Nicholas Bronson Albery (28 July 1948 – 3 June 2001) was a British social inventor and author, was the instigator or coordinator of a variety of projects aimed at an improvement to society, often known as the alternative society.

Early life and education

Albery was born at Bricket House, St Albans, Hertfordshire, son of the theatre impresario Sir Donald Albery (son of Sir Bronson Albery, also a theatre impresario) and his second wife, Cicely, daughter of Army officer Reginald Harvey Henderson Boys. While a student at St John's College, Oxford, Albery became involved with psychedelic and spiritual movements in

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California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and dropped out of college. After a period in Haight Ashbury, he returned to the UK and joined the anti-university in London.

Life

BIT

Albery became involved with the newly started BIT Information Service, quickly becoming a driving force in the development of wider activities for BIT so that it became one of the first social centres. Around 1972/73, at the peak of its activities and with the momentum given by Albery, BIT Info-Service ran 24 hours a day, with "BIT-workers" coming up at around 10 PM to take the night shift until around 8:00 AM the following day.

The "Windsor Festival case"

In 1974, in the aftermath of a violent attack by police on the Windsor Free Festival, Albery, with playwright

Heathcote Williams John Henley Heathcote-Williams (15 November 1941 – 1 July 2017), known as Heathcote Williams, was an English poet, actor, political activist and dramatist. He wrote a number of book-length polemical poems including ''Autogeddon'', ''Falling ...

and his partner Diana Senior successfully sued David Holdsworth, the Thames Valley Chief Constable, for creating a riotous situation in which the police attacked the plaintiffs.

Frestonia

Albery was a Minister for the Free State of Frestonia in North Kensington and a Green Party candidate in Notting Hill.

Social innovations' activist

In 1985, out of BIT Information Service, Albery founded the Institute for Social Inventions. From small beginnings (a network of inventors, a quarterly newsletter), the Institute grew into a full-fledged organisation under his leadership: producing an annual compendium, running social inventions workshops and promoting creative solutions around the world. The Institute included Edward de Bono, Anita Roddick and Fay Weldon among its patrons. The Global Ideas Bank, which Albery founded in 1995 as an offspring of the Institute for Social Inventions, was first established online, and new features were added: online submission, voting systems, categorisation, a message board, and so on.

Promoting "natural" death

Albery became interested in ecological approaches to death and funerals, and in breaking the

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

s that surround death in western societies. In 1991, with Christianne Heal, he and his wife founded the Natural Death Centre, offering advice on DIY burials.The much-patronised centre provides midwives for the dying, death exercises, recyclable coffins, etc.

Saturday Walkers' Club

Albery founded the self-organising Saturday Walkers' Club in the mid-1990s.

Personal life and death

Albery was married to psychotherapist Josefine Speyer. He died age 52 in a car accident, on 3 June 2001. His brother is stage director Tim Albery.

Works

Incomplete list: * ::an account of the early years of BIT, by Nicholas Albery, with most names changed to protect the innocent * * *

References

External links

The Global Ideas Bank

Nicholas Albery Foundation

The Natural Death Centre

The Saturday Walkers' Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albery, Nicholas 1948 births 2001 deaths 20th-century squatters Alumni of St John's College, Oxford People from St Albans