Dartmouth – New Morry Family Website

Timeless Dartmouth

(Click on photo above to go to the Town of Dartmouth’s Official Website)

t must have been quite a change for the family of John Mory and Elizabeth Stone to move from the sleepy provincial Parish of Stoke Gabriel to the bustling and probably boisterous seaport town of Dartmouth. The move took place sometime between the birth of their son, Matthew, whose name was recorded at his Christening at the Church of St. Mary and St. Gabriel in Stoke Gabriel as Matthew Moary, and their daughter, Jane, whose name at both her Christening and Burial was recorded as Jane Morey at the Church of St. Clements in Dartmouth, on October 29,1727. Though she died at birth, her mother survived, as she had another daughter, Elizabeth Morey, whose Christening was also recorded at St. Clements in 1729. Shortly thereafter, Elizabeth Stone did die and was taken back to be buried at Stoke Gabriel Church Yard on June 12, 1729.

John married again to Elizabeth Matthews at St. Clements on February 5, 1731/32. The apparent uncertainty in the year of the marriage is related to the difference in the calendars used at the time (Gregorian versus Julian) and how that affected when New Years was celebrated. Before 1752, the English government still observed March 25 as the first of the year, but most of the population observed January 1 as the first of the year. This lead to some dating of events in February giving the year as either in the previous or the new year. Suffice it to say that this marriage took place on February 5th following the Christmas of 1731. Elizabeth Matthews bore John two more daughters. In total he had 12, children though some did not survive child birth or early childhood. This was normal for the times. Both his daughters by his second wife were named Morey on their Christening record and it was from this point forward that this spelling became prevalent.

However, John’s first born son was named John, as was the custom of the time, and was born in 1711, before that consensus in spelling was arrived at and apparently went through life known as John Mory, though all his children were Christened at St. Clements or later St. Saviours as Morey. All except one that is. His last born child was Matthew, our forebear, and his name was spelled variously including Mory, Morey and Morry. The latter spelling was not historic in the family but for some reason it seemed to stick. And thus we have been known ever since.

We really don’t know much about the Morry’s business affairs in these days except to speculate that it must have been associated with shipping and fishing from the very beginning. For nearly 1000 years, sailors have set out all over the world from this ancient harbour. The Norman’s used Dartmouth as a trading port with their homeland across the English Channel – and the Crusaders, led by Richard the Lionheart, set sail from Dartmouth. Both the Second and Third crusades assembled and departed from Dartmouth’s riverside quays and the Pilgrims in the Mayflower and the Speedwell stopped here briefly on their way to America in 1620. There would be little other reason to relocate to Dartmouth than to participate more fully in the marine economy.

Family Group Record for John MOREY Jr. and Priscilla Harvey

Husband John MOREY Jr.

AKA: John MOARY, John MORY
Born: Cir 6 Oct 1711 – Stoke Gabriel, Devon, England
Christened: 6 Oct 1711 – Stoke Gabriel, Devon, England
Died: 16 Jul 1751 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Buried: 29 Jul 1751 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Father: John MOREY (Bef 1687-Bef 1772)
Mother: Elizabeth STONE (Cir 1682-Bef 1729)
Marriage: 22 Dec 1736 – Dartmouth, Devon, England

Wife Priscilla HARVEY

Born: Cir 1715 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened:
Died: Bef 28 Jun 1765 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Buried: 28 Jun 1765 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Father: HARVEY ( – )
Mother:

Children

1 M John MOREY

AKA: John MORRY
Born: Bef 9 Nov 1737 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 9 Nov 1737 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: 15 Feb 1766 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Buried: 26 Feb 1766 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Spouse: Did Not Marry

2 F Priscilla MOREY

Born: Bef 30 Nov 1738 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 30 Nov 1738 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: 21 Dec 1738 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Buried: After 21 Dec 1738 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Spouse: Did Not Marry

3 M William MOREY

Born: 2 Jan 1739 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 2 Jan 1739 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: Bef 8 Feb 1739 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Buried: 8 Feb 1739 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Spouse: Did Not Marry

4 M William MOREY

AKA: William Thomas MOREY
Born: Bef 2 Jan 1740 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 2 Jan 1740 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: Bef 28 Jun 1741 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Buried: 28 Jun 1741 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Spouse: Did Not Marry

