Percy Benzie Abery (20 October 1876''1939 England and Wales Register'' – 20 January 1948)''England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995'' was a prominent

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

photographer of the early to mid-20th century. Abery was born in

Sandgate, Kent Sandgate is a village in the Folkestone and Hythe Urban Area in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. It had a population of 4,225 at the 2001 census.Builth Wells Builth Wells (; cy, Llanfair-ym-Muallt) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of ...

area, where he settled in 1898 aged 21. From 1911 onwards his business was located in West End Studio, where a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

commemorates the fact. Though located in Builth Wells, he covered large parts of Mid-Wales and was involved in press photography, publishing postcards as well as the stock in trade studio portraits and weddings. He was also appointed the official photographer by Birmingham Water Works to document the building of the

Elan Valley Reservoirs The Elan Valley Reservoirs are a chain of man-made lakes created from damming the Elan and Claerwen rivers within the Elan Valley in Mid Wales. The reservoirs, which were built by the Birmingham Corporation Water Department, provide clean dri ...

. Abery photographed many aspects of rural life, many of which photographs have now disappeared. He died on January 20, 1948, and his ashes were scattered in the sea off

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

. Prior to his death in 1948 in Breconshire, he selected over a thousand of his glass negatives to be donated to the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million boo ...

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