Thomas Finny

Thomas Finny, an assistant carpenter, was buried in the Dark Cloister area of Westminster Abbey, near the Undercroft door. He worked for the Abbey from at least 1753. The cloister area is where employees and servants of the Abbey are mostly buried and the register says that Thomas was buried at the expense of the Dean. He was born in 1689, a son of John Finny and Jane (Baker), and married Elizabeth Chubb who is buried with him. A brother John and sister Mary were baptised at St Margaret's Westminster. Thomas and Elizabeth had two sons: William baptised 1717 who married Rose Wilmot at St Margaret's in 1744 and died in Dublin, and Thomas baptised in 1724 at St Margarets who married Mary Cotter of Dublin.

The small pale gravestone was re-cut by request of a descendant, William Evelyn St Lawrence Finny, in 1919 and this fact was added to the stone. By special permission of the Dean his ashes were later buried in the same grave and the inscription changed. The present inscription now reads:

In this cloister lie Elizabeth Finny died 19 January 1770 aged 86 and her husband Thomas Finny died 15 December 1776 aged 87 and W.E. St. L Finny, M.D. died 10th October 1952 aged 88.

William was High Steward of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.