic Society in June 1884. His endeavors in the chemistry of photography produced useful photographic products and also developments in astronomy. He wrote many books on photography that were considered standard texts at the time, although he was doubtful that his improvements would have a great impact on the subject.