1.
Juan Bautista de Anza
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Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was a New-Spanish explorer of Basque descent, and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire. Juan Bautista de Anza was born in Fronteras, Sonora, New Spain in 1736 and he was the son of Juan Bautista de Anza I. In 1752 he enlisted in the army at the Presidio of Fronteras and he advanced rapidly and was a captain by 1760. His wife was the daughter of Spanish mine owner Francisco Pérez Serrano and his military duties mainly consisted of forays against hostile Native Americans, such as the Apache, during the course of which he explored much of what is now Arizona. The Spanish began colonizing Alta California with the Portolá expedition of 1769-1770, the two-pronged Portolá effort involved both a long sea voyage against prevailing winds and the California Current, and a difficult land route from Baja California. Colonies were established at San Diego and Monterey, with a presidio, a more direct land route and further colonization were desired, especially at present-day San Francisco, which Portolá saw but was not able to colonize. By the time of Juan Bautista de Anzas expedition, three missions had been established, including Mission San Antonio de Padua in the Salinas Valley. In 1772, Anza proposed an expedition to Alta California to the Viceroy of New Spain, Anza heard of a California Native American called Sebastian Tarabal who had fled from Mission San Gabriel to Sonora, and took him as guide. The expedition took a route along the Rio Altar, then paralleled the modern Mexico/California border. This was in the domain of the Yuma tribe, with which he established good relations, Anza reached Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, near the California coast, on March 22,1774, and Monterey, California, Alta Californias capital, on April 19. He returned to Tubac by late May,1774 and this expedition was closely watched by Viceroy and King, and on October 2,1774, Anza was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and ordered to lead a group of colonists to Alta California. The expedition got under way on October 23,1775, and arrived at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in January,1776, today this route is marked as the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. The expedition continued on to Monterey with the colonists, in Anzas diary on March 25,1776, he states that he arrived at the arroyo of San Joseph Cupertino, which is useful only for travelers. Here we halted for the night, having come eight leagues in seven, from this place we have seen at our right the estuary which runs from the port of San Francisco. Pressing on, Anza located the sites for the Presidio of San Francisco and Mission San Francisco de Asis in present-day San Francisco and he did not establish the settlement, it was established later by José Joaquín Moraga. While returning to Monterey, he located the sites for Mission Santa Clara de Asis and the town of San José de Guadalupe. On August 24,1777, the Viceroy of New Spain appointed Anza as the Governor of the Province of Nuevo México, Governor Anza led a punitive expedition against the Comanche group of Native Americans, who had been repeatedly raiding Taos during 1779. With his Ute and Apache Native American allies, and around 800 Spanish soldiers, Anza went north through the San Luis Valley, entering the Great Plains at what is now Manitou Springs, circling El Capitan, he surprised a small force of the Comanche near present-day Colorado Springs
2.
Molly Brant
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Molly Brant, also known as Mary Brant, Konwatsitsiaienni, and Degonwadonti, was a Mohawk woman who was influential in the era of the American Revolution. Living in the Province of New York, she was the consort of Sir William Johnson, Joseph Brant, who became a Mohawk leader, was her younger brother. After Johnsons death in 1774, Brant and her returned to her native village of Canajoharie on the Mohawk River. A Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War, she fled to British Canada, after the war, she settled in what is now Kingston, Ontario. In recognition of her service to the Crown, the British government gave Brant a pension, since 1994, Brant has been honored as a Person of National Historic Significance in Canada. She was long ignored or disparaged by historians of the United States and she has sometimes been controversial, criticized for being pro-British at the expense of the Iroquois. A devout Anglican, she is commemorated on April 16 in the calendar of the Anglican Church of Canada, no portraits of her are known to exist, an idealized likeness is featured on a statue in Kingston and on a Canadian stamp issued in 1986. Little is known for certain about Molly Brants early life, named Mary, but commonly known as Molly, she was born around 1736, possibly in the Mohawk village of Canajoharie, or perhaps further west in the Ohio Country. She may have been the child named Mary who was christened at the chapel at Fort Hunter, near the Lower Castle, another Mohawk village, if so, her parents were named Margaret and Cannassware. Most historians believe that her father was named Peter, Joseph Brant, born in 1743, was Mollys brother or half-brother. One of Mollys Mohawk names, perhaps her birth name, was Konwatsitsiaienni and her other Mohawk name, given to her at adulthood, was Degonwadonti, meaning Two Against One. Her Mohawk names have been spelled in a variety of ways in historical records, the Mohawk are one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League. At the time of the American Revolutionary War, they lived primarily in the Mohawk River valley in what is now upstate New York. At some point, either before or after her birth, Mollys family moved west to the Ohio Country, after Mollys father died, her family moved back to Canajoharie. On September 9,1753, Mollys mother married Brant Kanagaradunkwa, possibly to reinforce their connection to Brant Kanagaradunkwa, who was a prominent leader, Molly and Joseph took their stepfathers name as a surname, which was unusual for that time. Molly Brant was raised in a Mohawk culture that was highly anglicized, in Canajoharie, the Brants lived in a substantial colonial-style frame house and used many European household goods. The family attended the Church of England, Molly was fluent in Mohawk and English. It is not clear whether she was educated or whether she could read
3.
Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater
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Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, known as Lord Francis Egerton until 1748, was a British nobleman from the Egerton family. He was the youngest son of the 1st Duke and he did not marry, and the dukedom expired with him, although the earldom was inherited by a cousin, Lieutenant-General John Egerton. A pioneer of naval construction, he is famed as the father of British inland navigation, who commissioned the Bridgewater Canal—often said to be the first true canal in Britain, and the modern world. The canal was built for him by James Brindley to service his coal mines at Worsley, scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater, the son of the 2nd Earl of Bridgewater was created a duke in 1720. Lord Francis Egerton succeeded to the dukedom at the age of twelve on the death of his brother, as a child he was sickly and of such unpromising intellectual capacity that at one time the idea of cutting the entail was seriously entertained. Thereupon the Duke broke up his London establishment, and retired to his estate at Worsley where he devoted himself to the making of canals, the construction of Bridgewaters canal, with its aqueduct across the River Irwell, was carried out by James Brindley, the celebrated engineer. The completion of his first canal led the duke to undertake an ambitious work. In 1762 he obtained parliamentary powers to provide a waterway between Liverpool and Manchester by means of a canal. The difficulties encountered in its execution were still more formidable than those of the Worsley canal, but the genius of Brindley, his engineer, proved superior to all obstacles although at one period the dukes financial resources were almost exhausted, the work was carried to a triumphant conclusion. Both canals were completed by the time Bridgewater was thirty-six years of age, during the latter years of his life he derived a princely income from the success of his enterprise. Although a supporter of Pitts administration, he took no prominent part in politics, the duke accumulated great wealth through his canal and coal interests. His annual income was said to have exceeded £80,000, the family owned other estates, Belton House, a small Sussex estate and the Old House and,6,000 acres at Ashridge. On leaving his Brackley and Worsley estates, the duke had an income in taxes and duties of £75,000. With his fortune he built a magnificent Georgian mansion, Bridgwater House and it was later renamed Stafford House, and later still Lancaster House. With the Bridgewater fortune exceeding £2,000,000, the duke and he began to pull the old buildings down, but he died before his plans could be completed, leaving his heir with nothing but rubble. He was the member of the syndicate which purchased and partly resold the famous Orleans Collection. He acquired an art collection valued at £150,000 and it was composed of several old master paintings including Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Callisto. It was inherited by his heir, 1st Duke of Sutherland, most of his purchases are still held by the Egerton family
4.
