William Avery and W. Avery & Son
The following narrative was original researched and written in 2011 and was published in the book My Avery Needle Case Collection
by Terry Meinke in April 2012. Only a few minor changes have been made to this text since then based on additional research.
The original text has been divided into the sections listed below to make it easier for individuals to find the information for which they are
most interested. Significant research was completed in 2015-2016 regarding the origin of the company and this can be found at the
Origin of W. Avery & Son webpage.
Introduction
Formative Years
History of W. Avery & Son
Marriage and Family
Needle Cases
Family and Accomplishments
Later Years
Summary
Introduction
Before I started my search for William Avery all I knew was that he was a needle manufacturer from Headless Cross/Redditch, England, born around 1832. According to Ruth Mann’s book, his father founded the business in the early 1770's. When I decided to see what I could find out about him, I logged on to the Internet and typed his name into Google. First I searched for “William Avery + needle,” yielding about 38,000 results, so I added “+ Headless Cross” to the search which reduced the number of hits to around 1,820. I found Mr. Avery listed in a number of different books within Google’s digital collection and in a newspaper from New Zealand, the latter indicating that he died in Redditch in 1899.
My research revealed that in 1887 Mr. Avery wrote a book entitled “Old Redditch Being an Early History of the Town from 1800-1850.” A friend purchased a copy for me that was reprinted in 1999 which included an introduction by a local historian. Based on the last paragraph of the book, the historian concluded that William’s father began writing the history and William only added to it. Her interpretation inferred that William’s grandfather was a poor needle maker and inventor from Redditch. Furthermore, she assumed that William’s father died the same year William was born. After reading the book myself, I came to the same conclusions including that William had been absent from the town of Redditch for many years.
Two things about the local historian’s account and the actual text, however, didn’t make sense. If I believed the New Zealand obituary, William had died in Redditch. However, if the “Old Redditch” book was correct, he hadn’t lived in Redditch for many years, and this seemed unlikely if he subsequently died there. Additionally, this new information also contradicted Mann’s statement that the company W. Avery & Son was started by William’s father in the 1770's and that the father taught his son the finer points of needle making when he was a young man. If William’s father died the year he was born that was impossible. Moreover, wouldn’t William’s father have been too young to have started a company in the 1770's? If William’s father was an older man, say 60 years old in 1832 when William was born, then William’s father would have been born in 1772. The man obviously couldn’t have started a company when he was only a few years old. It seemed much more likely that the company was started by William’s grandfather, that the grandfather’s name started with a W, and that he had only one son who joined him in the needle making business, otherwise the company would have been W. Avery & Sons!
Within a week I discovered, from a friend who was helping me with my research, a website that contained copies of many of the postal and trade directories from the area where the Avery family once lived. The firm William Avery & Son was listed in an 1828-29 directory, (the oldest I could find online) as a manufacturer of needles and fish hooks, meaning the company was at least three years old when William was born. This would mean that the William Avery we know and love as the needle case manufacturer did not start the company; rather, it was started by another man named William Avery, perhaps his grandfather. After a couple of days of sifting through online documents I decided it was time for a little genealogical research so I decided to visit Ancestry.com. My first reaction was that genealogical research is a lot easier now than it was fifteen years ago when I researched my own ancestors. No more driving to the National Archives Great Lakes Region office at 73rd and Pulaski Avenue on the south side of Chicago and sitting in front of a microfilm reader for hours on end. Most of the censuses were now indexed and online. I made it my goal to locate William and his ancestors and/or descendants to reconstruct what his life was like.
