He later moved with his aunt to Edinburgh, Scotland where he took a job in the city's water department. Avery began writing in his early twenties, and in 1894 his book "The Orderly Officer" was published. The Edinburgh-based publisher Thomas Nelson and Sons published "The Triple Alliance" in 1897 and remained Avery's main publisher for the next 30 years. Avery wrote mainly school stories. These books were popular among boys and girls in the later half of the 19th and earlier part of the 20th centuries and described life in public and private schools in England. For his books, he drew mainly on his experiences at Eton. Avery also wrote several adventure books and stories, often featuring pirates and again drawing on his childhood experiences in Malaysia. He was extremely prolific, writing over 50 books within a 45 year period. Avery lived a very reclusive life, never marrying and living with his increasingly elderly aunt. He rarely left Edinburgh and never traveled outside of Britain as an adult, although he always expressed a wish to travel. In early 1941, in the midst of WWII, Avery retired and finally left Europe, supposedly to travel round the world. The last Avery was heard from was in a postcard to his Aunt, written in 1943 from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. In 1951, after his death, Avery's publisher (Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.) released a special re-issue of "No Surrender!" (originally published in 1933), featuring the only known biography of Avery in the introduction. —"Thumbs Up" Nisbet & Co Ltd 1925→  Genealogical researched completed by Terry Meinke in preparation for her book "My Avery Needle Case Collection", a book on Victorian Brass Needle Cases published in April 2012. 1) Correspondence dated 15 December 1922 from Harold Avery which mentions his book "The Prefects Patrol" and lists Wyndcliffe, Hornyold Road, Malvern as the return address. Found on an internet auction website, www.historyforsale.com in March 2011  2) Birth certificates: Charles Harold Avery, William Harold Avery  3) Birth Index: 1837-1915 England and Wales Free BMD Birth Index: A search of the birth index for all persons named Charles Avery, Charles Harold Avery and Harold Avery born between 1862 and 1872 was undertaken. Only one individual was found. 4) Marriage certificates: William Avery, Charles Harold Avery  5) Death certificates: William Avery, Maria Proctor Avery, John Avery, Catherine Avery, Charles Avery, Joseph Avery, Benjamin Avery, Winifred Avery, Charles Harold Avery, William Harold Avery  6) Death Index: 1916-2005 England and Wales Free BMD Death Index: William Harold Avery's death certificate does not list his parents.