Jean Sylvain Bailly
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Jean Sylvain Bailly was a French astronomer, mathematician, freemason, and political leader of the early part of the French Revolution. He presided over the Tennis Court Oath, served as the mayor of Paris from 1789 to 1791, and was ultimately guillotined during the Reign of Terror. Born in Paris, Bailly was the son of Jacques Bailly, an artist and supervisor of the Louvre, as a child he originally intended to follow in his familys footsteps and pursue a career in the arts. He became deeply attracted to science, however, particularly astronomy and he participated in the construction of an observatory at the Louvre. These achievements along with others got him elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1763, in the years prior to the French Revolution, Baillys distinctive reputation as a French astronomer led to his recognition and admiration by the European scientific community. Due to his popularity amongst the groups, in 1777. Bailly published his Essay on The Theory of the Satellites of Jupiter in 1766. a The essay was an expansion of a presentation he had made to the Academy in 1763 and he later released the noteworthy dissertation On the Inequalities of Light of the Satellites of Jupiterb in 1771. In 1778, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was admitted to the Académie française on 26 February 1784, from then on, Bailly devoted himself to the history of science. In a short period of time, Bailly made his way up the judicial ranks, from being the deputy of Paris, he was elected Estates-General on 20 May 1789. Soon after he was elected president of the National Assembly and led the famous proceedings in the Tennis Court on 20 June. Shortly after the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, on 15 July 1789, Bailly took office as the mayor of Paris. Two days later he was met by Louis XVI at the Hôtel de Ville who was there to endorse the Revolution, Bailly presented him with the new symbol of the revolution, the tricolour cockade. In his function as mayor, he was attacked by Camille Desmoulins, Bailly continuously sought to promote the authority of the mayor while limiting the power of the General Assembly of the Commune. During his reign as mayor, Bailly secured the passage of a decree that declared Jews to be French citizens on 17 September 1791 and he was met with threats and ridicule for this action. This decree repealed the taxes that had been imposed on the Jews. After a failed attempt by the family to flee the country. On 17 July 1791, he imposed martial law and ordered the National Guard to disperse a large riotous assembly calling for the deposition of the King and he was thus, with Lafayette, held responsible for the Champ de Mars Massacre
5.
John Arnold (watchmaker)
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John Arnold was an English watchmaker and inventor. John Arnold was the first to design a watch that was practical and accurate, and also brought the term Chronometer into use in its modern sense. His technical advances enabled the quantity production of Marine Chronometers for use on ships from around 1782. The basic design of these has remained, with a few modifications unchanged until the twentieth century. With regard to his legacy, one can say that both he and Abraham-Louis Breguet largely invented the mechanical watch. Certainly one of his most important inventions, the Overcoil balance spring is still to be found in most mechanical wristwatches to this day and it was from around 1770 that Arnold developed the portable precision timekeeper, almost from the point where John Harrison ended his work in this field. But, compared to Harrisons complicated and expensive watch, Arnolds basic design was simple whilst consistently accurate, importantly, the relatively simple and conventional design of his movement facilitated its production in quantity at a reasonable price whilst also enabling easier maintenance and adjustment. He probably also worked with his uncle, a gunsmith, around 1755, when he was 19, he left England and worked as a watchmaker in the Hague, Holland, returning to England around 1757. In 1762, whilst at St Albans, Hertfordshire, he encountered William McGuire for whom he repaired a repeating watch. Arnold made a sufficient impression so that McGuire gave him a loan, enabling him to set up in business as a watchmaker at Devereux Court, Strand, London. In 1764, Arnold obtained permission to present to King George III an exceptionally small half quarter repeating watch cylinder escapement watch mounted in a ring. A similar repeating watch by Arnold has survived, it is of interest that the movement is Swiss in origin. The escapement of watch was later fitted with one of the first jewelled cylinders made of ruby. Arnold made another watch for the King around 1768, which was a gold and enamel pair cased watch with a movement that had every refinement, including minute repetition and centre seconds motion. In addition, Arnold fitted bi-metallic temperature compensation, and not only was every pivot hole jewelled, Arnold designated this watch Number 1, as he did with all watches he made that he regarded as significant, these numbering twenty in all. Other early productions by Arnold from 1768 to 1770 display both originality and ingenuity, this includes a centre seconds watch wound up by depressing the pendant once a day, the movement of this watch was also fully jewelled with a temperature compensation device and a ruby stone cylinder escapement. In fact, it was a complex and technically very advanced piece of micro engineering. However, the challenge was taken up by Larcum Kendall, who spent two years making an identical copy that cost £450, a huge sum at the time
6.