The first step was to determine how many people had the same name and approximate age, which would provide a quick indication of how difficult the search would be. I started with the 1861 UK census, because William would be about 29 years old that year and by that age should have established his own household. According to the 1861 census index, 47 William Averys had been born in England around 1832. Of those, only five were born in and residing in the counties of Worcestershire or Warwickshire. While searching the postal and trade directories, I had discovered that Headless Cross and Redditch sometimes appeared in one county and sometimes in the other, meaning I needed to continue my search in both counties. Of the five Williams, one was a tailor from Alvechurch, another was a miller/farmer from Alvechurch, a third was a bricklayer from Ladbrook, another was a pearl button turner from Birmingham, and the last was a needle manufacturer from Feckenham. Upon further review of the actual census records I discovered that Headless Cross was located in a parish known as Feckenham. I had found my man! Now that I knew there was only one William Avery born around 1832 who was a needle manufacturer in the Redditch area, it only took me a couple more days to track him, his parents, brothers, wife, and sons through the 1841-1901 censuses. Ancestry.com also had the birth, marriage, and death register indexes for the UK from 1837-2005 online, which provided me with potential years for these events, as well. I ordered William’s marriage and death certificates from the General Register Office online in order to get the actual dates. A few weeks later I located the 1911 UK census on another website and continued my search there. With this information, I hired a genealogical researcher from Redditch to help obtain additional information on William, his ancestors, and descendants and his company, W. Avery & Son. A month later I hired a researcher in London to track down design registrations for several of the needle cases produced by the firm. What follows is William Avery’s true life story, reconstructed using actual documents from the time and place in which he lived.
Genealogical research is not an exact science, but like any good historical research it should be based on evidence and not conjecture. A thorough search through all available sources should be undertaken and that evidence should be evaluated--both what was found and what was not found. Absences and silences can be as meaningful as the louder voices one comes across in history--witness the centuries of silence before the voices of women were recorded in human history. Conflicting evidence should be analyzed and any inferences or conclusions about it should be clearly identified as such, rather than taken at face value. Throughout this document I will use words such as ‘maybe’, ‘apparently’, ‘likely’, ‘possibly’, whenever I mention items where the evidence is questionable, conflicting or unknown. For example, we know the William Avery, who is the subject of this story, compiled and published a book about Redditch in 1887. Was it, however, written based on his own family’s experience or that of another? Direct evidence (wills, census, baptism, marriage and death records, obituaries, etc.) indicates that this book could be reminiscences from someone else, or if not, that William made a few big errors in his dates. His father was not born in 1800 and did not die in 1832 as the book implies. Perhaps the book was written about William’s uncle or another relative, for another William Avery existed, who was born in Redditch in 1800. Or perhaps the book in question has nothing to do with the Avery family at all. At present I do not have enough evidence to decide who this narrative is about. Nevertheless, it deals with Redditch and it speaks to the time period in which William’s father lived. Since the prose is so beautifully descriptive, I quote it in several places for it gives a true picture of what life was like in Redditch.
Formative Years
William Avery was born on May 1, 1832, in Feckenham, a civil parish in the Borough of Redditch in Worcestershire, England. At the time the town of Redditch was located in the parishes of Feckenham, Tardebigge and Ipsley. William was baptized on May 13, 1832 at St. Stephens, a branch of the Church of England, located in the center of Redditch. He was the eldest son of John Avery (1807-1865), a needle maker and later a needle manufacturer from Headless Cross, a village on the southwest side of Redditch, and Catherine Johnson (1806-1888). William had at least three brothers and a sister: Charles (1834-1911), Benjamin (1836-1846), Joseph (1839-1915) and Catherine (1842-1875). In 1841 the Headless Cross district where the Avery family lived contained 35 households with a total of 166 people, of whom 98 were male and 68 were female. Of the 84 individuals that were listed with an occupation, 38 (or 45%), including William’s father, were needle makers. Forty-three people (33 males and 10 females), or 51%, were in the needle/fish hook trades. Of the 12 children listed with an occupation, 80% were making needles, fish hooks or fishing tackle.
