William Abbotts (1736 – 1 March 1805) was one of the founding fathers of

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, UK. Although already an important landowner in the then village it was on 14 January 1784 that Abbotts made the discovery that he would be remembered for. Up until that date there was only one known spring in Leamington and that was on land belonging to the 4th Earl of Aylesford who refused to sell the water (which was used for bathing and medicinal purposes), instead allowing people to have it for free. That year however Abbotts and his friend

Benjamin Satchwell Benjamin Satchwell (3 January 1732–1 December 1810Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.) was one of the founding fathers of Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, England. Satchwell's cottage was in the old town to the south of the River Leam. He ...

found a second 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 and draw water. Leamington quickly grew into on the most fashionable

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

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'' (the latter being built in 1790 to cope with the already growing tourist trade in Leamington which filled The Black Dog and other guest houses). Abbotts had at least one daughter who was born in 1765 or 1766.The obituary of Abbotts daughter in a Gentleman's magazine
/ref> After his death in 1805 he buried in the Leamington

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, All Saints, and four years later Satchwell was buried close by. Abbotts Street in the town is, unsurprisingly, named after him and is located close to the site of the original Leamington spring.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbotts, William 1736 births 1805 deaths Abbotts, Williams