Author: Fry, John
Biography:
FRY, John (1792-1822: ODNB)
The elder of two sons of Jane and Richard Fry, he was born in Bristol, where he was baptised on 11 June 1792. His father died when he was very young, allegedly in 1796 in Jamaica. They were Church of England, not among the Quaker Fry families of Bristol, but he went as a boy to work in the bookshop of Thomas Fry & Co. in the High Street and developed bookish and antiquarian interests. Though in fragile health all his life, he visited private libraries assiduously seeking bibliographical rarities and was active in bibliophile circles. From 1811 to 1817 he managed his friend Robert Elliston's new bookshop on Broad St. but had to resign on account of illness. His major publications were a selected edition of the poetical works of Thomas Carew (1810) and Bibliographical Memoranda in Illustration of Early English Literature (1816). His Legend of Mary, Queen of Scots (1810) and Pieces of Ancient Poetry (1814) are included in this bibliography under his name as editor, not author. He never married, and died at the age of thirty on 28 June 1822 after a "lingering illness," leaving an extensive work on bibliomania unfinished. He was buried at St. Nicholas, Bristol, on 3 Jul.; his mother survived him. (findmypast.com 30 Nov. 2021; DNB; ODNB 30 Nov. 2021; GM 92:2 [1822] 566)