William’s father, John Avery, was baptized at St. Stephen’s twenty-five years earlier on July 5, 1807. According to the baptismal record, John’s parents were William and Lucy Avery. It appears as though the William born in 1832 was named after his grandfather. Very little is known about William’s grandfather. He may have been the “soft worker” (someone who made needles up to the point where they were to be hardened) described in the “Old Redditch” book, although there is no firm evidence to support this. Early documents mention a needle maker from Redditch named William Avery who went bankrupt in 1793, but whether he was related to the Avery family from Headless Cross or not is unknown. Regardless, the book proves there was at least one man in Redditch who did not find needle making particularly challenging. He was constantly inventing different things to make his life easier and more interesting but was unable to finish any of the projects he started. As was common in those days, this man’s son was pulled out of school at an early age to help the family make needles. The son described life in the early 1800's, which was the time period in which William’s father was a young boy, as follows:
“My father was by trade, or rather profession (for it went but little further than this), a “soft worker”, and on account of his utter disregard of the application necessary to the completion of his work, we found the soft working a very hard way of getting our bread. My father was by no means a man who might be called indolent, for he had always some scheme in his head and some work in his hand; but because his brains worked faster than his fingers he never completed any of the many inventions he commenced, and which would have been of lasting benefit to the place and have put us in comfortable circumstances. Round about us were strewn unfinished models of point machines, stamps and presses, hook-bearding and bending tools, and even a machine for sewing, but all wanting some last touch to complete them, and the shop became like a haunted room – haunted with the helpless, nameless ghosts of infants that died at their birth - the ghosts of vain and fruitless projects. Often when we were pressed for money he would so infuse his spirit into the creditor that he had no heart to press him, believing that in a short time the machine and fortune would be made together.”
“I was taken away from school just when I began to learn, for we must all work, and I was introduced into my father’s trade. The shop was in the back room of the house and was filled with windows, which seemed like eyes, through which the room was staring with all its might to see where the next meal was coming from. Most of the work was done away from the factories and was fetched by us a packet at a time, in points, cut through. The wire was all made from common steel (for the best cast steel was not then invented) and gave great trouble in working up; for where there was a flaw the wire split up when the needle was made. The points were first cut through and the top part flattened. Then a punch was used for “first eyeing”, which was merely making the impression of the eye, the wire being laid during this process on a piece of lead. The second operation consisted of another and sharper punch, which fitted the square indentation, being driven through to form the eye. This was repeated from the other side. The “gutters” were next made with a jagged saw-like knife in the form of a cleaver. When this was done, the head was filed round, and the needle was made. They then went through the process of straightening, which was merely rolling them on a stone with a bent iron bar till they have rolled themselves out straight”.
“A man and his wife could make about 5,000 needles a day for which about 5 shillings was paid, but as soon as the children were about eight or nine years of age, they were brought into the shops, where they worked at the “cammou”, so that a man having a quiver full of youngsters was happy indeed. No Factory Inspectors or Acts had been invented, and the foundation of many a sickly constitution was laid, for many of the “soft workers” liked their beer, as well as their children, and what were children intended for if not to work.”
Although William Avery attended public school on Evesham Street in Redditch, he was also introduced to his father’s trade, the art and craft of needle making, at a relatively early age. He was musically gifted, sang in the church choir and played the organ there for many years becoming known in the area as an exceptionally good musician. When he was about 15 years old, he was sent for a year to Wesleyan College (later known as Queen’s College) in Taunton, which was located about 125 miles southwest of Redditch.
From at least 1841 through 1851, William’s maternal grandfather, Joseph Johnson (1772-1851), a former farmer, lived with the Avery family. When Mr. Johnson died of dropsy at age 79 on June 2, 1851, he was listed as a gentleman from Feckenham with at least seven tenements or dwelling places that he bequeathed to his children and other relatives. The three households where he lived with his daughter, Catherine, were given to her and an additional four acres was given to his son-in-law, John Avery. In 1851, William’s father and brother, Charles, were visitors in the town of Southampton in Hampshire, possibly promoting their business, whereas William, age 18, and his mother were back in Headless Cross running the needle manufacturing operation which by now employed six people. Additional family members included a brother Joseph and sister Catherine, who were scholars, and two nieces from Birmingham, who were needle makers. When William was 19 years old, the English author Charles Dickens visited Redditch. Perhaps William knew of the visit and gained inspiration from it. In addition to providing information on the history of needle making as described elsewhere on this website, Dickens visited the Victoria Works needle factory and actually saw how needles were manufactured at the time. Shortly thereafter his observations were published in “Household Words A Weekly Journal” and are now an excellent source for understanding what it was like to live in the Redditch area during the middle of the 19th century.
