John Cory
| John Cory | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
18 March 1828 Bideford, Devonshire, England |
| Died | 27 January 1910 (aged 81) Dyffryn, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Philanthropist, coal-owner, and ship-owner |
John Cory (18 March 1828 – 27 January 1910) was a British philanthropist, coal-owner, and ship-owner. Cory Way is named after him in the eastern area of Barry Docks, which he was involved with building in the 1880s.
John Cory was born on 28 March 1828, at Bideford, Devonshire. He was the eldest of five sons of Richard Cory (1790–1882) by Sarah (died 5 October 1868), daughter of John Woollacott, both of Bideford. The family traces descent through Walter Cory (died 1530) of Cory in West Putford, Devonshire, to Sir Walter de Cory, who in the reign of King John (1166–1216) married the eventual co-heiress of the Levingtons in Cumberland. After trading for years with Cardiff in coasters, Richard Cory settled in the town about 1831, opening a ship-chandler's store, to which he soon added a shipbroking business. About 1835 he began exporting coal, first as agent and later on his own account.
In 1844 Richard Cory's two eldest sons, John and Richard (born 1830), joined him in the business, which was renamed Richard Cory & Sons, and from 1859, when the father retired, as Cory Brothers. The firm's shipping and coal-exporting business steadily increased, and the universal demand for South Wales steam coal for navigation led John Cory to conceive the idea of establishing foreign coal depots around the world, one of the earliest being established at Port Said on the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. At the time of his death the firm had in all about eighty such depots on the shipping routes to India, China, South Africa, and South America.
About 1868 the firm had acquired its first colliery, that of Pentre, Rhondda, to which others in the same valley, and in the Ogmore and Neath valleys, were later added. Large colliery interests were also acquired elsewhere. In 1883 Cory became associated with other Rhondda coal-owners in the promotion of the Barry dock and railway, in which he afterwards held a large interest, and became vice-chairman of its company. In 1888 Cory's firm was converted into a limited company, but its entire control remained in the hands of members of the family, his three sons becoming directors, and Cory himself chairman of the board.
When in 1836 teetotalism was first advocated in Cardiff, Cory's father is reputed to have been the first to sign the pledge, and he soon became the recognized leader of the movement in the town, his co-workers being nicknamed ‘Coryites’. Though a churchman, and for a time a churchwarden, he was led by his zeal for total abstinence to associate himself with one of the minor Methodist bodies. His second son, Richard, became a Baptist, and the eldest, John, a Wesleyan Methodist, all three being noted for their interest in temperance and evangelical work.
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