Sir William Beilby Avery, 1st Baronet (26 April 1854 – 28 October 1908"Death of Sir W.B. Avery, Bart." in '' The London Philatelist'', Vol. XVII, No. 203, November 1908, pp. 256-7.) was a British philatelist who was entered on the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921 as one of the ''fathers of philately''. His grandfather was the elder brother in W. & T. Avery, weighing machine makers of BirminghamWho Was Who in British Philately

Association of British Philatelic Societies The Association of British Philatelic Societies, commonly known as the ''ABPS'', is the British national association of philatelic societies, regional philatelic federations, and specialist philatelic societies.scale makers and third son of William Henry Avery (1812-1874)Anita McConnell, ''Avery, Thomas (1813–1894)'', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, May 2005 of Edgbaston, was created a baronet in 1905. He married twice, firstly to the daughter of Mr. Francis Bell, of London, from which marriage he had a son, William Eric Thomas Avery, who succeeded to his title, and secondly to a daughter of M. Pierre Crets, of Paris. He resided in BirminghamObituary. ''The Times'', Friday, Oct 30, 1908; pg. 13; Issue 38791 but of late maintained a house,

Oakley Court Oakley Court is a Victorian Gothic country house set in overlooking the River Thames at Water Oakley in the civil parish of Bray in the English county of Berkshire. It was built in 1859 and is currently a hotel. It is a Grade II* listed ...

, at Bray, Windsor, and a house in town in

Portland Place Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London. Named after the Third Duke of Portland, the unusually wide street is home to BBC Broadcasting House, the Chinese and Polish embassies, the Royal Institute of British A ...

, where he died.

W & T Avery

When a mercer and draper, Sir William's grandfather, William Avery who died in 1843 inherited from within his and his wife's family a long established weighing machine business which had begun in the early 18th century with the manufacture of steelyards. With his brother, Thomas who died in 1824, William Avery continued the business under their own names, W & T Avery. In 1843 two of William's sons took over the business: Sir William's father, William Henry Avery and his younger brother

Thomas Avery Thomas Avery (1813–1894) was a scale or weighing machine manufacturer and local politician. He was mayor of Birmingham in 1868 and 1881. W & T Avery When a mercer and draper, Thomas's father, William Avery who died in 1843, inherited from wi ...

. Thomas withdrew his capital from the business in 1866 and devoted his energies to improving poor local government. Management of the scale manufacturing business devolved on William Henry and his son (Sir) William Beilby Avery. Father and son proved good managers and the business prospered sending its products throughout the world. From the start of the 21st century it has been known as Avery Weigh-Tronix. In 1895 W & T Avery purchased the historic Soho Foundry and that site remains the centre of Avery's business. Its own advertisements describe it as one of the world's leading suppliers of weighing scales, systems and equipment. Sir William was a director of United Rhodesian Goldfields and of several important British companies. Uncle

(1813-1894) was three times Mayor of Birmingham. Mauritius - Post Office Stamps

Philately

Avery acquired the Bullock collection of Australia, which included many fine Sydney Views, and collections of West Indies and Western Australia from Charles Phillips. He also owned a unique large unused block of the Swiss

Double Geneva The Double Geneva is a rare Swiss stamp that was issued by the city of Geneva in 1843, making it the third-oldest stamp of the European continent after the Zurich 4 and 6 (1842), and the British Penny Black and Two penny blue The Two Penny ...

and had fine holdings of Moldavia and Nevis. With extensive buying in England and Europe, Avery built one of the finest collections of his day. The London stamp dealer

W. H. Peckitt William Henry Peckitt FRPSL (died 7 December 1934) was a British stamp dealer and fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London. He was known as the "Panther of the Strand" for his acute business sense, acquiring most of the collection of the Ea ...

, bought Avery's collection in 1909 for £24,500. Avery's most important pieces were unused one penny and two pence Post Office Mauritius stamps which he acquired in 1893.Avery, Sir William Beilby (1854 - 1908).
Blue Mauritius Research Companion, 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2011. In organised philately, Avery was President of the Birmingham Philatelic Society.

Birmingham University

He was a life governor of Birmingham University.

W & T Avery

Philately

Birmingham University

References

Further reading