History of W. Avery & Son
It is unclear exactly when and by whom the W. Avery & Son company was founded. If it is true that the firm was established in 1785, as noted in William Avery’s 1899 obituary, a grandfather or great-grandfather probably started the business. However, there is no evidence of the company prior to 1828-1829 when the firm was listed in Pigot & Cos directory as William Avery & Son, fish hook and needle manufacturer from Redditch. William’s father, John, would have been only 21-22 years old that year and unlikely to have created a company at such a young age. According to the 1841 census, John Avery was a needle maker, although on his son’s baptismal record in 1832, and again in the 1851 and 1861 censuses, he was listed as a needle manufacturer. Perhaps John established the firm in a manner similar to that of one of the best known needle manufacturers in Redditch, H. Milward & Sons. Symon Milward created his company by registering it in his son Henry’s name during the first year of his birth. Possibly John Avery registered his firm in his father’s name because he learned needle making from him. For many years W. Avery & Son manufactured both needles and fish hooks.
It also seems possible that the founder of the company came from a neighboring town in Warwickshire. In 1831 the partnership between a William Avery and a John Avery from the company William Avery and Son was dissolved. According to these records, John Avery was “late of Studley, Warwick, but now of Redditch, Worcestershire, needle and fish-hook manufactures.” Studley is a small village about five miles southeast of Redditch. Perhaps the partnership was dissolved because a father retired or died and his son took over the business. Or maybe the partnership was between two brothers or an uncle and a nephew or some other combination of relatives. Are these men related to the William Avery who is the subject of this narrative or are they from another Avery family, after all, William and John are very common names. It seems likely that the John Avery living in Headless Cross in 1841 was the same man as the one from Studley mentioned in 1831. Another possibility is that William’s father obtained the company from a relative. Other Avery families were listed in the census in Studley and in Redditch, however there are no records connecting them to the Headless Cross family. Unfortunately, since few records prior to 1841 have been found that clearly show the relationships between these individuals, one can only speculate about the origins of W. Avery & Son.
Marriage and Family
On September 18, 1855, William married Maria Proctor Dingley (1832-1895) at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Sherborne, Dorset. Maria was the oldest daughter of the Sherborne silk mercer and draper, William Dingley (1801-after 1851), and Grace Pearse (1801-after 1851). A silk mercer (aka ‘merchant’) sold silk cloth whereas a draper was a dealer in fabrics and sewing goods. Sherborne was located about 150 miles southwest of Redditch. How they met is unknown, perhaps through Maria’s older brother, Edward, who was also a mercer and draper employing eight hands in Sherborne. Maria was living with him in 1851. It seems highly likely that Mr. Avery met the Dingley family through some type of business contact--possibly he was trying to persuade the Dingleys to purchase needles for their store from him. Or they may have met through the church, as Maria came from one of the best known Methodist families in the area; both her father and brother were local preachers. Shortly after their marriage William and Maria returned to Headless Cross and by 1861 they were living only five houses distant from his parents and brothers, all of the men being listed as needle manufacturers. Both Avery families now employed a domestic servant; in fact William had two servants that year, including one named Ann Shakespeare! A visiting Wesleyan Minister was also residing in William’s household as William and his wife were very active in the church. In 1865 William joined the Redditch Rifle Corp as an Ensign and by 1867 was promoted to Lieutenant.
William’s father, John Avery, died at age 58 on June 25, 1865, in Headless Cross, of ‘natural decay’, with his son Charles at his side. In his will he was listed as a ‘yeoman’--a free man holding a small landed estate. His personal estate, which included all of his household furniture and goods, was given to his wife, Catherine. The part of his estate that he inherited from his father-in-law in 1851, now known as Cox’s Meadow, was divided into eastern and western portions and bequeathed to his sons, William and Charles. William received an additional four tenements or dwelling places and Joseph received eight adjoining cottages located in Webheath. In addition, William and Charles were to hold in trust an additional four adjoining tenements located at Warwick Place in Redditch for their sister Catherine or her children. In the event that the sister died or did not have any children who reached the age of 21, her inheritance would then be divided in equal shares between her brothers. The entire estate was valued at less than 450 pounds. William received his inheritance immediately, whereas his brothers had to wait to receive theirs until after their mother’s death. At the time, William was 33 years old, his brother Charles was 31, Joseph was 26 and his sister Catherine was 23.
