Joseph Storrs Fry (1767–1835) was an English chocolate and confectionery manufacturer and a member of the Fry Family of Bristol, England.

Joseph Storrs Fry (1769-1835)

Early life

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He was born in 1767, son of Joseph Fry (1728–1787),[1] in business as a manufacturer of chocolate and of soap, and as a type founder, and his wife Anna, daughter of Dr Henry Portsmouth, of Basingstoke, Hampshire.[2] His father had started a number of businesses including an experimental chocolate factory, Fry, Vaughan and Company.[1][2]

Career

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In 1795, he assumed control of his parents' chocolate business, now known as Anna Fry & Sons. He patented a method of grinding cocoa beans using a Watt steam engine resulting in factory techniques being introduced into the cocoa business, building a plant in Union Street, Bristol.[1] He moved to Grove House (now Riverwood House), Frenchay in 1800. In 1803, his mother, Anna Fry, died and Joseph Storrs Fry partnered with a Dr Hunt and renamed the business Fry & Hunt. He married Ann Allen (1764?–1829) and had seven children.[3]

Dr Hunt retired in 1822 and Joseph Storrs Fry took his sons, Joseph (1795–1879), Francis (1803–1886) and Richard (1807–1878) on as partners renaming the firm J. S. Fry & Sons under which name it became the largest commercial producer of chocolate in Britain.

Death

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He died in 1835 and his sons took full control of the firm, ultimately passing to his grandson Joseph Storrs Fry II (1826–1913).[1] He was buried behind the Frenchay Quaker Meeting House along with his wife Ann and his daughter Priscilla.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Frances Spalding (1980). Roger Fry, art and life. University of California Press. p. 5. ISBN 0-520-04126-7.
  2. ^ a b Robert Opie (2008). Sweet Memories. Anova Books. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-905400-62-1.
  3. ^ "Fry, Francis (1803-1886)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10209. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)