Letter from Arthur Holdsworth to Matthew Morry, Feb. 4, 1838

Arthur Holdsworth and Matthew Morry were both friends and business associates, as this letter dated February 4, 1838 reveals.

Letter from Anne Saunders, Nov. 20 1841

To her son, Matthew Morry III, dated Nov. 20, 1841

In this brief letter some tantalising details are left unexplained. Why was Matthew in Harbour Grace? Why was his mother writing from St. John's and not Caplin Bay? What was the cause of Matthew's falling out with his men (crew)? Was Matthew really a bit too fond of the bottle? Read on!

William Warner LeMessurier to Eliza Coulman Morry, Nov. 6, 1860

This is a transcript of a letter believed to be from William Warner LeMessurier To His Sister-in-Law Eliza Coulman Morry , Widow of Matthew Morry III of Caplin Bay , Dated November 6th, 1860. Like a number of the other letters shown here, this was found in a collection of letters given to my father by dad Morry before his death. Most of those letters are believed to have been found in "Athlone", the last Morry home in Calvert (formerly Caplin Bay), after the death of the last Morry resident in that village, Lizzie Morry, in 1930. The letters were written to Lizzie or to her parents. While they are no real historical value, that are a fascinating glimpse of the life of the business class in Newfoundland at the time.

Letter from Henry Corbin LeMessurier to Lizzie Morry, ca. Easter, 1876

This is a letter believed to be from Henry Corbin Le Messurier in St. John's to Elizabeth Ann Morry . It is  undated but certain clues indicate it was written shortly before Easter 1876.

Letter from Josephine Morry Gray to Howard Leopold Morry, 1933

This letter pertains to the settlement of the estate of Elizabeth Ann Morry, the last of the Morry’s to live at the old Morry homestead known as “Athlone” on the north side of Caplin Bay , now Calvert. Elizabeth, also known as Lizzie, was the first cousin, once removed, of Howard and the first cousin of his aunt, Jane Josephine, who wrote this letter.

Letter from Howard Morry to Bill Morry (BC), 1938

Many Newfoundland Morrys emigrated to British Columbia over the generations. The first went out in the mid 1800s but the trend continued through every subsequent generation to this day. Dad Morry (Howard Leopold Morry) went to BC with his brother Bert (Albert Graham Morry) when they were young men and they had many adventures together in the lumber camps, fish plants and the rough and tumble coastal communities. Dad Morry has recorded some of the details of their adventures in his memoirs.

After returning from the War, Dad Morry would have liked to return to BC but he had a young family and his father asked him to stay and run the fish business. This letter is written to one of his second cousins in BC whom he knew from his earlier visit, William Sweetland Morry. The text was transcribed from the original by Bridget Davies Smith, Bill's Grand niece

Letter from Howard Morry to Lulu White, 1946

The Whites were one of the merchant class families in Ferryland for generations as were the Morrys. So it was perhaps inevitable that sooner or later a marriage would take place to join the fortunes of the two families. Class structure in Newfoundland was as strong as it was anywhere in those days and marriage "beneath one's station" was frowned upon. Thus on June 1, 1880, Catherine Frances White married Thomas Graham Morry III. Catherine, my G. Grandmother, was the daughter of an English merchant, John William White, who was born in Dodbrooke, Kingsbridge, Devon. Though born in England, he emigrated to Newfoundland and settled in Ferryland where, among other things, he was the owner of the general store and a Justice of the Peace.

But times were tough for merchants in those days, as they were for everyone else. The Black Monday bank crash on December 10, 1894 wiped out the fortunes of many of the wealthier families in Newfoundland and many of them never really recovered. The Morrys and the Whites were not immune and Thomas Morry lost his fortune and spent the rest of his life attempting to pay back his debtors. The Whites were in a similar predicament and by the second generation after John William White, they were still struggling to make ends meet.

John's son Alfred inherited his father's house (see Will), lands  and business interests, but also his debts. His children left one by one to try and make their fortunes in the more promising economic conditions available in the US. After his death in 1920, only his wife Frances and two sons, Gordon and William, were still trying to hang on in Ferryland. John Stanislaus was the first to move to the US, followed by Lulu (Louisa). By 1922, only Gordon remained and then he too left. The legend has it that he left with food still on the table and the door left open as if he intended to return but never did.

This letter from Dad Morry was written to Lulu White in 1944 urging her to take legal action to claim the lands belonging to her family that were by that time being occupied by others in the village. With the passage of over two decades since the lands and, more importantly the water side premises, had been occupied and made use of by the rightful owners, as one might imagine others began to use these valuable assets. In the case of the person mentioned, Paddy Ryan, he had in some ways more right to do so than others in the village. His grandfather, William Ryan, had rented some of the White property, a house and garden near the Pool, for 20 years from John William in 1892. More than likely this arrangement had been renewed over the years. Nevertheless, evidently title to the land was never conveyed and it changed hands by no more formal process than "squatters rights", as was often the case in those days. Thus the Whites lost their claim to land in Newfoundland, though indeed none of them or their descendants ever returned to their former home.  

Letters from Father to Son

Here are three letters written by Dad Morry to my father and mother over the years. The third, written in 1971, may well have been the last letter Dad Morry wrote in his lifetime.

Letter from Howard Morry to son Tom Morry, 1959 - A

Letter from Howard Morry to son Tom Morry, 1959 - B

Letter from Howard Morry to son Tom Morry, 1971

Letter from Nimshi Crewe to Howard Morry, 1965

This letter briefly notifies Dad Morry of a discovery made by this well known Newfoundland archivist concerning a lawsuit taken out against Morry and Prideaux in England in 1819.