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This web site is a combined effort. It is through the help of many people that have contributed information, that we are able to present this. We thank them, as I know you will. There are, I am sure, many inaccuracies, mistakes, typing errors, etc. Please send any corrections, additions, comments to the webmaster so that this site and the Ancestry databases may be updated.
Earliest Corys
In the 1530s Thomas Cromwell carried out the Reformation and, of great interest and use to genealogists today, a law to register parish records. Cory names were to be found in many different parishes from as early as the 14th century but the earliest recorded in our archives is Simon de Cory, landowner in Essex 1246-1253.
Location | Earliest Corys |
Bedfordshire | Thomas Cory, villein 1308. |
Bristol, Gloucester | John & Johanna Cory, corvesour 1535;Robert Corie, 1567/8 and Richard Corie 1569 apprentice records (as shoemakers) sons of Robert Corie of Barton near Bristol. |
Buckinghamshire | Thomas Cory, attorney 1344; John Cory, paviour 1386; John Cory, collector of customs 1397. |
Devon | Walter Cory, building at Cory Barton in 1485 (Burkes Peerage 1939) |
Dorset | John Cory, Hundred of Whitchurch, Dorset Lay Subsidy. |
Essex | Simon de Cory, landowner 1246-1253. |
Hampshire | Richard Cory, elder 1352. |
Hertfordshire | William and Adam Cory, Inquistion Post Mortem 1358. |
Kennington Documents | John Cory attorney of Henry, 1343. |
Kent | Thomas Cory, merchant 1340; John Cory, parson 1387-1405. |
Middlesex | John Cory, arrested 1374; Adam Cory, 1398. |
Norfolk | Geoffrey Cory, priest 1324; John Cory, priest 1338; Peter Cory 1348-1356. |
Northamptonshire | John Cory, prisoner 1394; John Cory, landowner 1442; John Cory of Barnake 1442. |
Oxfordshire | Richard Cory, 1394. |
Rising Documents | John Cory, attorney 1344. |
Stafford Castle, Staffordshire | John Cory, earl’s servant 1433. |
Somerset | John de Cory, witness 1339; Henry North Cory 1382. |
Sussex | Richard Cory, killed 1309. |
Westminster | John Cory, clerk 1341 and 1344; John Cory controller of petty custom in the port of London 1356/7; John Cory, draper of the city of London son of Richard. Will registered 1561 re burial in St Paul’s church, property in Westchepe and elsewhere; Richard Cori, butcher of the city of London, husband of Edith, father of William and John. Will dated 1343 re burial in church of St Leonard in Eastchepe and property in St Leonards, Will registered in 1361. |
Wiltshire | Richard Cory, trespasser 1400. |
Windsor, Berkshire | John de Cory, princes clerk 1345. |
The English Corys
The English Corys are covered in depth in several publications and research papers of the Cory Society in the UK. The monumental work of Michael and Vernon Cory in The English Corys, published by the Cory Society and available on their website, gives a complete overview of the various Cory families found in England, Scotland, Wales, and their descendants in the Americas and Australia. They also have several other publications and white papers that update and expand upon The English Corys. They divide the English Corys into 10 lines as follows:
- Norfolk Corys
- Leicestershire Corys
- Harpole Corys
- Devon Corys
- Cornwall Corys
- Cornwall Corys
- West Cornwall Corys
- Australian Corys
- Bristol Corys
- Devon Corys (American Branch)
Three of the early American lines are from the Harpole and Bristol Corys. Later, Corys from Devon and Cornwall emigrated to Iowa in 1853..
DNA testing has proved that there is no match between Norfolk and Devon and Cornwall DNA samples.
Cory Lines in America
The Cory families in America sprang from several men who were among the earliest settlers. Among these were: Giles of Salem Village, John 1 of Southold, William of Portsmouth, and Thomas of Chelmsford. DNA analysis has shown that John 1, William and Thomas were not related. Other evidence has shown that Giles is related to Thomas. Several branches of both the John 1 line (John of Roxbury and Isaac of Plainfield) and the Thomas line (Nicholas of Harpole, Hiriam Isaac of VT/MI, and Joseph of RI/CT) have been found via DNA analysis, but as yet, we have not been able to make the genealogical connection. Both William and Thomas have been identified, ether via DNA and/or parish records, to their English origins of Bristol and Harpole/Northampton respectively.
A second wave of Cory families came from Ireland and England during the Irish immigration from 1830 to 1880. To further add to the Cory story, several Khoury families immigrated from Lebanon and changed the spelling of their name to Corey.
DNA analysis is an excellent first step in determining which line to research. Further information may be found on our DNA project page.
Genealogies of each of the lines are maintained in relational databases on the webmaster's server. As new information (additions, corrections, changes) are provided, the societies databases are updated and synced with their Ancestry Trees. Please contact the webmaster for the latest updates.
The society currently has 11 databases. Each database may contain several trees. Each tree contains families that have been identified, usually through DNA, but a link to other familes in the database has not been established. One database, Other Corys, contains trees that have not been identified as to which line they should be associated with. As these lines are identified, the tree is moved to the correct database.
