Fry family (chocolate)

This Fry family was prominent in England, especially Bristol, in the Society of Friends, and in the confectionery business in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries under the company name J. S. Fry & Sons. They intermarried with many of the other prominent Quaker families and were involved in business and social and philanthropic causes.

The start of the Bristol family

Joseph Fry (1728–1787), a Quaker, was apprenticed to Henry Portsmouth of Basingstoke as an apothecary and doctor. He married Portsmouth's daughter, Anna (1719/20–1803). Joseph Fry founded a chocolate company called Fry, Vaughan & Co. in Bristol. He also founded Fry and Pine, later Joseph Fry & Co., a typefoundry continued by his middle son Edmund Fry (1757–1835) ^[1] and renamed Edmund Fry & Co.

In the 1850s, Englishman Joseph Fry invented the world's first solid chocolate.

After Joseph Fry's death in 1787 his wife, Anna, took over the chocolate company and it was renamed Anna Fry & Son. The son was the first Joseph Storrs Fry (1769–1835) who, after his mother's death in 1803, renamed the firm J. S. Fry & Sons under which name it became quite well known. Joseph Storrs Fry was the first to introduce factory methods into the making of chocolate and the first to use a Watt's steam engine to grind the beans.

The three sons of Joseph Storrs Fry and his wife Ann Allen (1764?–1829), all of whom later became partners in the firm, are Joseph Fry (1795–1879), Francis Fry (1803–1886), ^[3] and Richard Fry (d.1878).

Francis Fry (1803–1886)

Main article: Francis Fry

Francis Fry was the son of Joseph Storrs Fry and his wife Ann Allen. Besides the directorship of the chocolate firm, he was also involved in porcelain, typefounding, the Bristol Waterworks where he was a director, and railways (including the Bristol and Gloucester Railway). He was also a well known collector of old Bibles. He headed the firm when it started producing the first chocolate bars in 1847.

He married Matilda Penrose (circa 1808–1888). They had four sons and three daughters including:

• Francis James Fry (1835 – 15 November 1918) (See below)
• Theodore Fry (See below).

Francis James Fry (1835–1918) and his family

F.J. Fry was the son of Francis Fry (1803–1886). He was Sheriff of Bristol in 1887. He married twice and had two daughters and four sons. ^[4]

Blue Plaque for Norah Cooke-Hurle in Brislington.

His daughter, Norah Cooke-Hurle born Fry (1871–1960), was an advocate of better services for people with learning difficulties. ^[5] In 1988, the University of Bristol named their new research centre after Norah Fry, because she did so much for people with learning difficulties.

One of his sons was Geoffrey Storrs Fry (1888–1960), from 1929, the first (and last) Baronet Fry of Oare in Wiltshire. He was private secretary to Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin. He married Alathea Gardner, the second daughter of Lord Burghclere. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

• (Ann) Jennifer Evelyn Elizabeth Fry (1916–2003), only child of Geoffrey and Alathea Fry. She was the wife of Alan Ross, the poet.

Theodore Fry and his family

Theodore Fry (1836–1912), was the son of Francis Fry (1803–1886). He was Liberal MP for Darlington and made baronet. His wife, Sophia Fry née Pease (1837–1897) was a prominent philanthropist and political activist. ^[9] Their son, John Pease Fry (1864–1957), ^[10] the second baronet, became Chairman and managing director of Bearpark Coal & Coke of Durham.

Joseph Fry and his family

Joseph Fry (1795–1879), ^[11] son of the first Joseph Storrs Fry (1769–1835), and Mary Anne Swaine (1797–1886) ^[12] were the parents of:

