Charles Abbot, later Lord Colchester, by John Hoppner, ca 1802 (Palace of Westminster)

Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester, PC, FRS (14 October 1757 – May 8, 1829) was a British statesman. He served under six prime ministers, serving in cabinet positions from 1801 to 1817. John Hoppner (April 4?, 1758 - January 23, 1810), English portrait-painter, was born in Whitechapel. ... “Houses of Parliament” redirects here. ... Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. ... For other uses, see Royal Society (disambiguation). ... is the 287th day of the year (288th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1757 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... is the 128th day of the year (129th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is, in practice, the political leader of the United Kingdom. ... The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Born in Abingdon, Charles Abbot was the son of Dr John Abbot, rector of All Saints, Colchester, and, by his mother's second marriage, half-brother of the famous Jeremy Bentham. From Westminster School Charles Abbot passed to Christ Church, Oxford, at which he gained the chancellor's medal for Latin verse as well as the Vinerian Scholarship. On 14 February 1793, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society.^[1] In 1795, after having practised twelve years as a barrister, and published a treatise proposing the incorporation of the judicial system of Wales with that of England, he was appointed to the office previously held by his brother of clerk of the rules in the king's bench; and in June of the same year he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Helston, through the influence of the Duke of Leeds. Abingdon is a market town in Oxfordshire, England and is one of the towns which claim to be Britains oldest continuously occupied town. ... For other places with the same name, see Colchester (disambiguation). ... Jeremy Bentham (IPA: ) (26 February [O.S. 15 February 15] 1748) – June 6, 1832) was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. ... For other uses, see Westminster School (disambiguation). ... and of the Christ Church College name Christ Church Latin name Ædes Christi Named after Jesus Christ Established 1546 Sister college Trinity College, Cambridge Dean The Very Revd Christopher Andrew Lewis JCR president Laura Ellis Undergraduates 426 GCR president Tim Benjamin Graduates 154 Location of Christ Church within central Oxford... For other uses, see Latins and Latin (disambiguation). ... The Vinerian Scholarship is a scholarship given to the University of Oxford student that gives the best performance in the examination for the Degree of Bachelor of Civil Law. ... is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1793 (MDCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Fellowship of the Royal Society was founded in 1660. ... For the musician, see Sikiru Ayinde Barrister. ... This article is about the country. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Helston was a parliamentary constituency centred on the small town of Helston in Cornwall. ... Francis Godolphin Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds (29 January 1751 - 31 January 1799, was a British politician. ...

In 1796 Abbot commenced his career as a reformer in Parliament by obtaining the appointment of two committees the one to report on the arrangements which then existed as to temporary laws or laws about to expire, the other to devise methods for the better publication of new statutes. To the latter committee, and a second committee which he proposed some years later, it is owing that copies of new statutes were thenceforth sent to all magistrates and municipal bodies. Year 1796 (MDCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has parliamentary sovereignty). ...

Abbot's efforts effected the establishment of the Royal Record Commission, the reform of the system which had allowed the public money to lie for some time at long interest in the hands of the public accountants, by charging them with payment of interest, and, most important of all, the act for taking the first census, that of 1801. On the formation of the Addington ministry in March 1801 Abbot became Chief Secretary and Privy Seal for Ireland; and in the February of the following year he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, a position that he held with universal satisfaction until 1817, when an attack of erysipelas compelled him to retire. In response to an address of the Commons, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Colchester, with a pension of £4000, of which £3000 was to be continued to his heir. His speeches against the Roman Catholic claims were published in 1828. Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth (May 30, 1757 - February 15, 1844) was a British statesman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804. ... The Chief Secretary was the most important position for determining British policy in Ireland after the Lord Lieutenant, and was frequently a cabinet level position in the 19th and early twentieth centuries. ... In the United Kingdom, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, and is seen historically as the First Commoner of the Land. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...

In 1796, he had married, in London, Elizabeth Gibbes (1760-1847), the elder daughter of Sir Philip Gibbes, baronet, of Springhead, Barbados, by whom he had two sons. He was succeeded by his elder son Charles Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester (1798–1867), Postmaster General in 1858; and subsequently by his grandson Reginald Abbot, 3rd Baron Colchester (1842–1919), upon whose death the title became extinct. Charles Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester (12 March 1798–18 October 1867), known as Charles Abbot before 1829, was a British Conservative politician. ... In the United Kingdom, the Postmaster General is a now defunct ministerial position. ...

References

1. ^ List of Fellows of the Royal Society. Retrieved on 2007-01-13.

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.