Waightstill Avery (10 March 1741-13 March 1821) was a resident of Mecklenburg County. He became the colony's attorney general for the crown in 1772 and later served in the North Carolina provincial congresses. After helping draft North Carolina's first state constitution, he became the state's first attorney general in 1777. In this role he helped oversee the case against John Lewellen and his fellow members of the Gourd Patch Conspiracy.