• Joseph Storrs Fry II (1826–1913). Headed the chocolate firm after 1886 and was active in the Society of Friends. He never married but was known for his philanthropy.
• Sir Edward Fry (1827–1918), a judge on the British Court of Appeal. Edward Fry was the father of the art critic and artist Roger Fry and the social reformers, Joan Mary Fry (1862–1955), Margery Fry (1874–1958) and Ruth Fry (1878–1962). His daughter, Agnes Fry (1869–1958) compiled his biography.
• Albert Fry (1830?–1903). He worked with John Fowler (1826–1864) ^[13] to develop and manufacture a drainage plough in the mid-19th century. He founded the Bristol Wagon & Carriage Works. ^[14] He was a chairman of the council of the University of Bristol and, along with other members of his family and of the Wills family, a major donor ^[15]
• Susan Ann Fry (1829–1917) married in 1856, as his third wife, Thomas Pease, also a prominent Bristol businessman, and was the mother of Edward Reynolds Pease who help found the Fabian Society ^[16] and Marian Fry Pease (1859–1954) who was the first female student and later a teacher at University College, Bristol. ^[17]
• Lewis Fry (1832–1921) was the Liberal, later Liberal Unionist, MP for Bristol from 1878 until 1886 and from 1895 until 1900. He was chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Town Holdings, 1886–1892. ^[18] He was a member of the Privy Council. He was the first chairman of the Council of the University of Bristol.
• Henrietta Jane Fry (1840–1911) who married an ironfounder named William Whitwell in 1862. ^[16]

and three other daughters, one of whom died in infancy. ^[16]

Other members of the family

• Cecil Roderick Fry (1890–1952) ^[19] was the last member of the family to head the chocolate firm before it merged with Cadburys.
  • Jeremy Fry (1924–2005) was an engineer and inventor, son of Cecil Fry. Founded Rotork.
  • David Fry (1918–1967), engineer, son of Cecil Fry. Founded Frenchay Products.
• Edwin Waterhouse, co-founder of the accountancy practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers. His great-grandmother, Anne Fry (1755-1821), was the niece of the brothers Joseph Fry and William Storrs Fry. Anne's father was another brother, John Fry (1733-1803). ^{[20] [ better source needed ]}

Sources

• Mosley, James Mosley. "Fry, Joseph". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10212.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.); and the articles there on Francis Fry (1803–1886), Edmund Fry (1754–1835), Joseph Storrs Fry (1826–1913), Edward Fry (1827–1918), and Sophia Fry née Pease.
• Bristol Wagon & Carriage Works (references to Albert Fry)
• University of Bristol History (references to the Fry family support in founding the university)
• Frenchay Village Museum – Frenchay, South Gloucestershire is where many of the Frys lived

References

1. See DNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2015 accessed 25 10 2015.
2. "Chocolate History: Who Invented Chocolate?", Chocolate University, retrieved 15 August 2018
3. ODNB article by David J. Hall, ‘Fry, Francis (1803–1886)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 , accessed 13 Sept 2007.
4. F.J. Fry entry in Who was Who.
5. University of Bristol Norah Fry Research Centre: Brief biography of Norah Cooke-Hurle
6. G.S. Fry's entry in Who was Who.
7. The Times, Saturday, 15 October 1960; pg. 8; Issue 54903; col G: Obituary Sir Geoffrey Fry.
8. The Times, Friday, 28 May 1915; pg. 11; Issue 40866; col C: Forthcoming marriages.
9. Times obituary of Theodore Fry is at Durham Mining Museum website.
10. J.P. Fry entry in Who was Who.
11. Note: he was not the Joseph Fry (1777–1861), who was husband of Elizabeth Fry
12. The Biographical dictionary of British Quakers in commerce and industry, 1775-1920, by Edward H. Milligan, Sessions of York (2007) ISBN   978-1-85072-367-7. p191: article on Joseph Fry (1795-1879).
13. See ODNB article by Jonathan Brown, ‘Fowler, John (1826–1864)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2007 , accessed 15 Sept 2007.
14. "Obituary of Albert Fry". "The Times" (37063): 10. 24 April 1903.
15. The Library of the University of Bristol, 1876-1975 by Nicholas Lee at http://www.bris.ac.uk/is/about/what/libraries/libraryhistory-lee.doc accessed 15 Sept 2007.
16. The Biographical dictionary of British Quakers in commerce and industry, 1775-1920, by Edward H Milligan, Sessions of York (2007) ISBN   978-1-85072-367-7. pp.190B-191A.
17. John B. Thomas, ‘Pease, Marian Fry (1859–1954)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 26 May 2014
18. Lewis Fry entry in Who was Who
19. C.R. Fry entry in Who was Who.
20. See common ancestor John Fry (1701 - 1775) click on "Descendants".

External links

• "Fry"  . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.