Fry Family (Chocolate)

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The Fry family was a prominent Bristol Quaker family involved in the chocolate business in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries.

The patriarch of this branch of the family was John Fry (?–1775), a shopkeeper of Sutton Benger, Wiltshire who was not involved in the chocolate business; his father was Zephaniah Fry (1658–?) who joined the Society of Friends. The earliest known Fry ancestor is suppose to be Sir Richard Fry who married secondly Joan Beaufort, great granddaughter of John of Gaunt.^[1]

His son, William Storrs Fry (1736–1808), was the father of the Joseph Fry (1777–1861) who married the reformer Elizabeth Fry née Gurney (1780–1845). There is also a William Storrs Fry (circa 1806–1844) who is one of the 11 children of Joseph and Elizabeth Fry.

His other son Joseph Fry (1728–1787) 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.

After his death in 1787 his wife, Anna Fry, took over the chocolate company and it was renamed Anna Fry & Son. The son was Joseph Storrs Fry (1769–1835) who, after his mother's death, 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. He married Ann Allen (1764?–1829) and had seven children.

Joseph Fry & Co., the typefoundry, was continued by Joseph Fry's son, Edmund Fry (1754–1835)^[2] and renamed Edmund Fry & Co. Edmund Fry had two sons who survived to adulthood: Windover Fry (1797–1835) and Arthur Fry (1809–1878).

Joseph Storrs Fry's sons by his wife Ann Allen and partners in the firm are

• Joseph Fry (1795–1879)
• Francis Fry (1803–1886) — besides the chocolate firm also involved in porcelain, typefounding, director of the Bristol Waterworks, 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. Married Matilda Penrose (circa 1808–1888) and had four sons and three daughters including
  • Francis James Fry (1835–1886)
    • Norah Cooke-Hurle born Fry (1871–1960) — advocate of better mental health services. (University of Bristol Bio on her)
  • Theodore Fry (1836–1912) — married Sophia Pease (1837–1897), philanthropist and political activist. Theodore Fry was Liberal MP for Darlington and made baronet.
    • John P. Fry — son of Theodore Fry. Chairman and managing director of Bearpark Coal & Coke of Durham
• Richard Fry ()

The couple also had four daughters.

[edit] Next Generation

Joseph Fry (1795–1879) is the father of

• Joseph Storrs Fry II (1826–1913). Headed the chocolate firm after 1886. 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 artist Roger Fry and the social reformers, Joan Mary Fry (1862–1955) and Margery Fry (1874–1958)
• Albert Fry (1830?–1903). Worked with John Fowler (1826–1864) to develop and manufacture a drainage plough in the mid 1800s. He founded the Bristol Wagon and Carriage Works^[3]
• Susan Ann Fry (1829–1917) mother of Edward Reynolds Pease who help found the Fabian Society
• Lewis Fry (1832–1921) — Liberal later Liberal Unionist MP for Bristol. First chairman of the University of Bristol University Council. Lived at Goldney Hall.

Other members of the family include:

• Geoffrey Storrs Fry (1888–1960) 1st Baronet Fry, private secretary to Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin.
  • [Ann] Jennifer Evelyn Elizabeth Fry (1916–2004), only child of Geoffrey Fry and wife of Alan Ross, the poet.
• Cecil Roderick Fry (?–1952) — last member of the family to head the firm.
  • Jeremy Fry (1924–2005) — engineer and inventor, son of Cecil Fry. Founded Rotork.

Other Quaker Frys who might or might not be related to this family are:

• Catherine Fry mother of Lewis Fry Richardson, mathematician
• Christopher Fry born Christopher Fry Harris (1907–2005) — playwright

[edit] Sources

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography — Articles on Joseph Fry (1728–1787), 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.

1. ^ Fry, Theodore (1887). "A brief memoir of Francis Fry, F.S.A. of Bristol". "Barclay & Fry". 
2. ^ See H. R. Tedder, ‘Fry, Edmund (1754–1835)’, rev. A. P. Woolrich, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004 [1] accessed 17 March 2007.
3. ^ (April 1903) ""Obituary"". "The Times" (37063): 10.