John Henry Morry

John Henry Morry
Portrait in Ferryland Museum

Sometime in the 1820s or 30s, John Henry Morry, grandson of the emigrant, moved from Caplin Bay to Ferryland. Along with his business partner and brother-in-law, Peter Paint Le Messurier, he acquired a large house and lands that had originally belonged to Sir Arthur Holdsworth. This massive stone house remained the family home into the early 1900s. Unfortunately, the house was eventually left unoccupied for a lengthy period. It fell into ruin and was torn down shortly before or after WWI. Dad Morry (Howard Leopold Morry) built his own home on the same foundations.

Description of the Holdsworth Property:

Henry Holdsworth, E.; Ferryland N. ; for sale: a plantation; stone dwelling house 60' x 24' , kitchen 24' x 16' adjoining with pantry, scullery; parlour; shop and office (all on ground floor); 4 rooms, 1st floor, attic for shop goods; cookroom 66' x 20' ; old house and yard 40' x 27' ; 7 houses with gardens; stone cooper's shop 74' x 16', stone barking house with kettle 35' x 16'; main wharf 130' x 60', 2 stages 20' x 86', 12' x 21', wharf store 92' x 16' , a store 100' x 30' x 18', 4 stores 41' X 17', 43. x 17', 52' x 15' , 71' x 16' ; large flake; back yard, with well; frost-proof cellar with loft, stable with hay loft; extensive meadows and gardens. William Richards E.. Ferryland, agent.

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.

It doesn't seem that it was at this time that the Holdsworth Property first came into possession of the Morrys. Papers pertaining to an indenture between John Morry and Peter Paint LeMessurier on the one part and Ann Winsor of Aquaforte (John's mother-in-law) on the second part, dated May 15, 1853 indicate this property was originally bought by them (John and Peter) jointly from Arthur William Olive Holdsworth on May 3, 1844 and, through this indenture, they then sold it to Ann Winsor on May 15, 1853. The elder Arthur Holdsworth and Matthew Morry were both friends and business associates, as this letter from Arthur Holdsworth to Matthew Morry Jr., dated February 4, 1838 reveals.

Thus the property must have gone unsold for the sixteen years between when Henry Holdsworth (Arthur's son) first advertised it for sale and when John and Peter bought it. 

The John Morry in question was John Henry Morry, Matthew Morry the emigrant's grandson via Matthew Morry Jr. He was married to Elizabeth Sarah Winsor, the daughter of Henry Winsor and Ann Coulman Winsor. Peter Paint LeMessurier was not only his business partner but also the husband of John's sister Mary.

Why John would be selling the house in which he evidently continued to reside and which was ultimately to belong to his son, Thomas Graham Morry, is a mystery at this time. The "sale" to his mother-in-law may have been strictly a way of transferring capital from her to her son-in-law for business purposes or to avoid taxes. It isn't clear if Ann Winsor moved to Ferryland from Aquaforte to take up residence in the house or not. In any event, the house and lands did return to the direct possession of the Morry's through another indenture between Ann Winsor and her grandson Thomas Graham Morry in 1881.