The National Library of Wales :: Dictionary of Welsh Biography

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

CORY . Two distinct families of industrialists in South Wales have borne this surname; they will be differentiated here as (A) Cory Brothers and Co., Ltd. , and (B) John Cory and Sons, Ltd .

CORY (A).

JOHN CORY ( 1828 - 1910 ), shipowner, coalowner, and philanthropist , was b. 28 March 1828 at Bideford , Devon , eldest son of Richard Cory I ( 1799 - 1882 ), by Sarah (d. 5 Oct. 1868 ), daughter of John Woollacott , both of Bideford . The father, Richard Cory I , was the owner and master of a small vessel and traded between Cardiff , Bristol , and Ireland . About 1838 he opened a ship-chandler's store and also traded as a provision merchant , etc., near the Custom House , Cardiff , and brought over his wife and three young sons — John , aged 10, RICHARD , aged 8, and THOMAS , aged 5, to Cardiff . Richard Cory and his two eldest sons, John and Richard , eagerly seized the advantages now offered by the opening up of collieries and the improved methods of transport and of export in the forties in order to extend their business. They moved to the docks district about 1842 and added a ship-broking business to that of the chandler and provision dealers . They soon became agents for Wayne (q.v.) and Co. , and, at the end of their agency, became shippers of coal on their own account. In 1856 , Richard Cory disposed of his provision business, and, with his two sons, began to trade as ‘ Richard Cory and Sons ,’ concentrating on their business as ship-brokers , ship-owners , coal-merchants and exporters , and colliery agents . In 1859 the father retired, and the business was then carried on by the two sons, John and Richard , as ‘ Cory Brothers and Co. ’, becoming a limited liability company in 1888 . With the universal demand for Welsh steam coal for shipping in all parts of the world, and especially after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 , the firm established coal depots, offices, and agencies along all the great trade routes of the world. In addition, they became coal-owners in their own right by acquiring the Pentre colliery in the Rhondda in 1868 , and, later, the Gelli , Tynybedw , and Tydraw collieries in the same valley, Aber colliery in the Ogmore valley , Rheola and Glyncastle in the Neath valley , and the Penrikyber [sic] colliery in the Aberdare valley . They also became the largest private wagon-owners in the United Kingdom . In addition they erected coke-ovens and washeries at the Gelli colliery . The brothers became very wealthy, but they assisted all kinds of movements which helped in the social, educational, and moral progress of the people, especially of Cardiff . Both brothers, like their father, assisted the temperance movement . After having been a Churchman , and for a time a churchwarden , Richard Cory I became a leader of the United Methodist church in Cardiff , John became a Wesleyan , and Richard II a Baptist , but both gave unstinted assistance to all evangelical movements, particularly the Salvation Army . Among John Cory 's activities, it may be mentioned that he was a founder and vice-chairman of the Barry dock and railway ; alderman of the Glamorgan County Council ; a member of Cardiff School Board for twenty-three years; president of the British and Foreign Sailors’ Society ; trustee and guarantor of Wesleyan Methodist churches ; and lord of the manor of S. Nicholas . Among his many benefactions may be mentioned the gift of Maendy Hall at Ton Pentre to the Salvation Army ; donations to the Band of Hope Union , Dr. Barnardo's Homes , Soldiers' and Sailors' Rests in many towns (including the John Cory Hall in Poplar ); the Cardiff Police Institute ; the original Cardiff Y.M.C.A. ; the Cory Temperance Hall , Cardiff , etc. For many years before his death his benefactions amounted to nearly £50,000 a year. He was held in such esteem by the people of Cardiff , that they erected during his lifetime a bronze statue , the work of Sir William Goscombe John , in front of the City Hall ( 1905 ).

