Henry Maybury

Sir Henry Percy Maybury (17 November 1864 – 7 January 1943) was a British civil engineer. He began his career as a railway engineer, working on many railways in England and Wales before becoming the county surveyor for Kent. At the start of the First World War he was appointed to supervise roads used by the Allies in France, holding the British Army rank of Brigadier-General. In recognition of his services in this theatre he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath and a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George by the British government and an officer of the Legion of Honour by the French. After the war he held various civil service positions, mainly within the Ministry of Transport, and was elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1933.

Early life

Maybury was born in Uffington in Shropshire, fourth son of Charles Maybury, a farmer, and his wife Jane (nee Matthews), and was educated at nearby Upton Magna. Upon finishing his studies Maybury began work at Shrewsbury railway station in the office of RE Johnston, the chief engineer of the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway, a joint venture between the Great Western and London and North Western railway companies, where he worked for five years.

In 1884 he joined the Wrexham contracting firm of Johnson Brothers and Slay, where he became manager,

In 1904 he also developed sewerage and drinking water schemes for Ludlow County Borough and Worcestershire County Council. Maybury had charge of the roads used by the Allied forces in France, under Eric Geddes, director-general of transportation. He had been a member of the institution since 1910 and also served as president of the Institute of Quarrying.

Maybury was chairman of the Lights on Vehicles; Taxation and Regulation of Road Vehicles; Licensing and Regulation of Public Service Vehicles and Traffic Signs committees of the Ministry of Transport. In 1928 the Paviors' Company, to which he had been elected in 1918, founded a professorship in highways engineering at the University of London named after himself.