author
1833–1919
A Victorian church historian and clergyman, he is best remembered for co-writing The English Church in the Eighteenth Century, a work that helped later readers take the religious life of the 1700s more seriously. His career combined parish ministry with careful historical writing.
by Charles J. (Charles John) Abbey, John Henry Overton
Born in 1833, Charles John Abbey was the son of John Abbey, a surgeon of Market Harborough, Leicestershire. Records show he was baptized on June 2, 1833, educated at Uppingham, and later studied theology at Trinity College, Glenalmond; Project Gutenberg also identifies him as Charles J. Abbey (1833–1919).
Abbey became an Anglican clergyman and historian. He is now chiefly known as the co-author, with John Henry Overton, of The English Church in the Eighteenth Century, a substantial history of religion, controversy, and reform in Georgian England.
Local history records connect him with Checkendon in Oxfordshire and later with Teignmouth in Devon, where he and his wife Mary are memorialized. Although not a widely famous literary figure today, his work has endured because it offers a thoughtful, readable window into English church life and religious debate.