Sir William Abdy, 7th Baronet (1779 – 16 April 1868) [1] was a British politician and baronet.
Born in Marylebone, he was the only son of Sir William Abdy, 6th Baronet, and his wife Mary Gordon, daughter of James Gordon. [2] Abdy was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1796. [3] In 1803, he succeeded his father as baronet. [4]
He served in the British Army and was promoted to lieutenant of the South Essex Militia in 1798. [3] Later he was second lieutenant of the Southwark Volunteers. [3] In 1817, Abdy entered the British House of Commons as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Malmesbury until the following year. [5]
Abdy co-owned three estates in Antigua and St Vincent, and when the British government emancipated the slaves in the 1830s, he was compensated to the tune of about £13,000 for the liberation of over 300 slaves. [6]
On 3 July 1806, he married Anne Wellesley, eldest and illegitimate born, later legitimitated, daughter of Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley and Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland, at Hyde Park Corner. [7] At some point during their marriage, she became lover of Lord Charles Bentinck and as result Abdy and his wife were divorced in 1816. [4] He never remarried and died aged 89, without legitimate issue, at Hill Street, London. [8] With his death the baronetcy became extinct. [8]
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