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The Morrys in Ferryland
Despite the fact that the family got its footings in the new world in Caplin Bay (Calvert), it will always be Ferryland that tugs at the heart-strings of any true Morry for it was there that the family resided for most of two centuries. Ferryland is "home". Although they owned other property in Ferryland before and afterwards, the property that became the Morrys mainstay in Ferryland was the land known as the Holdsworth premises. This land was granted to Sir Arthur Holdsworth and his brother Robert. It came into the possession of the Morrys via purchase from Sir Arthur's son, Arthur William Olive Holdsworth, in 1844. The ownership of this house and lands, which constituted much of the north side of Ferryland, continues to be shrouded in some degree of mystery. While John Henry Morry (grandson of Matthew Morry I) was one of the purchasers, his business partner and brother-in-law, Peter Paint Le Messurier was also part owner (see indenture between Arthur William Olive Holdsworth and John Morry and Peter Paint LeMessurier, kindly transcribed by Greg Walsh of the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador). And to complicate matters further, their mutual mother-in-law, Ann Coulman Winsor, "acquired" all of these premises from them by indenture in 1853 and then conveyed it to John's son, Thomas Graham Morry III, with another indenture under a number of conditions in 1881.
Ferryland North Side - Late 1700's The map below is taken from a highly precise surveyor's drawing of the Ferryland North Side in the late 1700s and early 1800s showing the land holdings of the early settlers in this area, including Sir Arthur Holdsworth. To see a full size version of this map Right Click here to download the file but be warned that it is very large (500 KB) and will take a long time to download.
Plan of Ferryland North Side Showing Holdsworth Properties
Holdsworth House The Holdsworth house and fishing premises were constructed sometime in the late 1700s. They were built to last. The house itself was 60 x 24 with stone with walls three feet thick and servant's quarters on the third flat. The main fishing Store was equally massive, 100 feet long by 30 wide, two storeys tall, with beams made from timbers the girth of which have never been seen in Ferryland for hundreds of years. The house and premises were used as a case study by Dr. John Mannion at Memorial University in a Cultural geography course and featured on the cover of North American Material Culture Research: New Objectives New Theories. (see below). Thanks to Steve Barnable for bringing this to my attention.
Description of the Holdsworth premises used in geography course at MUN
Photo of Holdsworth House, ca. 1910 It is a matter of considerable disappointment that both the house and store are now gone. The house survived into the early 1900s when it had to be destroyed because it was in ruins, having been abandoned for complex family reasons years before. Here is an account of the Holdsworth House as told by Dad Morry (Howard Leopold Morry) in a letter written by Howard Morry on Jan. 18, 1954 to Michael P. Murphy which was subsequently published by Enid O'Brien in The Newfoundland Ancestor 15:1 in 1999. The old Red Store, as it was known, continued to function as a working part of the Morry fish business until well into the second half of the 1900s but it too had to be taken down eventually because its upkeep became a burden to the business. Today these buildings would have been declared national historic treasures and would have been taken over and cared for by the government. Regrettably no such opportunities existed in days gone by.
Thomas Graham Morry III's House The last owner of the Holdsworth house before it was taken down was Thomas Graham Morry III, but he did not occupy it as a family home. Instead, when he returned from taking part in the military effort to quell the Riel Rebellion in 1874 he constructed another house at some distance from this site. That house still stands and is owned today by the wife of his grandson Robert, Jean Kavanagh Morry. She is shown here in front of the house in July, 2003.
Jean Kavanagh Morry in front of the house built by Thomas Graham Morry III
Howard Leopold Morry's House The house that now stands where the Holdsworth house once stood was constructed by Howard Leopold Morry after the First World War. It was owned subsequently by his son Bill and is now owned by his granddaughter Fredris Caines Morry.
Howard Leopold Morry's House, ca 1945
"The Downs", Ferryland, ca. 1913 The large house in the foreground belonged to the parents of Catherine White, wife of Thomas Graham Morry III
Family of John Henry Morry and Elizabeth Sarah Winsor
Family of Thomas Graham Morry III and Catherine Frances White
Family of Howard Leopold Morry and
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