Joseph Storrs Fry (1767–1835) was an English

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

and

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

manufacturer and a member of the Fry Family of

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Early life

He was born in 1767, son of Joseph Fry (1728–1787), 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 Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. His father had started a number of businesses including an experimental chocolate factory, ''Fry, Vaughan and Company''.

Career

In 1795, he assumed control of his parents' chocolate business, now known as ''Anna Fry & Sons''. He patented a method of grinding

cocoa bean The cocoa bean (technically cocoa seed) or simply cocoa (), also called the cacao bean (technically cacao seed) or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances ...

s using a

Watt steam engine The Watt steam engine design became synonymous with steam engines, and it was many years before significantly new designs began to replace the basic Watt design. The first steam engines, introduced by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, were of the "at ...

resulting in factory techniques being introduced into the cocoa business, building a plant in Union Street, Bristol. He moved to Grove House (now

Riverwood House Riverwood may refer to: Places ;Australia * Riverwood, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia **Riverwood railway station ;United States * Riverwood, Indiana * Riverwood, Kentucky * Riverwood, Oregon *Riverwoods, Illinois Riverwoods is ...

Frenchay Frenchay is a village in the County of South Gloucestershire, England, and the Civil Parish of Winterbourne. It is on the outskirts to the north east of the city of Bristol. Frenchay was first recorded in 1257 as ''Fromscawe'' and later as '' ...

in 1800. In 1803, his mother, Anna Fry, died and Joseph Storrs Fry partnered with a Dr Hunt and renamed the business Fry & Hunt. 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 Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

Death

He died in 1835 and his sons took full control of the firm, ultimately passing to his grandson

Joseph Storrs Fry II Joseph Storrs Fry (6 August 1826 – 7 July 1913) was a member of the Bristol Fry family, head of the family chocolate firm of J. S. Fry & Sons and a philanthropist. He assumed control of the company as chairman in 1878 and built it up from 56 ...

(1826–1913). He was buried behind the Frenchay

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

Meeting House along with his wife and daughter Priscilla.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Joseph Storrs English businesspeople Businesspeople in confectionery Joseph Storrs English Quakers 1769 births 1835 deaths