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger
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Johann Georg Albrechtsberger was an Austrian musician and composer. Albrechtsberger was born at Klosterneuburg, near Vienna and he originally studied music at Melk Abbey and philosophy at a Benedictine seminary in Vienna and became one of the most learned and skillful contrapuntists of his age. Albrechtsbergers earliest classmates included Michael Haydn and Franz Joseph Aumann, after being employed as organist at Raab in 1755 and Maria Taferl in 1757, he was appointed Thurnermeister back at Melk Abbey. In 1772 he was appointed organist to the court of Vienna and his fame as a theorist attracted to him in the Austrian capital a large number of pupils, some of whom afterwards became eminent musicians. See, List of music students by teacher, A to B#Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Beethoven had arrived in Vienna in 1792 to study with Joseph Haydn but quickly became infuriated when his work was not being given attention or corrected. Haydn recommended his friend Albrechtsberger, with whom Beethoven then studied harmony, on completion of his studies, the young student noted, Patience, diligence, persistence, and sincerity will lead to success, which reflects upon Albrechtsbergers own compositional philosophy. When Beethoven was finished studying with Albrechtsberger he decided to get a few more tips and pointers, so to speak, from there Beethoven possibly studied with Antonio Salieri, but this is unknown as a fact. It is also possible that Beethoven went off on his own to make a living. Albrechtsberger died in Vienna, his grave is in St. Marx cemetery and they are in the library of the Vienna Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. Around 1765, he wrote at least seven concerti for jaw harp and they are pleasant, well written works in the galant style. One of his most notable works is his Concerto for Alto Trombone, as the trombone has few works dating back to the classical period, his concerto is often highlighted by the trombone community. He also wrote a Concerto for the Mandola, Op.27, written positively about in the 1914 book The Guitar, probably the most valuable service he rendered to music was in his theoretical works. In 1790 he published at Leipzig a treatise on composition, of which an edition appeared in 1821. A collection of his writings on harmony, in three volumes, was published under the care of his pupil Ignaz von Seyfried in 1826, an English version of this was published by Novello in 1855. His compositional style derives from Johann Joseph Fuxs counterpoint, who was Kapellmeister at St Stephens Cathedral 1713-1741 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Albrechtsberger, Johann Georg
7.
John Brown (Rhode Island)
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John Brown I was an American merchant, slave trader, and statesman from Providence, Rhode Island. Together with his brothers Nicholas, Joseph and Moses, John was instrumental in founding Brown University, John Brown laid the cornerstone of the universitys oldest building in 1770, and he served as its treasurer for 21 years. Brown was one of the founders of Providence Bank and became its first president in 1791 and he was active in the American Revolution, notably as an instigator of the 1772 Gaspee Affair, and he served in both state and national government. At the same time, he was a defender of slave trading, clashing aggressively—in newspapers, courts and politics—with his brother Moses. John Browns home in Providence is now a museum and National Historic Landmark, John Brown was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on January 27,1736, to James Brown II and Hope Power. His paternal grandparents were Elder James Brown, a pastor at the First Baptist Church and his father, James Brown II, established himself early in the mercantile business, trading in slaves, rum, molasses, and other goods. John Brown was a descendant of Chad Brown, a co-founder of Providence and his uncle was Obadiah Brown I, who joined Browns father, James Brown II, in the mercantile trade in cocoa, rum, molasses and slaves. Obadiahs initial role was as master of his brothers shipping vessels in the West Indies trade, after the death of Browns father in 1739, Obadiah retired from the sea himself, but continued the business. He also helped to raise James young children, later forming a partnership with James four surviving sons as Obadiah Brown & Co, Obadiah Brown I, who married his first cousin, Mary Harris, daughter of Toleration and Sarah Harris, had eight children. Another uncle was Rhode Island Deputy Governor Elisha Brown and a nephew was Nicholas Brown, Jr. the philanthropist, Brown went on to own a successful farming and shipping business with his brothers, Nicholas, Joseph, and Moses Brown. He was active in the trade and China trade and invested heavily in privateers during the 1760s through 1780s. Brown was a leader in the Sons of Liberty and was one of the instigators of the burning of the Gaspee in 1772 and this was one of the first violent acts of defiance to the authority of the British Crown which eventually led up to the American Revolution. In 1775, during the American Revolution, John Brown sold the United States Navy its first ship, Brown was named as a delegate for Rhode Island to the Continental Congress in 1784-1785 but did not attend. John Brown was also an active slavetrader, on March 22,1794, Congress passed the Slave Trade Act of 1794, which prohibited the making, loading, outfitting, equipping, or dispatching of any ship to be used in the trade of slaves. Subsequently, on August 5,1797, John Brown was tried in court as the first American to be tried under the 1794 law. Brown was convicted and was forced to forfeit his ship Hope, in addition to the slave trade he was involved in shipbuilding and real estate speculation. He was also a partner in the Hope Furnace which made cannons during the American Revolution, in 1791 Brown founded of the Providence Bank - the first bank in Rhode Island, and organizer of the Providence South Bridge Company. After various acquisitions over the next 160 years Providence Bank evolved into FleetBoston Financial which, Providence Bank is one of the oldest branches in Bank of Americas family tree and is, at least arguably, still a living corporate entity
8.
