Gurney was born at Woburn, Bedfordshire, on 7 March 1705. His father, John, though of an ancient family (his descent is traced in the "Record of the House of Gournay"), belonged to the yeoman class, and was a substantial miller with a large family.
In order to obtain a work on astrology, about which he had a boyish curiosity, he purchased at a sale a lot containing an edition of William Mason"s "Shorthand," which he studied to such purpose that at the age of 16 he began to take down sermons.
Thomas was intended for a farmer, but his inclination for books and mechanics was so decided, that when put to farming the lad twice ran away. He then learned clockmaking, and soon afterwards became a schoolmaster at Newport Pagnell and Luton. His connection with shorthand was brought about accidentally.
His notebook of 1722-1723 is still preserved, and shows that at that time he used Mason"s system with very little alteration.
In 1737 Gurney came to London, and was soon afterwards appointed shorthand-writer at the Old Bailey. Gurney himself, however, in the postscript to the fourth edition of Brachygraphy, gives the date 1748.
He may have originally practised without an appointment, or may have held a subordinate post for the first ten years. In any case it was the first official appointment of a shorthand-writer, anywhere, although there had been instances of the use of shorthand for official purposes.
Gurney also practised in "all the Courts of Justice in the Cities of London and Westminster, Admiralty Courts, Courts-Martial, and trials in divers parts of the Kingdom" and "in the Honorable House of Commons" (postscript to 4th edition of Brachygraphy).
In 1749 Gurney was carrying on business as a clockmaker in Bennett Street, near Christ Church, Blackfriars Road, London, at the same time as he was teaching shorthand at the Last and Sugar-loaf, Water Lane, Blackfriars. On 16 October 1750 he published his system under the title of Brachygraphy, or Swift Writing made Easy to the Meanest Capacity. The whole is founded on so just a plan, that it is wrote with greater expedition than any yet invented, and likewise may be read with the greatest ease.
Improv"d after upwards of thirty years" practice and experience, London, 34 engraved pages.
The price of subscription was 2s. 6d. on application, and 5s. on delivery.
One of the early learners of the system was Erasmus Darwin, who contributed some commendatory verses to the second edition, published in 1752. The profession of shorthand-writer or teacher yielded at that time a slender income, and Gurney was glad to continue his business as a clockmaker, and to supplement his income by designing patterns for calico-printing for one of his friends who was a manufacturer.
He held his appointment at the Old Bailey till his death on 22 June 1770.
He is said to have been a shrewd, humorous, well-informed man, who could do many things well, and a good oil-painting of him, which still exists, confirms this tradition.
He is said to have been a shrewd, humorous, well-informed man, who could do many things well, and a good oil-painting of him, which still exists, confirms this tradition.
