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Mary, Lady Abney (néeGunston; 1676 – 12 January 1750) inherited the Manor ofStoke Newington in 1701 from her brother. The property lies about five miles north ofSt Paul's Cathedral in theCity of London. She had a great influence on the design and landscaping ofAbney Park, including the planting of the two elm walks that lead toHackney Brook.
She is known for having shelteredDr Isaac Watts, aNonconformist known as the father of Englishhymnody for his hundreds of hymns, as a houseguest for 36 years. He was inspired by her park in his writing of hymns and poems.
The Manor ofStoke Newington, a small farming community about five miles north ofSt Paul's Cathedral and then considered beyond the boundaries of London, had been owned and managed directly by the cathedral until the early 17th century. After that, they granted it to a succession of private Lords of the Manor.
Mary Gunston was born in 1676. Her brother, Thomas, becameLord of the Manor ofStoke Newington in the late 1600s.
In 1700, she marriedThomas Abney (1640–1722), who was 36 years her senior and that yearLord Mayor of London. He had business interests in the City of London and was knighted byKing William. Sir Thomas was already leasing a mansion on theTheobalds estate atCheshunt inHertfordshire, and that is where they started their married life. They had a family together, including three daughters. In the custom of the time, the couple frequently invited guests to Theobalds. Their association withIsaac Watts, who became known as a hymnologist, became legendary. He was initially invited for a week to Theobalds, and became a semi-permanent member of their household, living with them for a total of 36 years.
In 1701, following the death of her brother, Thomas Gunston, Lady Mary Abney inherited the Manor of Stoke Newington. By the rights of marriage that applied at that time, the property formally passed to her husband for the duration of his life. The couple decided to live at both addresses, and split their lives between the villages of Cheshunt and their second home in Stoke Newington. Upon the title passing to Lady Mary and Sir Thomas Abney, she began to complete her late brother's new manor house at Abney Park; it was later known asAbney House. She had it done to suit her taste and ideas.
As Abney House was closer to London than Theobalds, the Abneys frequently stayed there with their family. Soon the household included long-term house-guestDr Isaac Watts. The family also shared Abney House with a series of well-to-do tenants, who paid for various floors and parts of the house. This kept it homely, warm, and constantly lived-in during periods when the family lived in Hertfordshire. Lady Mary granted Watts sole use of a study room, the rooftop turret also called the observatory room, from which he could survey the heavens as well as the whole of Abney Park. His view extended northward of the village, as far asWoodberry Downs.
At Abney Park, Lady Abney commissioned the first map and survey of the Manor of Stoke Newington. She is said to have planned much of the planting and landscaping of the park. Its two great elm avenues became favourite walks of Watts; they led to a secluded islandheronry in the Hackney Brook, where he was inspired for his writings.
Following the death of her husband Sir Thomas in 1722, the widow Lady Abney became fully installed in her own right as the first Lady of the Manor. She was one of a few women who occupied such a position in early 18th-century English society.
In 1736, Lady Abney moved her household completely from her husband's mansion inHertfordshire, choosing to live full-time at the more modest Abney House. She was joined in this by her unmarried daughter Elizabeth Abney and their long-term house guest Watts. In Stoke Newington, they had many neighbors who were Nonconformist and literary families.
Lady Abney was of an Independent religious faith (known asCongregational, after the 1830s), as were her husband Sir Thomas Abney and long-term houseguestDr Isaac Watts. Throughout the year when Sir Thomas held office as Lord Mayor, and Mary Abney was Lady Mayoress, they each had to practiceoccasional conformity to the Church of England, as required by law. Similarly, as Lady of the Manor, Mary Abney had to uphold the general conformity of the parish church of the Stoke Newington Manor.
Privately as an Independent, she was close friend of the religious revivalistSelina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon. The Countess formed her own independent religious group within the independentMethodist movement, although working to compromise with the Anglican authorities. The Countess financed many revivalist causes, including the independent preacherGeorge Whitefield. In her later years, she helped sponsor the visit to Britain ofOlaudah Equiano, an African who was freed fromslavery in the British colonies. He had become anabolitionist, and settled and married in England.
Lady Abney is mainly remembered as the sponsor ofIsaac Watts, who lived in her household for 36 years.[1] He is considered the first notable English hymnologist; he composed original works of Christian worship rather than using phrases from Biblical passages. His famous hymns include "Joy to the World" and "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past". Through this association, Lady Abney became part of a circle of many independent religious thinkers, includingPhilip Doddridge.
As one of Watts' main benefactors and likely his sole benefactor from 1734 until his death in 1748, Lady Mary enabled his work as a poet and scholar. His texts became standard in the New World as well as in Great Britain. Following Watts' death in 1748, Lady Mary had a memorial to him constructed atBunhill Fields, which she co-financed with neighbourSir John Hartopp.
Following Mary Abney's death in 1750 at the age of 73, she was buried near her brother Thomas Gunston, beneath the chancel of Old Stoke Newington Church. (This is now called St Mary's Old Church and it overlooks today'sClissold Park.)
Her daughter, Elizabeth Abney (c.1704-1782), inherited The Manor of Stoke Newington, together with Abney House and Abney Park. She managed the estate, along with another atTilford in the parish ofFarnham, Surrey. Elizabeth Abney died a spinster aged 78 on 20 August 1782. In her will, she directed that her estates be sold and all proceeds be given to Nonconformist charities.
Newington Academy for Girls was a Quaker school established in 1824 in Fleetwood House, the immediate neighbour to Abney House. The students were allowed to use Abney Park. The opening ofAbney Park Cemetery gave a new use to Lady Mary's landscaped grounds.