Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester
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The Right Honourable The Lord Colchester PC FRS |
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Lord Colchester by John Hoppner, c. 1802 (Palace of Westminster)
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| Speaker of the House of Commons | |
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In office 1802–1817 |
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| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | Sir John Mitford |
| Succeeded by | Charles Manners-Sutton |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
14 October 1757 Abingdon |
| Died | 8 May 1829 (aged 71) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Tory |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Gibbes (1760–1847) |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester PC, FRS (14 October 1757 – 8 May 1829) was a British barrister and statesman. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1802 and 1817.
Born in Abingdon, Abbot was the son of Dr John Abbot, rector of All Saints, Colchester, and, by his mother's second marriage, step-brother of Jeremy Bentham. From Westminster School he passed to Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated on 14 June 1775. There he gained the chancellor's prize for Latin verse as well as the Vinerian Scholarship. He was granted a BCL in 1783 and a DCL in 1793. On 14 February 1793, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society.
In 1795, after having practised twelve years as a barrister, and published a treatise proposing the incorporation of the judicial system of Wales with that of England, he was appointed to the office previously held by his brother of clerk of the rules in the king's bench; and in June of the same year he was elected Member of Parliament for Helston, through the influence of the Duke of Leeds.
In 1796 Abbot commenced his career as a reformer in Parliament by obtaining the appointment of two committees the one to report on the arrangements which then existed as to temporary laws or laws about to expire, the other to devise methods for the better publication of new statutes. To the latter committee, and a second committee which he proposed some years later, it is owing that copies of new statutes were thenceforth sent to all magistrates and municipal bodies.
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