Beverley Who's Who
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Distinguished and Famous people from Beverley
Beverley's aviation history owes a remarkable chapter to two local men who built an aeroplane without prior aircraft-building experience. Their Silver Centenary brought a powerhouse operator and a butcher into the same ambitious workshop project.
✈ Selby Ford
Selby Ford was born in Beverley in 1900 and operated its powerhouse. Inspired by an early joy flight, he began building the Silver Centenary with his friend Tom Shackles. Plans were marked in chalk on the powerhouse floor, and many parts were made by hand. The aircraft first flew from a local paddock on 1 July 1930 with Captain Nesbit at the controls. Its creation became a lasting focus of Beverley's aeronautical collection and of remembrance of Ford's public service.
✈ Tom Shackles
Tom Shackles was the local butcher who helped Selby Ford turn an aircraft-building ambition into the Silver Centenary. Neither man brought aeronautical experience to the task; their work relied on practical construction skills and persistence. Timber, fabric and a salvaged engine became a functioning biplane. Because detailed plans had not been prepared, authorities granted an experimental licence rather than full airworthiness certification. Shackles's contribution is part of the documented partnership behind one of Beverley's most unusual engineering achievements.