Needle Cases
On January 7, 1868, W. Avery & Son patented their first brass needle case in Great Britain, #58, a flat single packet case named The Golden Needle Case. By November that same year they patented the Quadruple Casket which contained slots for four different sized needle packets. Two years later in 1870, the Quadruple Casket and a Demi-Quad needle case were also patented in the United States. Within eight years they had created at least twenty-seven needle case designs, mostly figural, which were displayed at the London (1873), Vienna (1873) and Paris exhibitions. In 1875 the company was highly praised not only for their quality and workmanship, but also for the artistic appeal of their needle cases which were mentioned in exhibition reports sent to the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. Several years later in 1878, W. Avery & Son appeared in a Paris exhibition catalogue as needle and pin manufacturers and inventors from Headless Cross, and needle, pin and needle case manufacturers from Birmingham. The company was awarded medals at the Amsterdam (1883) and Antwerp (1885) exhibitions. By the time the Liverpool Exhibition opened in 1886, the firm had added at least 30 more designs to their repertoire, including a souvenir Quadruple Casket needle case with a drawing of the exhibition hall embossed on its exterior. During the Royal Jubilee Exhibition in Manchester in 1887 their booth was noted for another invention, a machine that could stick pins in rows of paper. A year later the firm won a gold medal for their participation in the 1888 World’s Fair in Brussels.
One of the highlights of William Avery’s career must have been the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. This fair was considered one of the world’s most famous because it included the unveiling of a structure so tall that it reached a height equivalent to an 81 story building, instantly making it the tallest building in the world, a record it held for another 41 years. Although there was much consternation during its construction and many groups disliked its appearance, it went on to become an amazing success and its silhouette has become the enduring symbol of a nation. There were 61,722 exhibitors and over 32 million visitors to the fair. The W. Avery & Son booth displayed needles, pins and fancy pin and needle cases, as well as the machinery for sticking pins into paper. Also for sale in their booth was an exact scale replica of the exhibition’s main attraction, the architectural masterpiece of French structural engineer Gustave Eiffel.
The Eiffel Tower Needle Case, a miraculous engineering feat in miniature, stood five-and-a-half inches tall. Its tower was constructed of four separate pieces of finely cut-out brass to resemble the iron lattice work of the original, held in place at key positions by a series of tiny tabs inserted into opposing notches. The tower sat on a two-and-a-half inch square base with “Eiffel Tower” engraved under its front arch, and it included a tiny drawer with two packets of Avery needles. It was simply breathtaking. Obviously Mr. Avery had been impressed with Monsieur Eiffel’s design, which had been made public throughout the world after Eiffel won the prestigious pre-exhibition contest in 1887. What Avery foresaw was an opportunity to make something that could be manufactured and transported relatively easily and could be sold for a reasonable price, thereby ensuring a large number of sales and substantial profits. Offering the public a small memento they could take home which would always remind them of their experience at the fair was certain to be a success. After reviewing Eiffel’s designs, W. Avery & Son created their needle case, which was registered on May 2, 1888 and manufactured in time for the fair which opened a year later in May 1889. It was a bit of a risk since the real Eiffel Tower underwent serious construction delays and was barely completed in time for the exhibition. Needless to say it was surely a popular souvenir from the fair and proof that W. Avery & Son continued to manufacture needle cases up until the late 1880's, despite the previous assumption that fancy brass needle cases went out of style by the early 1880's.
