Fry, John

Author: Fry, John

Biography:

FRY, John (1701-75: ancestry.com)

Fry's Select Poems (1774) is dated from Sutton Benger, the Wiltshire town where he had been born to Zachariah and Jane (Smith) Fry. He was apprenticed to a clockmaker in London in 1715; his clocks are now antiques of historical significance. The ODNB describes him as a "shopkeeper" in Sutton Benger, but he had more than one string to his bow. The family were committed Quakers and John Fry became one of the leaders of the local community. He was recorded as a minister in 1825; served several times as Clerk of the Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends; and published a verse Essay on Conduct . . . Recommended to the People called Quakers in 1741 that was regularly reprinted in Britain and America. In 1727 he married Mary Storrs of Derbyshire. They had six children, the eldest being Joseph (1728-87), typographer and chocolate manufacturer. (ancestry.com 13 Dec. 2018; "Fry, Joseph" ODNB 13 Dec. 2018) HJ

Books written (7):

Select Poems, Containing Religious Epistles, &c.

London: Mary Hinde, 1774

Select Poems, containing Religious Epistles, &c. . . . To which is now added, The History of Elijah and Elisha.

London: [no publisher: "printed and sold by" James Phillips], 1783

Select Poems, Containing Religious Epistles, &c. Occasionally Written on Various Subjects. To Which is now Added, the History of Elijah and Elisha.

Philadelphia: reprinted from the London printing by Joseph Crukshank, 1787

Select Poems, containing Religious Epistles, &c.

New edn. London: [no publisher: printed by James Phillips], 1793

Select Poems, Containing Religious Epistles, &c. Occasionally Written on Various Subjects. To Which is now Added, the History of Elijah and Elisha.

Stonington Port CT: printed by Samuel Trumbull, 1800

Select Poems, Containing Religious Epistles, &c. Occasionally Written on Various Subjects. To Which is now Added, the History of Elijah and Elisha.

Stanford [NY]: Henry Hull and John Hull, 1805

Select Poems, Containing Religious Epistles, &c. Occasionally Written on Various Subjects. To Which is now Added, the History of Elijah and Elisha.

Stanford [NY]/ New York: re-printed by [Daniel] Lawrence/ Samuel Wood, 1805