242 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
supervision of Mr. S. Hazzledine Warren and certain tentative conclusions
arrived at ; it is proposed to resume the excavations during the ensuing
spring and ultimately to prepare a report on the results obtained.
Your Council wishes again to urge members to bring forward new
recruits if the activities of the Club are to continue unimpaired.
JOHN AVERY—AN OBITUARY.
John Avery, since 1892 a member and for seventeen years honorary
treasurer to our Club, fell asleep on the 19th February, 1934, at the age
of 73, after an illness of some five weeks. He had long been a sufferer from
diabetes and the last five years of his life were darkened by blindness,—
a calamity of more than usual severity to a man of his interests since it
deprived him, at once and for ever, of that intimate contact with his
beloved books and prints which was his darling passion. This blow,
following upon family bereavements of exceptional sadness and accom-
panied by increasing deafness, might well have embittered his last years ;
yet, those who came into frequent touch with him realised how well his
spirit rose above his disabilities and regained its serenity and even cheer-
fulness.
John Avery was a man of many and diverse interests ; religion, music,
freemasonry, antiquarianism, local politics, all these had their part in
his life. His business as an accountant engrossed, until recent years, a,
very large proportion of his time, but nevertheless he found occasion to
pursue these other interests, chief among which was the ardent collection of
prints, books and other items concerning not only Essex, but also London
and Kent. It is probable that his accumulation of material relating to
Essex alone represents the finest and most complete local antiquarian
collection ever gathered together by one individual,
Avery's was a personality which had to be known to be fully appre-
ciated ; a certain bluntness in asserting his opinions, and a tenacity in main-
taining them against opposing views, derived doubtless from the rigid
integrity, which he rightly regarded as a chief asset of his business life,
may have made him appear unsympathetic at times ; but those who had
the privilege of his intimacy knew how superficial this apparent brusque-
ness was and how warmly his spirit sought for and responded to personal
friendship.
His loyalty to our Club was unwavering, and even led him, on occasions,
to maintain a line of action—mistaken, but actuated solely by loyalty—
opposed to that of his colleagues on the Council. His services to the
Club in the conduct of its finances were of incalculable worth and his
memory will always be cherished on this account.
Avery's contribution to the literary output of the Club was not exten-
sive. Three informative biographical articles on Christopher Saxton
("Essex Naturalist," xi., p. 240), George Edwards (ibid., xiii., p. 343)
and Jabez Legg (ibid., xx., p. 43), with a few notes, represent the sum
total of his contributions to our journal ; but members will gratefully re-
call his many contributions of exhibits of prints, portraits and manuscripts
relating to Essex which formed, during so many years, a regular and
welcome source of interest at our Stratford meetings. P. T.