Francisco Bouligny
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He founded the city of New Iberia in 1779. Bouligny, called Frasquito by his family, was born in 1736 in Alicante, Spain, to Jean Bouligny, a successful French merchant, and Marie Paret, who was from Alicante. At the age of 10, he was sent to a school founded by the bishop of Orihuela, from which he graduated in 1750. In 1758, Bouligny enlisted in the Spanish army, joining the Regiment of Zamora, a year later, he transferred to the Royal Regiment of Spanish Guards and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the infantry and sent to Havana, Cuba, in 1762. He was stationed there until 1769 when he joined Alejandro OReillys expedition to put down the Louisiana Rebellion, Bouligny was promoted to the rank of brevet captain in the new Louisiana Battalion. In 1772 he was appointed a full captain, in 1775, Bouligny was granted leave to return to Europe to settle family affairs. While in Spain, Bouligny wrote a discourse on the population of New Orleans, in 1777, Bouligny returned to Louisiana, where he was named lieutenant governor by Gov. Bernardo de Gálvez. Among his responsibilities was managing trade and relations with Native American tribes, in April 1779, he brought a group of 500 Malagueño colonists up Bayou Teche to establish the city of New Iberia. During the American Revolutionary War, Spain attacked British holdings in West Florida, in 1780, Bouligny led an expedition against the British at Mobile and he later participated in the Siege of Pensacola. In 1783, Bouligny was ordered to eliminate a colony of fugitive slaves south of New Orleans, the expedition captured 60 people, in the following investigation, officials identified a dozen slaves as helping to plan escapes from plantations. In 1785, Gov. Esteban Rodríguez Miró sent Bouligny to Natchez to enforce Spanish rule in the area, in 1791, Bouligny was appointed colonel and placed in command of the Louisiana Regiment, also called the Spanish Regiment. Following the death of Gov. Bouligny died in New Orleans on 25 November 1800 following a long illness and he was honored by being buried in St. Louis Cathedral. He had been appointed in September 1800 by the Spanish Crown as brigadier general, on 29 December 1770, Bouligny married Marie-Louise Le Sénéchal dAuberville. They had four children, including Charles Dominique Joseph Bouligny who was elected by the legislature to the U. S. Senate in the 1820s. At the time of his death, Bouligny left behind what was considered a library of 148 books. Francisco Bouligny, A Bourbon Soldier in Spanish Louisiana, baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press. A History of the Bouligny Family and Allied Families, lafayette, Louisiana, The Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana. Luisiana, Bouligny, la de la razón
9.
Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet
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Sir John Francis Edward Acton, 6th Baronet was commander of the naval forces of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and prime minister of Naples under Ferdinand IV. He was the son of Edward Acton, a physician at Besançon and he served under his uncle in the navy of Tuscany, and commanded the Tuscan frigates in the Spanish led Invasion of Algiers. Had not Mr. Acton, the Tuscan commander, cut his cables, the incessant fire of his great guns, loaded with grape-shot, not only stopt them in their career, but obliged them to retire with great loss. The ability displayed by him in this led to his rapid advancement and he became commander-in-chief of both the army and the navy of the Kingdom of Naples, minister of finance, and finally prime minister. In 1791, Acton succeeded to the title and estates in 1791, on the death of his cousin once removed, Sir Richard Acton of Aldenham Park. His policy was devised in concert with the English ambassador, Sir William Hamilton, such policy consequently involved open opposition to France and the French party in Italy. In no degree, however, were the interests of Naples promoted by the vainglorious policy thus inaugurated, when, five months afterwards, the king was restored with the help of a Calabrian army, called the Sanfedisti, led by Cardinal Ruffo. Shortly afterwards the minister was recalled, but when the French entered Naples in 1806 and he died at Palermo,12 August 1811, and was buried in the church of Santa Ninfa dei Crociferi. He married his niece Mary Ann, the eldest daughter of his brother, Mary Ann was only thirteen, and papal dispensation was required for the marriage, which appears to have been done to keep control of the familys wealth. They had three children, Sir Ferdinand Richard Edward Acton Cardinal Acton Elizabeth Acton married Sir Robert Throckmorton, the elder son, Sir Ferdinand, being the father of the first Baron Acton. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Henderson
10.