5 F Susannah MOREY

AKA: Susanna MOREY
Born: Bef 19 Sep 1742 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 19 Sep 1742 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: Bef 28 Nov 1742 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Buried: 28 Nov 1742 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Spouse: Did Not Marry

6 F Elizabeth MORRY

AKA: Elizabeth MOREY
Born: Bef 27 Mar 1744 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 27 Mar 1744 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: Bef 7 Sep 1831 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Buried: 7 Sep 1831 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Spouse: Samuel HOYLES (1748- )
Marr: 2 Aug 1776 – Dartmouth, Devon, England

7 M Capt. Matthew MORRY

AKA: Matthew MOREY
Born: Bef 28 Mar 1750 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 28 Mar 1750 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: 19 Jun 1836 – Calvert, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Buried: 29 Jun 1836 – Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Spouse: Mary GRAHAM (1750-1796)
Marr: 1 Mar 1773 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Spouse: Anne CARTER (1750-Bef 1838)
Marr: After 1813 – St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Last Modified: 9 Aug 2017

Family Group Record for Capt. Matthew MORRY and Mary Graham

Husband Capt. Matthew MORRY

AKA: Matthew MOREY
Born: Bef 28 Mar 1750 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 28 Mar 1750 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: 19 Jun 1836 – Calvert, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Buried: 29 Jun 1836 – Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Father: John MOREY Jr. (Cir 1711-1751)
Mother: Priscilla HARVEY (Cir 1715-Bef 1765)
Marriage: 1 Mar 1773 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Other Spouse: Anne CARTER (1750-Bef 1838) – After 1813 – St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Wife Mary GRAHAM

Born: 2 Jun 1750 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 27 Jun 1750 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: 29 Oct 1796 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Buried: 3 Nov 1796 – Dartmouth, Devon, England

Father: Capt. Christopher GRAHAM (Cir 1721- )
Mother: Mary CHURCHWILL (Bef 1725-Bef 1817)

Children

1 M Capt. John MORRY

Born: Bef 1 Jan 1776 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 1 Jan 1776 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: Feb 1807 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Buried:
Spouse: Mary Foale LUKE (Bef 1770-Bef 1807)
Marr: 11 May 1797 – Dartmouth, Devon, England

2 F Honour MOARY

Born: Bef 29 Dec 1778 – St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Christened: 29 Dec 1778 – St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Died:
Buried: 26 Sep 1779 – St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Spouse: Did Not Marry

3 F Priscilla Ann MORRY

Born: 28 Mar 1783 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 2 Apr 1783 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: 19 Dec 1820 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Cause of Death: Possibly died in childbirth; she had just borne a child that month
Buried: 24 Dec 1820 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Spouse: William SWEETLAND (1788-1864)
Marr: 15 Feb 1810 – Dartmouth, Devon, England

4 M Thomas Graham MORRY I

Born: Bef 27 Oct 1786 – St. Saviour’s, Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 27 Oct 1786 – St. Saviour’s, Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: Cir 1807 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Buried:

5 F Mary MORRY

AKA: Mary MOREY
Born: Bef 6 Oct 1789 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 6 Oct 1789 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: After 1851 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Buried:
Spouse: Capt. Arthur KEMP (Bef 1785-1848)
Marr: 21 Nov 1811 – Dartmouth, Devon, England

6 M Matthew MORRY II JP

AKA: Jonathan MORRY
Born: 27 Mar 1790 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 8 Apr 1791 – St. Saviour’s, Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: 19 Jun 1856 – Calvert, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Buried: 29 Jun 1856 – Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Spouse: Anne SANDERS (1790-1867)
Marr: Cir 1811 – Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

7 F Esther Graham MORRY

AKA: Esther G MOREY, Esther Graham MOREY, Hester MOREY, Hestor Graham MORRY
Born: Bef 23 Jan 1795 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 23 Jan 1795 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: 14 Oct 1866 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Buried:
Spouse: Did Not Marry

Last Modified: 9 Aug 2017

Family Group Record for Capt. Matthew MORRY and Anne Carter

Husband Capt. Matthew MORRY

AKA: Matthew MOREY
Born: Bef 28 Mar 1750 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Christened: 28 Mar 1750 – Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died: 19 Jun 1836 – Calvert, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Buried: 29 Jun 1836 – Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Father: John MOREY Jr. (Cir 1711-1751)
Mother: Priscilla HARVEY (Cir 1715-Bef 1765)
Marriage: After 1813 – St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Other Spouse: Mary GRAHAM (1750-1796) – 1 Mar 1773 – Dartmouth, Devon, England

