User:Vernon39/Joseph Fry

Draft article "Joseph Fry (tea merchant)"

Joseph Fry (21 April 1777 - 28 August 1861) was a tea dealer and an unsuccessful banker. He was the husband of Elizabeth Fry, prison reformer.

Parental family
He was born in London 21 April 1777, the youngest of the three sons, (one of whom died aged 27) and three daughters of William Storrs Fry (1736-1808) and Elizabeth Fry (born Lambert). His father had moved from Wiltshire to London and established a company dealing in tea and banking services, later called W. S. Fry & Sons.

W.S. Fry's brother, Joseph Fry (1728-1787) founded the chocolate factory and type-founding works in Bristol, for which the Fry family is famous.

The brothers, Joseph and William Fry (l768-1858) joined the family business. However, their mother is credited with the financial acumen which had enabled money both to be acquired and prudently managed: it was a quality which perhaps neither of the sons inherited.

Marriage
Joseph married, on 19 August 1800, Elizabeth Gurney (1780-1845), daughter of John Gurney (1749/50-1809) and Catherine Gurney (born Bell, 1755-1792). The family were proverbially wealthy bankers, originally based in Norwich.

Children
There were five son and six daughters (one of whom died in infancy).

Business difficulties
During the 1812 financial panic in the City of London, William Fry, precipitated a crisis, by lending a large amount of the bank's money to his wife's family, undermining its solvency. It was Joseph's wife, with her Gurney financial grasp and her connections, who pulled things through; her brother John Gurney (1781-1814), brother-in-law Samuel Hoare III (1783-1847) and cousin Hudson Gurney (1775- 1864) came to inspect the firm's accounts and, left her in no doubt that they would do “what is needful for us” which, meant a large investment in the W.S.Fry & Sons bank.

During the 1825 City financial crisis, Elizabeth Fry's relations saved the firm from bankruptcy. When the same problems recurred in 1828, no further Gurney support was offered and on 21 November, W.S. Fry closed.

The Gurneys acted as receivers and saved the tea merchant business, placing it under their control with with Joseph Fry on a salary of £600 per year.

Business failure was not tolerated by the Religious Society of Friends. Joseph Fry was disowned by Ratcliff & Barking Monthly Meeting in May 1829: however he was re-instated, with much admonition in 1838.

Changes of residence
When they were first married, they lived “over the shop” in Mildred Court, City of London. Later, they moved to the grander Plashet House, East Ham. In 1829, they needed to reduce their expenditure and moved to a smaller house in “The Cedars”, Upton Lane. After the death of Joseph's sister, Elizabeth Fry (1779-1844), they moved to her home, Plashet Cottage, East Ham. He lived there until his death on 28 August 1861.

Sources:

 * Edward H. Milligan Biographical dictionary of British Quakers in commerce and industry pp.190-191: Biographical notes on Joseph Fry (1777-1861)
 * *Rose, June. Elizabeth Fry, a biography.  London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1980. ISBN 0-333-31921-4, reprinted 1994 by Quaker Home Service ISBN 0852452608.
 * Francisca de Haan, ‘Fry, Elizabeth (1780–1845)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2007 accessed 12 Aug 2008

Notability
Joseph Fry was not a great achiever. However, his notability arises from this. His marriage brought together two great Quaker clans, Fry and Gurney, both of whom significantly influenced their environments. His failure to run his parents' business brought together distinguished members of his wife's family, to sort out the mess and his name requires a footnote in each of their biographies. His relationship with his wife and his children is important to an understanding of her remarkable contribution to the improved attitude to offenders in Europe and in the English-speaking world.

Need for this article evidenced
Two previous editors of the Elizabeth Fry article have needed a Joseph Fry article for clarification: one asserted that he was NOT related to the Fry family (chocolate), another thought the bank that crashed must have been Gurney's bank, not Fry's Bank.

Further work needed

 * List of the Children with DoBs and DoDs, marriages etc.
 * Indication of the Fry's relationship as marriage partners and parents.