Select Terry Miscellany
- The Terrys of Cork
- The Rev. John Terry of Stockton, Wiltshire
- The Terry Theatrical Family
- Jonathan Terry of Terrytown
- Terrys on the Wagon Train to Utah
- John Terry in Tasmania
- Noel Terry and Goddards
The Terrys of Cork
Kevin Terry has written two books on the Terrys of Cork, spanning the period from 1180 to 2000.
The first, although published later in 2013, covered the period from 1180 to 1644. Entitled Merchant Gentry, the book sought to establish some of the political, social and economic reasons for their rise to prominence from the 15th century, their maintenance of this position for some 250 years, through to their expulsion together with other old English families in 1644.
The second, published earlier in 2005, brought the story up to the present. This book studied the settlement patterns of Terrys in Cork city, as well as in the baronies of Cork, Barrymore and Imokilly, between 1600 and 2000. In 1900 there were 21 Terry families recorded, all Catholic - six in Cork city, one in Cork barony, four in Barrymore, and ten in Imokilly.
The book also looked at the Terrys who had emigrated from Cork and where they went. The main destinations were America and Australia.
The Rev. John Terry of Stockton,
Wiltshire
The following memorial of the Rev. John Terry, the anti-Catholic writer, appeared at the church in Stockton, Wiltshire on his death in 1625:
He lived, he learned, he wrote, he taught,
Well, much, truly, duly, he brought
Home the lost sheep, which Christ's blood bought,
Against Hell's power he stoutly fought.
Terrae Terra datur, Caelum sed spiritus ornat,
Mundus habet famam, lusa Gehenna fremit."
The Terry Theatrical Family
The
Terry family was
a theatrical
dynasty of the late 19th century and beyond. The family included
not only those
members with the surname Terry, but also Neilsons, Craigs and Gielguds
to whom
the Terrys were linked by marriage or by blood
ties.
The
dynasty was founded by
the actor Benjamin Terry and his wife Sarah. The
first member of the
family to achieve national prominence was their eldest surviving
daughter Kate. Her
younger sister Ellen
achieved
international fame in partnership with Henry Irving. Ellen
Terry was seen as the
greatest star of the family for many decades. Kate’s grandson John
Gielgud became
at least as
celebrated from the 1930’s
onwards.
Three other siblings - Marion,
Florence and
Fred - also became actors. And Fred
married Julia Neilson, a prominent actress of her day.
Among
those of the family
who did not become actors was Gordon Craig, Ellen's
son, an
internationally-known theater
designer and
director.
The family story was told in
Marguerite Steen’s 1962 book A Pride of Terrys.
Jonathan Terry of
Terrytown
Terrytown
is
a small
village situated about two
miles above the mouth of Wyalusing creek in Bradford county,
Pennsylvania.
Captain
Jonathan Terry was its
first permanent settler. A descendant of Long Island
1640 immigrant
Richard Terry, he had been
born in Connecticut in 1758. When he was five his
family, along with other
Connecticut settlers, moved to the
Wyoming valley in Pennsylvania. There on the frontier they
encountered many
Indian troubles. They were indeed
fortunate to be inside Forty Fort at the time of the Indian battle and
massacre
at Wyoming in July 1778.
In
1787 Jonathan
built for himself a
house at Terrytown and
moved into it, thus becoming the founder of the village. He
was a typical pioneer and was also noted
for his genial
nature.
In
1806 he constructed his "mansion on the
river,"
after having
purchased a tract of six hundred acres. This
he occupied throughout
his life. The
log cabin which he constructed is still
standing and is in an excellent state of preservation. On
Terry’s farm was erected the village’s first
grist mill, a saw
mill, tannery and
distillery. He
also owned and operated the first ferry across the river.
A
description of Terry’s
house as it appeared in
1878 ran
as follows:
“It
is a large two-storied hewn log house, with a
huge chimney in the center of it, a small portico in the front, and in
early
times had large double doors
about
three inches thick. It
is the oldest house in the village and well
merits
the
title
"the Old Terry
Castle!’”
Five generations of Terrys have lived in this home. The story of the Terrys of Terrytown was told in C.F.
Heverly’s
1913 book Terry Family
Pioneers.
Terrys on the Wagon Train to Utah
Jacob Terry and his family made their way across the
Great Plains to Salt Lake valley and the Mormon settlement there in
1852. Annie
Frank, grand daughter of Mary Hannah -
Jacob's eldest daughter - supplied this little incident of their journey:
"Mary
Hannah was my grandmother and told an
incident in their trip across the plains. Her
brother Parshall was a practical joker and
she was a very pretty young woman. The Pawnee Indians were at peace
with the
whites, but the Chief came down to see the immigrant train and pointing
to Mary
said, 'Heep winow squaw.'
Her
brother Parshall
replied, 'You bet she is. How
many ponies will you
give me for her?'
As
you know, Indians do not
joke. The Chief said he would give one pony.
"Oh,
no," said Parshall. So
they dickered until he said he would give
five ponies and Parshall said, 'Alright, five ponies.'
The
chief came next day with five ponies and
insisted that he have the squaw and he followed the train for days and
they had
to hide Mary in different wagons this time until the Chief gave up and
went on
his way."
John Terry in Tasmania
Wild duck in great numbers, as many as 300 to 400 rise at once. Black swan and land quail, wild pigeons colored like peacocks, and fish in great plenty. Hunt the kangaroo. Trees here cast a shell of bark, not leaves. Wood when cut green sinks in water like a stone.
Your shortest day is our longest and your summer our winter. The cuckoo cries in the night and mostly in our winter. The man in the moon has his legs upward."
Noel Terry and Goddards
However, the First Wold War soon intervened and Noel enlisted as an officer in the Yorkshire Regiment and took part in the Battle of the Somme. He was wounded by a bullet to the thigh during the battle and might have died. It is thought that a silver cigarette case in his pocket took most of the impact and may have saved his life.
Back home in peacetime, Noel made a success of his stewardship of Terrys. He introduced the famous All Gold chocolate collection in 1930 and the Chocolate Orange selection a year later.
By that time he had moved into his new home at Goddards on Tadcaster Road, close by the chocolate factory. The house took its name from Francis Goddard, the maiden name of his grandfather Sir Joseph Terry’s wife. Completed in 1927, it was home to Noel and his wife Kathleen and their four children, Peter, Kenneth, Betty and Richard.
Goddards has been described as the finest surviving example of the work of Walter Brierley, the Lutyens of the north. It still retains many of the original fixtures, including its Arts and Crafts wallpapers and panelling and the staircase with its oak carving. The exterior of the house features handmade locally produced bricks arranged in geometric patterns and decorative chimney stacks typical of a Brierley building. Inside the house was a large assortment of Georgian furniture and clocks which Noel collected throughout his life.
When Noel died in 1980, Goddards passed to the National Trust.
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