Family and Accomplishments
William’s home was called Sherborne Cottage, presumably named after Maria’s hometown. William and Maria had four children: Helen Grace (1856-1860), William John (1859-1869), Benjamin Ricardo (1862-1947) and Charles Harold (1867-1943). In 1881 the son, Charles, was attending boarding school at Compton Place Road New College in Eastbourne, Sussex. Mr. Avery was well known in the Redditch area not only for his commercial success as the head of the W. Avery & Son firm but also for his philanthropy. Soon after his marriage, he and his wife established a fund for the poor of Headless Cross. Together they organized musical concerts which, because of William’s reputation as a musician, attracted large influential audiences which added to the organization’s coffers. The Averys also created a clothing club so they could literally “feed the hungry” and “cloth the naked”. William helped to establish the Redditch Literary and Scientific Institute and the local School of Art and in 1882 contributed to the Shakespeare Memorial in Stratford-on-Avon. He served on the Feckenham district school board and was a staunch supporter of public elementary education. He delivered a series of lectures on Old Redditch to enthusiastic crowds, lectures which were eventually published in 1887, while he continued to give lectures on a variety of topics. In politics he was a liberal. Later in life William was appointed as a Justice of the Peace for Worcestershire and sat for a short time on the bench at Redditch, though he had to retire from the bench due to his increased deafness. He was an active member of the Wesleyan Church where he played the organ for 50 years, taught Sunday school for 40 years and attended numerous Wesleyan meetings and conferences. He was a prominent citizen in all aspects of life in the area in which he lived, being known and loved by friends and neighbors alike for his sincerity, integrity, humor and wit.
Catherine Avery, William’s mother, died on June 16, 1888 in Headless Cross of ‘senile decay’ at age 83. Her will divided her estate into four equal parts with a fourth given to each of her three sons: William, Charles and Joseph. The final portion was for her deceased daughter Catherine’s children--Mrs. Avery’s grandchildren: Mary Hancock, Helen Hancock, Charles Owen Hancock and John James Hancock. William’s brother, Charles, married in the 1860's and remained a needle manufacturer in the area. The youngest Avery brother, Joseph, never married and remained in his parents’ household as a needle manufacturer until their deaths in 1865 and 1888, respectively. In the 1901 census, Charles was listed as a retired needle factory owner and Joseph as a retired needle factory manager. Apparently neither brother had any children, leaving no heirs to carry on the family business. They both passed away in the 1910's in the Redditch area, Charles at age 76 on February 7, 1911, of congestion of the lungs, and Joseph at age 76 on June 29, 1915, of heart failure. Their nephew, John James Hancox, was listed as the executor of Joseph’s will.
Later Years
William’s sons Benjamin and Charles remained in William’s household as needle manufacturer assistants until at least 1891. It seems likely that Mr. Avery’s final journey outside of Headless Cross and Redditch occurred in the spring of 1898 when he traveled to Launceston in Cornwall to attend the wedding of his son Charles to Winifred Allen, the daughter of a Wesleyan minister. The couple was married at the Wesleyan Church there on April 26, 1898. Apparently Cornwall had some significance to the Avery family as Maria had visited there in 1891. Perhaps relatives, in addition to Winifred’s family, lived in the area. After suffering from deafness and heart problems for many years, William died of heart disease at age 67 on July 31, 1899, in Headless Cross. He passed away suddenly but peacefully while sitting in the garden at his residence. On August 2, 1899, he was buried next to Maria who had died at age 63 of uterine cancer four years earlier on June 14, 1895. They were buried in brick grave #14R, in unconsecrated ground at the Plymouth Road Cemetery in Redditch. William had purchased the plot for 2 pounds 2 shillings on June 17, 1895, in order to bury his wife. His will, which was written on July 30, 1896, and witnessed by his brother, Joseph, was proved on September 9, 1899. He left his entire estate to his sons. A special memorial service was held at the Wesleyan Church in Headless Cross on September 17, 1899, at which a 21-page pamphlet entitled “In Memoriam William Avery, J. P. of Headless Cross, Redditch,” published by the local newspaper, was distributed. It sold at the service for three pence, for the benefit of the Unsectarian Benevolent Society of the Poor of Headless Cross which was founded by Mr. and Mrs. Avery in 1856. A total of 5 pounds 12 shillings were collected for the poor as a result.