John Cory m., 19 Sept. 1854 , Anna Maria (d. 1909 ), daughter of John Beynon , colliery proprietor , Newport, Mon. , by whom he had one daughter, FLORENCE CORY , of The Duffryn , S. Nicholas , lady of the manor , and patron of the living (d. 11 Nov. 1936 ), and three sons: (1) HERBERT CORY (d. 1927 ); (2) S IR CLIFFORD CORY , Bart. , president of the South Wales Coalowners’ Association , 1906 (d. 3 Feb. 1941 ); and (3) REGINALD CORY ( 1871 - 1934 ).

John Cory d. 27 Jan. 1910 and was buried at S. Nicholas church.

Richard Cory II ( 1830 - 1914 ) was the second son of Richard Cory I and a brother of John Cory ( supra ); he was a partner in, and co-director of, Cory Brothers and Co., Ltd. , Oscar House , Cardiff ; a generous benefactor , particularly to Baptist chapels , colleges, and missions, the Salvation Army , the temperance movement , the Y.M.C.A. , and Cardiff University College . He m. Emily (d. 1 July 1919 ), daughter of Joseph Vivian of Roseworthy , Cornwall . He d. 20 Sept. 1914 and was buried at Cardiff cemetery, leaving four sons and three daughters.

Bibliography:

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, Oct. 1937 .

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CORY (B)

JOHN CORY I (d. 1891 ), of S. Julian's , near Newport, Mon. , head of the firm of ‘ John Cory, Sons and Co. ’, was b. at Padstow , Cornwall . After being master of coasting and foreign-going ships he came to Cardiff as a shipbroker and shipowner in 1872 , i.e. some years after Richard Cory (founder of the firm of ‘ Cory Brothers ’) had arrived from Bideford , Devon , With his two sons, John and James Herbert , he established the firm of ‘ John Cory, Sons and Co. ’, which owned at the time of his death twenty-one steamers with another three large steamers being built on the Clyde .

JOHN CORY II ( 1855 - 1931 ), shipowner and dry-dock owner ; b. at Padstow , he came to Cardiff when a youth of 17 from London , where he had been training as a merchant and ship-broker . He joined his father ( John Cory I ) and his brother ( Richard ) in their firm; m. Emma Grigg , daughter of George Hosking Wills , Cardiff , and lived at Sea View House , Penarth , and Kingsland , Peterston-super-Ely . He was the chairman of directors of the ‘ Cardiff Channel Dry Docks and Pontoon Co., Ltd. ’, and of the ‘ Mount Stuart Dry Docks Ltd. ’, on their amalgamation in Feb. 1931 ; a director of some thirty-six shipping and ship-repairing and trading companies , including ‘ John Cory and Sons, Ltd. ’; a staunch Conservative but not an active politician; and a Wesleyan Methodist . He d. 26 Dec. 1931 and was buried at the Cardiff cemetery. He left two sons, JOHN CORY (d. 17 May 1939 , aged 50), and CHARLES CORY .

Sir JAMES CORY ( 1857 - 1933 ), 1st baronet , was the younger son of John Cory I , and was b. at Padstow 7 Feb. 1857 . He was a shipowner , director of thirty-five companies , including John Cory and Sons, Ltd. , Cory's Trading Co. , Engineering and Dry Docks Cos. , M.P. for Cardiff , 1915 , and for Cardiff South 1918-23 ; sheriff of Glamorgan 1913 ; Conservative and Churchman . With his brother he founded a scholarship at the Cardiff Technical College ; he devoted his salary as M.P. to the funds of the King Edward VII Hospital and the Hamadryad Seamen's Hospital , Cardiff . He lived at Coryton , Whitchurch ; was twice married; and d. on his birthday, 2 Feb. 1933 , aged 76, leaving an estate of £507,000. He left four sons and one daughter by his first marriage, and two daughters by his second marriage. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Sir HERBERT CORY , 2nd baronet , Silverton , Llandaff , who d. 7 May 1935 , and the latter was succeeded by his son, Sir VYVYAN CORY , 3rd baronet , who d. 17 March 1941 .

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Corrections and additions:

CORY , (B) ( DWB , 83b, par. 2, 1. 6). Instead of ( Richard ), read ( Herbert ).