2021 NIA Hall of Fame Inductee

 Keith Neal (NIA #3192)

Keith Neal: (1905-1990)

Keith Neal was a pioneer collector in the United Kingdom and was likely the earliest serious insulator collector in the world. Keith started collecting as a teen around 1916 after he found an insulator at the base of a pole. He has done extensive research on British insulators over his lifetime and gathered a significant collection of historic porcelain and a few glass insulators dating back to the mid 1800s. Keith published two books on Insulators which are in high demand by the growing British collecting community.

"Searching For Railway Telegraph Insulators" copyright 1982 by Signal Box Press

"Railway and Other Rare Insulators" copyright 1987 by Signal Box Press

Keith's first book provided significant history of the telegraph in Great Britain and the role of the insulators used. Many pictures of early insulators including in-use pictures taken while still in service. I am sure this book started the now established collector community in the UK. His second book was written after he was exposed to the US insulator collecting community and contained many new finds and information. He became a member of the NIA in 1983.

Keith was very active searching and reaching out to signal workers, railways, and others for any insulators available or associated information. There are many early styles that only exist today due to Keith's efforts to save them. He had an extensive collection of duplicates to trade or assist other collectors build their collections.

Keith resided in an 16th-century stone farmhouse in Guernsey and in addition to insulators he had a world class gun collection. As early as 1938 he organized a display showing the development of firearms over three hundred years. His own collection was sufficiently extensive to provide sixty-two of the weapons which he was on hand to demonstrate. When Queen Elizabeth of England celebrated her Jubilee in 1977, Keith was elected to fire a 21 gun salute to the Queen, which he did, using a battery of two bronze muzzle loading cannons at Fort Grey!