Benjamin Avery, LL.D. (died 1764) was an English physician.

Life

Avery was originally a presbyterian minister at Bartholomew Close, London, but quitted the ministry in 1720, in consequence of the Salters' Hall controversy on subscription, 1719, He practised as a physician, and was treasurer of Guy's Hospital. He retained the confidence of his presbyterian brethren, and acted for several years as secretary to the dissenting deputies, organised 1732, for the protection of the rights and redress of the grievances of the three denominations. He was a trustee of Dr. Williams's Library, 1728-64, and his portrait hangs in the library. He died 23 July 1764.

Works

He showed himself a political and theological liberal in contributing to the Occasional Papers, collected in three volumes, 1716-19, sometimes called the 'Bagweell' papers. These ere not to be confused with the 'Occasional Paper,' 1697-8, by Bishop Willis. Avery also conducted the Old Whig, or Consistent Protestant, a weekly publication, 13 March 1735 to 13 March 1738, his chief coadjutors being George Benson

George Benson (theologian)

George Benson was an English Presbyterian minister and theologian. According to Alexander Balloch Grosart, writing in the Dictionary of National Biography, his views were "Socinian" though at this period the term is often confused with Arian....

, Samuel Chandler

Samuel Chandler

Samuel Chandler was an English Nonconformist minister.-Life:He was born at Hungerford in Berkshire, where his father was a minister. He was sent to school at Gloucester, where he began a lifelong friendship with Bishop Butler and Archbishop Secker; and he afterwards studied at Leiden...

, Benjamin Grosvenor, Caleb Fleming

Caleb Fleming

Caleb Fleming, D.D. was an English dissenting minister and polemicist.-Life:Fleming was born at Nottingham on 4 November 1698. His father was a hosier; his mother, whose maiden name was Buxton, was a daughter of the lord of the manor of Chelmerton, Derbyshire. Brought up in Calvinism, Fleming's...

, J. Foster, and Micaiah Towgood

Micaiah Towgood

Micaiah Towgood is the author of A Dissent from the Church of England, Fully Justified; Being The Dissenting Gentleman's Three Letters in Answer to the Letters of The Rev...

; the collected issue, in two volumes, 1739, is not complete.

In 1728 Avery edited James Peirce

James Peirce

James Peirce was an English dissenting minister, the catalyst for the Salter's Hall controversy.-Early life:The son of John Peirce, he was born at Wapping about 1674. His parents, who were in easy circumstances, were members of the congregational church at Stepney, under Matthew Mead...

's posthumous sermons and Scripture Catechism; he was probably the author of the Latin inscription prepared for Peirce's tomb. He was not concerned in the Independent Whig, 20 January 1720 to 4 January 1721, edited by Thomas Gordon

Thomas Gordon (writer)

Thomas Gordon was a Scottish writer and Commonwealthman.Along with John Trenchard, he published The Independent Whig, which was a weekly periodical. From 1720 to 1723, Trenchard and Gordon, wrote a series of 144 essays entitled Cato's Letters, condemning corruption and lack of morality within the...

(reissued 1732-5 and 1743).