Theodore Fry

Sir Theodore Fry, 1st Baronet (1 May 1836 – 5 February 1912) was an English businessman and Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1895.

"Not a Small Fry", caricature by Spy in Vanity Fair, 1909.

Life

He was the son of Francis Fry, of Bristol, and his wife Matilda Penrose, daughter of Daniel Penrose. He was educated at Bristol. He was active in business in the North East, being director of the Bearpark Coal and Coke Co, director of Shildon and Weardale Waterworks, and head of Fry Janson and Co., iron manufacturers of Darlington.[1] He was mayor of Darlington 1877–1878.[2]

At the 1880 general election Fry was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Darlington, and held the seat until the 1895 general election.[3] He was made a baronet, of Woodburn in the parish of Blackwell in the County of Durham, in 1894.[4]

Fry died at the age of 76 at his residence, Beechhanger Court, Caterham.[5]

Family

Fry married Sophia Pease (1837–1897), a philanthropist and political activist and granddaughter of the railway pioneer Edward Pease.[6] After her death, he married Florence Bates in 1902.[5]

References

1. Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
2. Portrait of Theodore Fry with mayoral chain of office.
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 1)
4. "No. 26482". The London Gazette. 6 February 1894. p. 762.
5. Times Obituary 6 February 1912.
6. Walker, Linda. "Fry , Sophia, Lady Fry (1837–1897)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/56104. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

• Leigh Rayment's list of baronets

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Theodore Fry, Bt
• Photograph of Sir Theodore Fry, Bt