William FRY, born Hertfordshire 1830-1835
June 2001
Bill Harris (billharr @t hotkey.net.au), from Kirwan, Western Australia is looking for a birth of William Fry to William & Elizabeth Fry. Little is known except that William junior was married & fathered 11 children in the gold field area of Australia between 1870 1885. On one document he states that his birth place was Hertfordshire.
While the surname Fry occurs in Hertfordshire it is not a local name - as the 1881 census shows 11,376 Fry (or variant spellings) nation wide of which only 13 were born and still living in Hertfordshire! On a quick check of various sources it would appear that the name could occur anywhere in the county but is perhaps commoner in the East. These figures tell us there is no obvious town/village to look within Hertfordshire, but that as long as the Hertfordshire birthplace is correct in may not be an impossible task.
However more information is needed and you should read My Ancestors emigrated from Hertfordshire ... which details the kind of information that is likely to be available to you in Australia which could provide clues to his origin in England. If you then tell me a bit more about William Fry junior I may be able to give you some further clues - although a glance at the atlas suggests you must be about 250 km from your nearest LDS Family History Centre in Perth - which could limit what you can easily do yourself.
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