THE CORYS OF

KENT

Area Co-ordinator: Bill Cory  mailto:cory@one.name.com

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If you go into the Deal Maritime Museum you will be met by a massive photograph of Thomas William Cory  who was a Master Mariner, renowned in Deal for his rescuing exploits on the Goodwin Sands. In those days sailing luggers were all along the beach at Deal. They would race out to ships in distress on the Goodwins to rescue people but also do a little salvaging.  The prizes for salvaging were enormous - awards of £130 and £212 were typical of those made which in the 1850s and 1860s were enormous sums.  Thomas who was baptised on 25^th May 1832 married Elizabeth Ann May on 19^th October 1857. In the right hand column is a picture of Thomas with his family.

In his book "THE LAST OF OUR LUGGERS" the author describes an impromptu race between Thomas William's lugger "England's Glory" and the "Early Morn" in sailing to a vessel in distress:

"Of the half dozen boats which got away from the beach almost as soon as England's Glory, two were not long in giving up the race; the other two held on for a while, then one after the other dipped their lugs and hove about for the land. Now it was come to a match between the Early Morn and ourselves. The two remaining luggers were overtaken by one of those black frosty squalls which are characteristic of the easterly winds in these parts. When the squall had passed the Early Morn was rising and falling upon the seas under her mizzen only, with a mere stump of naked foremast sticking up forward and her big lug trailing in the water alongside.  Thus England's Glory with Old Corry [yes they spelt it wrongly] at the tiller, out-distances all the rest and is the only lugger of the six left in the running".

But times were often hard for the Deal Boatmen and many chose to emigrate in the hopes of a better life. One of Thomas' elder brothers was Morris Clayson Cory who emigrated to New Zealand in 1858 (see New Zealand page).

Thomas William died on the 3^rd March 1914. According to the East Kent Mercury he was buried with full military honours in acknowledgement of his service in the Crimean War.

Bill Cory 2001:Acknowledgements for research to Michael Cory, Linda Moorhouse and Marilyn Cory. 
Resource: "THE LAST OF OUR LUGGERS" by   E C Pain . 

The Society holds many records of which this is just one.   Please contact the area co-ordinator or the archivist for more details.

Thomas William Cory
with his children


A Deal Lugger

Thomas William Cory
with  his son
William Henry Worthington Cory

Local Information Sites:

Library Information: 
Surnames lists  http://www.gen.doun.org/transcription/surnames.php3
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