Carter Braxton
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Carter Braxton was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, as well as a merchant, planter, and Virginia politician. Five months after her fathers death and his paternal grandfather, George Braxton, Sr. by 1704 had also become one of the 100 largest landowners in Virginias Northern Neck. The elder Braxton owned at least one ship, the Braxton that traded with the West Indies and elsewhere, and was commission agent for cargoes of enslaved blacks sold to Virginia planters. He died, aged 71, when Carter was twelve, his eldest son George Jr. had succeeded him as delegate for King and Queen County in 1742, speaker Robinson and neighbor Humphrey Hill served as guardians for Carter and his slightly elder brother George. Educated at the College of William and Mary like his father and brother, Braxton followed family tradition at age 19 by marrying Judith Robinson, a wealthy heiress, however, she died two years later, leaving Braxton two daughters, Mary and Judith. The young widower soon journeyed to England for two years, Carter Braxton purchased a small schooner shortly after his second marriage, and turned his energies to trade. Braxton traded between the West Indies and American colonies, establishing relationships with Bayard & Son of New York, whether or not Braxtons mercantile enterprises included slave trading, he and his brother were accompanied by a black slave at the College of William and Mary. Braxton later owned many slaves on his various plantations. Six years later, despite the problems discussed below, Braxton still owned 8,500 acres. Most persons with the name Carter Braxton since the end of the Civil War have been, Braxton began his long career representing King William County in the Virginia House of Burgesses, taking his seat in 1761. However, his brother George died on October 3 of that year, leaving an insolvent estate, factional disputes within the parish grew so severe that the House of Burgesses held hearings and ultimately passed a special bill dissolving the vestry, as Braxton had wished. Braxton was a politician during the Revolution—often viewed as sympathetic to the British. In 1774, Braxton joined the patriots Committee of Safety in Virginia, when Peyton Randolph died unexpectedly in Philadelphia in October,1775, fellow Virginia legislators elected Braxton to take his place in the Continental Congress. He served in the Congress from February 1776 until August, when Virginia reduced its delegation to five members, Braxton also drew revolutionaries criticism for his pamphlet, Address to the Convention, which he had printed in reply to the proposals of John Adamss Thoughts on Government. Moreover, his house at Chericoke burned down shortly before Christmas,1776, so Braxton moved his family to Grove House near West Point, Virginia. Between 1776 and 1785, Braxton served in 8 of the 11 legislative assemblies, Braxton invested a great deal of his wealth in the American Revolution. Like Robert Morris, Braxton loaned money to the cause, as well as funded shipping and privateering, Braxton sold Virginia and Carolina tobacco and corned meat abroad, and secured arms and ammunition, as well as wheat and salt, and cloth and other trade goods. In 1780 the Continental Congress censured Braxton for his role in the Phoenix affair of 1777, in which his privateer seized a neutral Portuguese vessel from Brazil, the British also destroyed some of Braxtons plantations during the war
11.
William Abbotts
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William Abbotts was one of the founding fathers of Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, UK. Although already an important landowner in the village it was on 14 January 1784 that Abbotts made the discovery that he would be remembered for. That year however Abbotts and his friend Benjamin Satchwell found a spring on Abbotts land. In the manner of the time its supposed medicinal qualities were used to make money from the leisured classes, Abbotts Original Baths, the first commercial baths in the town, were opened in 1786. After Satchwell and Abbotts spring was found several wells were bored, Leamington quickly grew into on the most fashionable spa resorts of the 19th century, a process which turned it from a sleepy village to a thriving town. Abbotts and his wife ran at least two pubs in the town The Black Dog and The New Inn, Abbotts had at least one daughter who was born in 1765 or 1766. After his death in 1805 he buried in the Leamington parish church, All Saints, Abbotts Street in the town is, unsurprisingly, named after him and is located close to the site of the original Leamington spring
