Jeremy Joseph Fry (19 May 1924 – 18 July 2005) was a British
inventor, engineer, entrepreneur, adventurer and arts patron.
Early life
Born into the Fry family in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, the son of
Cecil Roderick Fry, who, as the last chairman of the
J. S. Fry & Sons chocolate concern arranged for the sale of the company to rival
Cadbury's
Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after M ...
, enraging the family.
[ Obit, Sunday Independent] Jeremy was educated at
Gordonstoun
Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is locate ...
, and joined the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
as a pilot. After the war, Fry took up
motorsport driving a 500cc Parsenn
but quit after his cousin Joe was killed at
Blandford
Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and ...
.
Career
He became a
product designer with Frenchay Products Ltd between 1954 and 1957. He founded
Rotork Engineering Company in 1957 after identifying the potential of valve
actuators. As Chairman, he oversaw Rotork's rise to becoming the market leader in equipment for use in oil and gas pipelines, refineries, power stations and waste water plants, and a member of the
FTSE 250 Index.
Known as an inventor and engineer, his designs included a car, the
Sea Truck
The Rotork Sea Truck is a flat-hulled, high-speed watercraft, similar to a small landing craft. Made from fibreglass, they may be used to land vehicles without jetty, jetties or harbour facilities. They were designed by the design team at Smallfry ...
(a flat boat ferry capable of carrying one car at high speed), and a four-wheel-drive wheelchair. Additionally he was responsible for starting
James Dyson
Sir James Dyson (born 2 May 1947) is a British inventor, industrial designer, farmer, and billionaire entrepreneur who founded Dyson Ltd. He is best known as the inventor of the dual cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, which works on the princi ...
out on his own inventing career by mentoring him in 1970 at Rotork.
His friend
Tony Richardson
Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film ''Tom Jones''.
Early ...
, the film and theatre director, described Fry (and their many travels together) in his autobiography ''Long Distance Runner'' (London, 1993; pp. 187–90).
Arts patron
Fry possessed a keen interest in the arts and is remembered as the saviour of the
Theatre Royal, Bath
The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audien ...
. He bought the theatre in 1979 and, as its chairman, oversaw its extensive renovation. In addition to being chairman of the
Northern Ballet Theatre
Northern Ballet, formerly Northern Ballet Theatre, is a dance company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a strong repertoire in theatrical dance productions where the emphasis is on story telling as well as classical ballet. The company ...
, he was the chairman of the
Arnolfini Gallery
Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a ...
in Bristol.
Personal life
Fry led an extensive and hedonistic personal life before his first marriage. A friend of society photographer
Antony Armstrong-Jones
Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, (7 March 1930 – 13 January 2017), was a British photographer and filmmaker. He is best known for his portraits of world notables, many of them published in ''Vogue'', ''Vanity Fai ...
, he was allegedly asked to be
best man
A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be ...
at Armstrong-Jones's marriage to
Princess Margaret, the younger sister of
Queen Elizabeth II. However, Fry was convicted of "importuning for immoral purposes" after allegedly approaching a man for sex, and was replaced as best man to Armstrong-Jones.
Fry married Camilla Grinling in 1955. They lived at
Widcombe Manor in
Widcombe, Bath, and had two sons and two daughters; the marriage was dissolved in 1967.
Camilla died in 2000. In 2004, their daughter Polly claimed that her biological father had in fact been Armstrong-Jones.
Anne de Courcy reported this claim by Polly, born in the third week of Lord Snowdon's marriage to Princess Margaret, that she was in fact Snowdon's daughter.
[Conti, Samantha (21 November 2008). "The Tony Earl". '']Women's Wear Daily
''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion". Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides inf ...
''. p. 10. Polly Fry asserted that a
DNA test
Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, o ...
in 2004 proved Snowdon's paternity. Jeremy Fry rejected her claim, and Snowdon denied having taken a DNA test. However, four years later, after Fry had died, Snowdon admitted that this account was true.
[Andy Bloxham, Andy (31 May 2008)]
"Lord Snowdon fathered a secret love child just months before marrying Princess Margaret"
'' Sunday Telegraph''. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
Death
Fry died in his palace in Tamil Nadu, Madurai, India
Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in T ...
, on 18 July 2005.
References
Obituaries
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Jeremy
1924 births
2005 deaths
English inventors
Jeremy
Northern Ballet Theatre
Engineers from Bristol
People educated at Gordonstoun