Joseph Fry (type-founder)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Joseph Fry (172827 March 1787) was an English type-founder and chocolate maker, founding the family chocolate company that would later become J. S. Fry & Sons, and founder of the
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
branch of the Quaker Fry family. He was the first member of his family to settle in Bristol, where he acquired a considerable medical practice, and 'was led to take a part in many new scientific undertakings'.


Early life and education

The eldest son of John Fry (d. 1775) of
Sutton Benger Sutton Benger is a village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England, northeast of the town of Chippenham.OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). The parish ...
, Wiltshire, author of ''Select Poems'' (1774), Fry was educated in the north of England. He was bound as an
apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...
to Henry Portsmouth of
Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...
, a doctor, and married Anna, Portsmouth's daughter.


Business pursuits


Chocolate production

After a time he abandoned medicine for business pursuits. He helped
Richard Champion Richard Champion (born 14 April 1968 on Yorke Peninsula in Kadina, South Australia) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League (AFL) and South Australian National Football Leagues (SANFL). Originally from SANFL ...
in his Bristol works, and began to make chocolate having purchased Walter Churchman's patent right. The chocolate and cocoa manufactory thus started has been carried on by the family, J. S. Fry & Sons, down to the early twentieth century.


Type-founding

The success of
John Baskerville John Baskerville (baptised 28 January 1707 – 8 January 1775) was an English businessman, in areas including japanning and papier-mâché, but he is best remembered as a printer and type designer. He was also responsible for inventing "wo ...
caused Fry to turn his attention in 1764 to type-founding, and he entered into a partnership with William Pine, the first printer of the newspaper '' Bristol Gazette'', who had a large business in Wine Street. Their new type may be traced in several works issued between 1764 and 1770. The manager of Messrs. Joseph Fry & Wm Pine was Isaac Moore, formerly a whitesmith at Birmingham, after whose speedy admission to partnership the business (Bristol Letter Foundry of 1764–1773) moved and went to London. He carried on as "Isaac Moore & Co., in Queen Street, near Upper Moorfields". Philip Luckombe mentions Moore as one of three London founders.''History of Printing'', 1770, p. 244 In 1774 the London firm produced a fine folio bible, and in 1774–1776 a well-printed edition in five volumes. Fry's first founts were cut in imitation of Baskerville's, the punches being engraved by Isaac Moore. About this time they turned away from their earlier Baskerville style of letter, to follow the more popular
Caslon Caslon is the name given to serif typefaces designed by William Caslon, William Caslon I in London, or inspired by his work. Caslon worked as an Engraving, engraver of Punchcutting, punches, the masters used to stamp the moulds or Matrix (printi ...
character. Joseph Fry's firm became Joseph Fry of London (1773–1776). In 1774 Pine printed at Bristol a bible in a
pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...
type, asserted to be "the smallest a bible was ever printed with". To all these editions, notes were added to escape the penalty of infringing the patent. Two years later the firm became J Fry & Co. (1776–1782), and issued in 1777 reprints of the octavo and folio bibles. Pine subsequently withdrew entirely. Fry took two of his sons,
Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and nobles *Ed ...
(d. 1835) and Henry, into partnership in 1782, and in the same year bought the James Foundry on the death of Rowe Mores, including all its relics of the old English Letter Founders. The business was removed to Worship Street, from where in 1785 was issued "A Specimen of Printing Types made by Joseph Fry & Sons, Letter-founders and Marking Instrument Makers by the King's Royal Letters Patent". In the advertisement the proprietors claim that the types, which are called new, "will mix with, and be totally unknown from, the most approved founts made by the late ingenious artist,
William Caslon William Caslon I (1692/93 – 23 January 1766), also known as William Caslon the Elder, Mosley, 2008 was an English typefounder. The distinction and legibility of his type secured him the patronage of the leading printers of the day in England ...
". The next year they published another "Specimen", with new founts, and including seven pages of oriental types. They now called themselves "Letter-founders to the Prince of Wales".


Soap and chemicals

Up to the time of his death Fry was a partner with Alderman William Fripp, as Fry, Fripp, & Co., soap-boilers. This business is now in the hands of Christopher Thomas Brothers. Fry also had a chemical works at Battersea, in which he was assisted by his son.


Death and continuation of the businesses

Fry died after a few days' illness, on 27 March 1787. Edmund Fry, M.D. (1787–1794) carried on with the foundry business which included a partnership with Isaac Steele; the company name was Edmund Fry and Isaac Steele 1794–1799, then Fry Steele & Co 1799–1808. The name then returned once again to Edmund Fry, M.D. Letter Founder to King and Prince Regent 1808–1816. From this date Joseph's legacy became "Edmund Fry & Son" 1816–1828. The foundry was then acquired by William Thorowgood, Letter Founder to His Majesty 1820. The sale included not only Dr Fry's collection of oriental and "learned" founts but also many relics of those old foundries which were incorporated with the James Foundry. Joseph Fry's other business, the chocolate and cocoa manufactory, was carried on by his widow and a son,
Joseph Storrs Fry Joseph Storrs Fry (1767–1835) was an English chocolate and confectionery manufacturer and a member of the Fry Family of Bristol, England. Early life He was born in 1767, son of Joseph Fry (1728–1787), in business as a manufacturer of choc ...
(1766–1835), under the style of Anna Fry & Son. The previous title had been Fry, Vaughan, & Co. In 1795 the works were removed from Newgate Street to Union Street, where a
Watt steam engine The Watt steam engine design was an invention of James Watt that became synonymous with steam engines during the Industrial Revolution, and it was many years before significantly new designs began to replace the basic Watt design. The Newcomen ...
was erected, the first in Bristol. Later Joseph Storrs Fry's three sons – Joseph,
Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...
(1803–1886), and Richard – were joined with him as J. S. Fry & Sons, the name the firm bore until its takeover by
Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...
s. His widow was associated for a short time with her sons in the type-foundry. She died at
Charterhouse Square Charterhouse Square is a garden square, a pentagonal space, in Farringdon, in the London Borough of Islington, and close to the former Smithfield Meat Market. The square is the largest courtyard or yard associated with the London Charterhouse ...
, London, 22 October 1803, aged 83.


References

Attribution * * ''Printing Types Composing Room Equipment'' Condensed Edition, Stephenson, Blake & Co. Ltd, The Letter Foundry, Sheffield England, 1927: A History Record by Lt. Col. H. K. Stephenson et al {{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Joseph 1728 births 1787 deaths English Quakers Businesspeople from Bristol 18th-century Protestants English typographers and type designers
Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...
Chocolatiers