Mr. Avery’s sons sold the needle business and Sherborne Cottage to John English & Sons, another Redditch area needle manufacturer, around September 1900, after winning a silver medal at the Paris Exhibition that year. On the sale documents both Benjamin and Charles were listed as gentlemen. Sherborne Cottage was later described in detail in a 1911 sale catalogue as follows:
“The Freehold Family Residence, approached by Carriage Sweep from Birchfield Road, belted with Timber, Trees and Shrubs, known as “Sherbourne Cottage” containing six Bedrooms, two Dressing Rooms, W.C., Vestibule, Hall, Dining and Drawing Rooms of good proportions with Verandah, Small Library, two Kitchens, Pantry and Cellar, two Paved Yards, W.C. and usual outbuildings, together with Greenhouse, tastefully laid out Lawn, Gardens and Pleasure Grounds, well stocked with Fruit Trees and choice Shrubs, containing in the whole 6,239 square yards (note: 18,717 square feet). Special attention is called to this valuable property and the large quantity of land, near an acre-and-half, which would make a very nice building estate.”
By 1901 Benjamin, Charles and his wife, Winifred, had moved to London where they were living together on their own means indicating a certain degree of wealth. Within a few years they returned to Worcestershire, and Charles and Winifred settled in the town of Malvern where they established an estate named Wyndcliffe. Their son, William Harold Avery, was born there on October 10, 1907. In 1911, Charles and Benjamin were living in or visiting Eastbourne in Sussex, although Winifred was not with them since she and her son were staying with her sisters in Cornwall. Shortly thereafter Charles returned to Wyndcliffe where he remained until at least 1922. Charles, who wrote under the pseudonym, Harold Avery, became the author of over 50 children’s books. His wife, Winifred, passed away in Stratford-upon-Avon on December 19, 1938. Charles, his son William, and his brother Benjamin, were all living together in Evesham, a small town 18 miles south of Redditch, in June 1943 when Benjamin wrote his last will and testament which named his nephew as executor. Charles died there three months later on September 25th of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 76. Four years later at age 84 Benjamin died of heart failure on February 4, 1947, in Evesham where he lived with his nephew who by then was a bank clerk. William Harold Avery eventually moved away from the area and died of a stroke on December 11, 1971 at the hospital in Torquay, Devonshire, not far from Launceston, Cornwall. His last residence was at a place called Windycliffe in the neighboring town of Totnes. He appears to be the only grandchild of Mr. Avery to carry on the Avery surname, although his father’s cousin, John James Hancox, had a son he named Avery Stallard Hancox who was born in 1904 in Great Alne. Needless to say, the Avery line appears to end here as there is no evidence that William Harold Avery ever married or had children.
Summary
Although born into what appears to have been a working class family in 1832, by 1871 all four of the Avery families living in the Headless Cross area had achieved relative wealth: William and Maria, his brother Charles and wife Elizabeth, his brother Joseph who resided with their mother Catherine and his sister Catherine and her husband Edmund Hancox (who were living in neighboring Evesham) all had domestic servants to help with the household chores. In the 33 years from the time William was born to the time his father died, his father must have expanded the W. Avery & Son firm significantly in order to accomplish such an improvement in their status. The Avery families were well established in the middle class by the time the son, William Avery, began to use needle cases to promote his needles This venture must have added to the family’s success because by the beginning of the 20th century his brothers were able to retire and his sons were able to live independently without having to work.
The Industrial Revolution created opportunities that had not existed earlier in the predominately agricultural societies in which it took root. Creative people who were in the right place at the right time could use their unique skills to take advantage of these opportunities. It was during this era that the middle class was created in England by merchants, business men, industrialists and the like. Under different circumstances William could have spent his entire life working on a farm or in a factory from dawn until dusk, earning barely enough to eke out a living without ever having a chance to develop his potential as an inventor. He inherited his creativity and entrepreneurial spirit from his ancestors, possibly from a grandfather he never knew, one whose name he shared and one who never saw the success the grandson achieved. If William Avery had been born in a different time or place, one that had nothing to do with needles, he wouldn’t have created needle cases and we wouldn’t have them to enjoy today.
