Joseph Gurney
Encyclopedia
Joseph Gurney, was a British shorthand
Shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos and graphē or graphie...

 writer and biblical scholar, notable for his publications and work with the Religious Tract Society
Religious Tract Society
The Religious Tract Society, founded 1799, 56 Paternoster Row and 65 St. Paul's Chuchyard, was the original name of a major British publisher of Christian literature intended initially for evangelism, and including literature aimed at children, women, and the poor.The RTS is also notable for being...

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Gurney was the eldest son of William Brodie Gurney
William Brodie Gurney
William Brodie Gurney was a famed English shorthand writer and philanthropist of the 19th century.-Biography:Gurney was the younger son of Joseph Gurney , shorthand writer, who died at Walworth, Surrey, in 1815, by a daughter of William Brodie of Mansfield.He was the grandson of Thomas Gurney ,...

, and was born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 15 October 1804.

He first attended an important committee of the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 in 1822, and continued to take notes till 1872. On his father's resignation in 1849, he was appointed shorthand writer to the Houses of Parliament
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...

. Like his father, he manifested a great interest in religious and philanthropic movements. He was for more than fifty years a member of the committee of the Religious Tract Society, and latterly its treasurer. He was also treasurer of the Baptist college in Regent's Park
Regent's Park
Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the north-western part of central London, partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden...

. He was well versed in biblical criticism and devoted much time to bringing out popular commentaries on the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

. The best known of these was The Annotated Paragraph Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments according to the authorised version, with explanatory Notes, Prefaces to the several Books, and an entirely new selection of references to parallel and illustrative Passages, two vols., London, 1850–60, published by the Religious Tract Society. It was very successful, and received high praise from scholars of repute. The notes were prepared by competent men under Gurney's supervision.

Besides two or three other bibles, he brought out The Revised English Bible, London, 1877, on the same lines as, and closely resembling, the later official revised version. The profits of his literary works he gave to the Religious Tract Society. On his retirement from the office of shorthand writer to the houses of parliament in 1872, the office was conferred on his nephew, Mr. William Henry Gurney Salter.

Gurney died at Tyndale Lodge, Wimbledon Common, on 12 August 1879, and was interred at the Norwood Cemetery. He married first Emma, daughter of E. Rawlings, and secondly, Harriet, daughter of J. Tritton, of Lombard Street
Lombard Street
There are several famous Lombard Streets:* Lombard Street , famed for its twists and turns* Lombard Street, London, leading from the Bank of England to Gracechurch Street...

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