Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney KCB FRS FRSE (24 July 1843 – 3 December 1920) was an English astronomer, chemist, and photographer.

Edward Henry Abney (1811–1892), vicar of St Alkmund's Church, Derby, and his wife, Catharine Strutt.

Both Abney sons subsequently became founder members of the Derby Photographic Society in June 1884.

He wrote many books on photography that were considered standard texts at the time, although he was doubtful that his improvements would have a great impact on the subject.

Abney conducted early research into the field of spectroscopy, developing a red-sensitive emulsion which was used for the infrared spectra of organic molecules.

He was responsible for the "Abney mounting" of a concave grating spectrograph in which the photographic plate was fixed and the entry slit moved to accommodate different regions of the spectrum.