Plantagenet Somerset Fry

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Plantagenet Somerset Fry
Born
Peter George Robin Fry

3 January 1931
Died10 September 1996[1]
Wattisfield, Suffolk, England, UK
EducationLancing College and St. Thomas's Hospital Medical School and St Catherine's College, Oxford
OccupationWriter
Spouse(s)Audrey Russell, Daphne Yorke, Leri Butler, Fiona Whitcombe
Parent(s)Peter Kenneth Llewellyn Fry and Ruth Emily (née Marriott)

Plantagenet Somerset Fry, born Peter George Robin Fry, sometimes used the names 'Peter George Robin Somerset Fry' and 'Peter George Robin Plantagenet Somerset Fry'

Plantagenet was a nickname which he adopted at university, relating to his advocacy of Richard III.[5]

Early life

Peter George Robin Fry was born in 1931, and was the third child and only son of a distinguished naval officer (created

OBE in the 1953 New Year Honours) and pianist.[5] He was educated at Christ Church Cathedral School, Oxford, then Lancing College in West Sussex, and St. Thomas's Hospital Medical School
, London, but did not do well at either of the latter two institutions.

After failing his exams, he had to leave St. Thomas's after a year. From this point on his father refused to subsidise him any more, so Fry found employment as a librarian and projectionist with the National Film Board of Canada. In 1952 he inherited some money from his grandmother, left his job and married, against his parents' wishes, Audrey Russell whom he had known at medical school. After spending all his money, and failing another degree, Fry became a schoolteacher at Wallop School in Weybridge, Surrey.[5]

In 1954, Fry began study of law and history at

Ministry of Public Building and Works.[2]

Personal life

Although Fry's professional life was successful, his personal life was unhappy. His first marriage to Audrey Russell was dissolved in 1957.

The following year he married Daphne Elizabeth Caroline, daughter of Major (Hon. Lt-Col) Frederick Reginald Yorke, of a Yorkshire landed gentry family.[2][8] However, she was soon diagnosed with an incurable form of kidney cancer, although Fry never let her know it. After her death in 1961, he set up a medical research trust in her memory.[9]

He then married Mrs Leri Butler (née Llywelyn-Jones), a divorcée (previously married to Pierce Alan Somerset David Butler, son of the 7th Earl of Carrick[10]); she was 24 years his senior. The marriage ended in divorce in 1973.

The following year he married Fiona Whitcombe, who survived him.

He was the victim of several car crashes, one of which made him reliant on the use of a wheelchair for many years.[11]

Death

In 1996, Fry was told he was dying of

bowel cancer, but he refused treatment, and suffocated himself with a plastic bag at his home in Wattisfield, Suffolk at the age of 65,[5] after writing a letter explaining his actions to the coroner.[4]

Selected works

References

  1. ^ a b cix.co.uk Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 December 2007
  2. ^ a b c d The Author's & Writer's Who's Who, Burke's Peerage, 1971, pg 740
  3. ^ Roy Calne (20 September 1996). "Obituary: Plantagenet Somerset Fry". The Independent.
  4. ^ a b c Obituary, The (London) Independent, Roy Calne, 21 September 1996. Retrieved 4 June 2015
  5. ^ a b c d ArchiveHub. Retrieved 11 December 2007
  6. ^ The Author's and Writer's Who's Who, Edward Martell, Burke's Peerage, Ltd, 1971, p. 740
  7. Independent.co.uk
    . 20 September 1996.
  8. ^ A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, Burke's Peerage, 1965, pg 738
  9. ^ "THE DAPHNE SOMERSET FRY MEMORIAL TRUST".
  10. ^ Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 2000, pg 288
  11. ^ "University of Reading – Archive and Museum Database – Details".


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