Nicholas Albery

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

While a student at St John's College, Oxford, Albery became involved with psychedelic and spiritual movements in San Francisco, dropped out of college and joined the anti-university in London. He died in a car accident, on 3 June 2001.

After a period in Haight Ashbury he returned to the UK and 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 Nicholas, 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.

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

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

In 1985, out of BIT Information Service, he 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.

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