The Great & The Good.

The Laverton Family.

The Laverton name is a familiar one in Westbury. This family made its fortune through the manufacture of woollen cloth, and its members were generous benefactors to Westbury, funding parks, schools, hospitals, meeting rooms, housing, churches and chapels and of course the town’s famous swimming pool.
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Black History & Westbury – Bryan Edwards.

The focus on Black History month unearthed a wealth of fascinating and heart-wrenching stories, articles and tv programmes. But did you know that one of William Wilberforce’s strongest critics when he campaigned for an end to slavery actually came from Westbury?! Politician and historian Bryan Edwards rose from his Wiltshire beginnings to become one of the largest plantation and slave owners in Jamaica.
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The Matravers Family.

The Matravers family is remembered in the naming of our local senior school – but who were the Matravers and why were they important? The family, who were associated with Westbury for more than 150 years, were Quakers and many are buried in the Quaker graveyard at the rear of Pinniger Finch in Church Street. But they were also prominent mill owners and employers, owning houses, land and mills around the town. The family fortunes suffered from the decline of the woollen industry in the 1840s.
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