| abstract | - Dr William Evelyn St Lawrence Finny (1 September 1864-10 October 1952) was a physician and local politician. Born in Derbyshire, he was the son of Irish-born parents: Henry Maturin Finny (1830-65) of County Louth and Agnes Amelia née Leslie (1836-1923) of County Donegal. His father was a Church of England curate and died of fever when William was a baby. His mother returned to Ireland where he studied law and medicine. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple but never practised law. instead he pursued a medical career, becoming a general practitioner. By 1898 he was living in the southern suburbs of London when he married Rosa Clements. By 1900 he was living in Kingston upon Thames. He became a magistrate and was a member of Kingston-upon-Thames Borough Council for over fifty years. He served as Mayor of Kingston-upon-Thames on seven occasions. He was largely responsible for the obtaining of a royal warrant from King George V confirming the status of Kingston as a "royal borough". He also paid for the restoration of the statue of Queen Anne in Kingston,[1] and was High Steward of the borough at the time of his death. He was also a member of Surrey County Council. His first wife died in 1919 and in the following year he married Emily Samuel (1892-1976). Details of archives material here [2] He died, aged 88, in Kingston. His ashes were interred in the Dark Cloister of Westminster Abbey in the grave of ancestor, Thomas Finny (died 1776). A memorial stone was also placed in the All Saints Churchyard, Kingston. A keen historian, genealogist and writer, he was the author of a number of books including:
* Dr. Finny's First Aid: A Note-book for Ambulance Students (1914)
* A Lecture on the Life of King Athelstan who was Crowned at Kingston (1924)
* All Saints, Kingston-upon-Thames (1930)
* The Church of the Saxon Coronation at Kingston (1941)
|
