Reverend William Lewery Blackley (30 December 1830–25 July 1902)

Church of England clergyman and social reformer. Born in Dundalk, Ireland, the son of Travers Robert Blackley and Elizabeth Lewery. He was schooled in Brussels and studied for his Bachelors and Masters degrees at Trinity College Dublin. After graduating in 1854 Blackley took holy orders in the same year. He married Amelia Friedlander, daughter his teacher in Brussels, on 24 July 1855. He worked in numerous parishes in the south of England and in 1888 was made honorary canon of Winchester. He was well known for originating the scheme for old age pensions and National Insurance, and in November 1878 his essay "National provident insurance, a cheap, practical and popular way of preventing pauperism" was published in the journal Nineteenth Century. Blackley died at his home in London after a brief illness.