Major John Roland Abbey (23 November 1894 – 24 December 1969) was an English book collector and high sheriff.

Early life

He was the eldest of three sons of William Henry Abbey, a brewer, and was named John Rowland before dropping the 'w'. He attended

Windlesham House School Windlesham House School is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 4 to 13 on the South Downs, in Pulborough, West Sussex, England. It was founded in 1837 by Charles Robert Malden and was the first boys' preparatory school ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

from 1907 to 1909 but was subsequently educated in nearby

Rottingdean Rottingdean is a village in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. It borders the villages of Saltdean, Ovingdean and Woodingdean, and has a historic centre, often the subject of picture postcards. Name The name Rottingde ...

by a private tutor, Mr Möens, after an accident caused permanent damage to one of his elbows.

Military career

In November 1914, at the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was commissioned as a regimental officer in the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

, serving for two years on the Western Front in the 13th and 8th Battalions. He experienced a lucky escape as part of the 8th Battalion; while he was serving in reserve, the battalion took part in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, losing all officers but one. He was gassed in November 1916 and spent five months recovering in hospital before being invalided out in October 1917 and demobilised in 1919. His younger brother Lieutenant Noel Roland Abbey was killed on the Western Front in April 1918 while serving with the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

. Abbey later rejoined the Rifle Brigade in November 1939, and served from 1941 to October 1943 as staff officer to the

Admiral-Superintendent The admiral-superintendent was the Royal Navy officer in command of a larger Naval Dockyard. Portsmouth, Devonport and Chatham all had admiral-superintendents, as did some other dockyards in the United Kingdom and abroad at certain times. The admir ...

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

. He left the army in 1943 and was awarded the honorary rank of Major in 1946.

Personal life

After the war he became manager of the

Kemp Town Kemp Town Estate, also known as Kemp Town, is a 19th-century Regency architecture residential estate in the east of Brighton in East Sussex, England, UK. It consists of Arundel Terrace, Lewes Crescent, Sussex Square, Chichester Terrace, and ...

brewery, succeeding his father as chairman in 1943 and merging the company with

Charringtons Charrington Brewery was founded in Bethnal Green, London, in the early 18th century by Robert Westfield. In 1766, John Charrington joined the company, which then traded as Westfield, Moss & Charrington from the Anchor Brewery in Stepney. It merge ...

in 1954. On 7 June 1921, he married Lady Ursula Cairns, daughter of

Wilfred Cairns, 4th Earl Cairns Lieutenant-Colonel Wilfred Dallas Cairns, 4th Earl Cairns, CMG, DL (28 November 1865 – 23 October 1946) was a peer of the United Kingdom and a Rifle Brigade officer. Life Born in 1865, he succeeded as the 4th Earl Cairns on the death of ...

, with whom he had two daughters. In 1945, he was appointed

High Sheriff of Sussex The office of Sheriff of Sussex was established before the Norman Conquest. The Office of sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord-Lieutenant the prime office ...

, a position he held for a year.

Book collecting

Abbey would become the largest English book collector of his time. His book collecting started in 1929 buying books from various

private press Private press publishing, with respect to books, is an endeavor performed by craft-based expert or aspiring artisans, either amateur or professional, who, among other things, print and build books, typically by hand, with emphasis on design, gra ...

es, eventually gaining complete collections of books from the Kelmscott, Ashendene and ''Gwasg Gregynog'' presses. He also became interested in modern bindings, and in 1931 commissioned examples from

Sybil Pye Sybil Pye (18 November 1879 – 1958) was a self-trained British bookbinder famous for her distinctive inlay Art Deco leather bindings. She was, along with Katharine Adams and Sarah Prideaux, one of the most famous women bookbinders of their per ...

and, from R. de Coverley & Sons, a copy of

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both describ ...

's ''

Memoirs of an Infantry Officer ''Memoirs of an Infantry Officer'' is a novel by Siegfried Sassoon, first published in 1930. It is a fictionalised account of Sassoon's own life during and immediately after World War I. Soon after its release, it was heralded as a classic and ...

'' decorated with Abbey's coat of arms. He also collected antiquarian books, starting from the sale of Primrose's collection and building it up from 1936 to 1938 thanks to sales from the Mensing, Moss, Aldenham, Schiff, and Cortlandt F. Bishop collections, eventually holding over 1,300 books. He died on 24 December 1969 in London, and, with the exception of manuscripts given to his family and a group of books donated to the

Eton College Collections The Eton College Collections are a collection of items of significant cultural or scientific value kept by Eton College in England. They include College Library, College Archives, Eton College Natural History Museum, Casa Guidi, Eton College ...

, his remaining texts were sold for £993,509 between 1970 and 1975.J. J. G. Alexander, A. C. de la Mare, ''The Italian Manuscripts in the Library of Major J. R. Abbey'', London : Faber & Faber, 1969.

Author

Abbey wrote several books, including ''Scenery of Great Britain and Ireland in Aquatint and Lithography, 1770-1860, from the Library of J. R. Abbey ; a Bibliographical Catalogue'' and ''Life In England In Aquatint And Lithography, 1770 - 1860 Architecture. Drawing Books. Art Collections. Magazines. Navy And Army. Panoramas. Etc From The Library Of J R Abbey. A Bibliographical Catalogue''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbey, John Roland 1894 births 1969 deaths English book and manuscript collectors People from Horsham High Sheriffs of Sussex People educated at Windlesham House School Rifle Brigade officers