Portrait of Thomas Gurney (1705-1770), seated half-length, in a black suit with white stock, writing a letter

Thomas Gurney (1705-1770) was a clockmaker by trade but at an early age developed a fascination with books on Mason's shorthand. In 1737 he became a shorthand-writer at the Old Bailey and in 1745 his more viable system was accepted as the leading method of shorthand in England.