Wife Anne CARTER

Born: 17 Mar 1750 – Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Christened:
Died: Bef 15 Sep 1838 – Calvert, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Buried: 15 Sep 1838 – Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Father: Surrogate Robert CARTER JP (1722-1800)
Mother: Ann WYLLY (Bef 1719-After 1800)
Other Spouse: Capt. Samuel HILL (Bef 1748-Bef 1785) – 1775 – Topsham, Devon, England
Other Spouse: Capt. Henry J. SWEETLAND J. P. (1733-1791) – Cir 1785 – Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Children

Nil

Last Modified: 9 Aug 2017

January 4, 2024

As of today, all 20 volumes of the series “An Annotated Transcript of the Journals of Robert Carter of Ferryland, Newfoundland” are now available on Amazon. A search on any of Amazon’s national websites for “Robert Carter” will find this series.

September 12, 2023

Today the first Volume of the collection entitled “An Annotated Transcript of the Journals of Robert Carter of Ferryland, Newfoundland (Volume 1 (24 Aug 1832 – 02 Oct 1833)” is available in published form on Amazon. See the announcement here on the Home Page.

August 23, 2023

This year I have been focussed on different aspects of my family history research and have not been updating this website. But one of those other aspects has recently reached a milestone and I want to advertise this fact here.

Today, with the able and much appreciated assistance of Colleen Field, Division Chief of the Centre for Newfoundland Studies (CNS) at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), and Don Walsh the technical brains behind the university’s Digital Archives Initiative (DAI), my grandfather, Howard Leopold Morry’s diaries, in both page image format and as plain text transcripts, are not freely available on the DAI.

This is the culmination of many years of work by family members, including our late cousin, Jamie Morry, his brother, Howard Morry, my brother, Glen Morry, and our cousin, Karen [Funkhouser] Chapman, and I cannot thank them all enough for helping me to realise my dream to honour Dad Morry’s memory in this way.

Here is the link to the collection of these diaries:

https://dai.mun.ca/digital/howardmorry/

January 23, 2023

A letter from James Stewart, newly appointed Pay Officer in Newfoundland, to Rt. Hon. Robert Dundas seeking to spend his first winter in London in an advisory capacity thereby delaying the inevitable adaptation of the Newfoundland climate. Scottish Interests in Newfoundland.

January 23, 2023

Two letters related to an aging Barrack Master, John Lees, in St. John’s, essentially begging to be transferred back to Great Britain because of the effect of the “extreme severity of the climate” on his health. Scottish Interests in Newfoundland.

January 19, 2023

Here is a letter from the Scottish Record Office that concerns discussions over Newfoundland Confederation with Canada, not in 1867, and not in 1949, but rather in 1895. The sender and recipient are prominent figures in colonial affairs but apparently in South Africa, not Newfoundland, and this was included on the microfilm solely because of this topical discussion. Scottish Interests in Newfoundland.

January 18, 2023

A letter from Allan MacDonald, Commanding Officer of the Garrison in St. John’s, sent from London on December 1, 1767, to Sir James Moray of Abercairny offering his home in Newfoundland as a suitable place for the restoration of the health of the Laird’s son. Scottish Interests in Newfoundland.

January 18, 2023

A letter from a junior Scottish Officer, John Peeble, recounting the events of the Battle of Signal Hill from his personal observations. Scottish Interests in Newfoundland.

January 17, 2023

The remaining documents on the Scottish Record Office microfilm are an eclectic mix of unrelated information on a variety of subjects which are unrelated to one another except in that the pertain to Scottish activities in Newfoundland in the 18th and 19th centuries. The first of these is an anonymous transcript of the epitaphs of two Scottish officers who died in the Battle of Signal Hill. Scottish Interests in Newfoundland.

January 17, 2023

Here is the last of the documents on the microfilm from the Scottish Archives that pertains to the Rogerson family. It is a very brief genealogy of the family members who came to Newfoundland and was written by Col. William Rogerson of the 53rd Shropshire Regiment. Scottish Interests in Newfoundland.

January 13, 2023

A new letter to Samuel Rogerson, the Scottish clerk working for Messrs. Hunter & Co. in St. John’s in the early 1800s. Scottish Interests in Newfoundland.