A summary of each database and its content follows:
Harpole (Thomas of Chelmsford) |
11 Trees | 62,076 people | 23,300 families |
1 | Thomas Cory (est 1450 - ? Harpole) | 59,212 people (Thomas of Chelmsford) | |
2 | William Curry (est. 1600 -1681) | 279 people (Scotland) | |
3 | Samuel Cory (1677 – aft. 1766) | 92 people (Harpole) | |
4 | Thomas Cory (1681 – ?) | 1085 people | |
5 | Henry Corey (1763 – 1856) | 35 people (Vermont) | |
6 | William B. Cory (est.1790 - ?) | 48 people | |
7 | Martin C. Corey (1790 – 1847) | 2181 people (Plainfield) | |
8 | Anthony Cory (est. 1800 – ?) | 37 people | |
9 | Samuel Corey (est. 1804 - ?) | 124 people (New York) | |
10 | George M. Corey (1840 -1870) | 88 people (New Hampshire) | |
11 | George Edwin Corey (est. 1876 - 1856) | 14 people (Kent, England) | |
John 1 of Southold | 4 Trees | 30,056 people | 11,222 families |
1 | John Cory (1611 -1685) | 29,742 people (John 1 of Southold) | |
2 | Joseph C. Corey (est. 1855 - bef. 1900) | 114 people (Pennsylvania) | |
3 | Corey (est. 1730 - ?) | 106 people (Delaware) | |
4 | John Cory (married 1790) | 94 people (Union, New Jersey) | |
John of Roxbury | 2 Trees | 1,538 people | 648 families |
1 | John Cory (1682 - est. 1730) | 1,534 people | |
2 | Philip Corey (married 1647) | 4 people | |
Isaac of Plainfield | 6 Trees | 1,567 people | 631 families |
1 | Isaac Cory (1684 -1748) | 1,555 people | |
2 | Catherine Cory (est. 1880 - ?) | 2 people | |
3 | William G. Cory (married 1843) | 2 people | |
4 | Viretta Cory (married 1812) | 2 people | |
5 | William Cory (est. 1792 -?) | 2 people | |
6 | Joseph Cory (?-1755) | 1 person | |
Bristol (William of Portsmouth) |
6 Trees | 23,716 people | 8,655 families |
1 | John Corye (1580 -1621 Bristol) | 22,986 people (William of Portsmouth) | |
2 | John Corey (est. 1760 - ?) | 344 people | |
3 | Rufus Marcus Corey (est. 1768 - ?) | 215 people | |
4 | Elias M. Corey (1826 – 1871) | 92 people | |
5 | John Corey (est 1790 - ?) | 58 people (Nova Scotia) | |
6 | Emery J. Corey (1832 – 1897) | 21 people | |
Other Corys | 80 Trees | 5,971 people | 2276 families |
Norfolk (Bramerton Hall) |
1 Trees | 970 people | 307 families |
1 | John Cory (est 1295 - ?) | 970 people | |
Cornwall | 3 Trees | 2379 people | 826 families |
1 | Nicholas Cory ( - est 1670) | 1894 people | |
2 | Henry Cory (1734 - 1816) | 376 people (Poundstock) | |
3 | Nicholas Corye (1489 - 1551) | 109 people (Harpole) | |
Devon | 2 Trees | 4,431 people | 1541 families |
1 | John Cory (1505-1563) | 4414 people | |
2 | Charles Cory (1808 - 1872) | 17 people | |
Irish | 10 Trees | 699 people | 269 families |
1 | John Corrie | 392 people (Scottland) | |
2 | Patrick Corey (1830 -?) | 113 people (Ontario, Canada) | |
3 | Walter Corry (1620 - 1699) | 65 people (NB) | |
4 | Peter Corr | 41 people | |
5 | Walter Caruth Corry (1620 -?) | 34 people | |
6 | William Corry | 26 pepole | |
7 | Mather Corry (1620 - 1683) | 14 people | |
8 | Eugene Corry (est 1564 - ?) | 13 people | |
9 | George Corry (1764 - 1840) | 1 person (London) | |
10 | Dr. John Corry | 1 person (Dublin) | |
Scottish | 3 Trees | 667 people | 287 families |
1 | Charles de Courcy (923-993) | 473 people | |
2 | Robert Corrie | 147 families | |
3 | William Corrie (est 1752 - ?) | 47 families |
The following Genealogies are named after their English origins. As far as the relationship of the various lines, DNA analysis has shown that there is no generic relationship between them, with the possible exception of the Scottish and Irish lines. Following the English Civil War, many Scottish families emigrated to northern Ireland. During the American Revolution, many families supported the British Crown rather than the rebel factions from Virginia and Massachusetts. These "Loyalist" families, from all three Cory lines, moved to New Brunswick and Ontario Canada, many adding the "e" to Cory at the time. The various families have migrated to all parts of the county (both US, Canada, the UK, Australia and South Africa) into the same areas and even inter married. I refer you to The English Corys by Michael and Vernon Cory for a discussion of the various migrations.
The genealogies that may be found on Ancestry.com have been placed in public viewable trees. Links to further information on each line/branch and their locations on Ancestry my be found below.
- Bristol Corys (Ancestry Tree)
- William Cory of Portsmouth, Rhode Island
- Cornwall Corys (Ancestry Tree)
- Devon Corys (Ancestry Tree)
- William Cory of Mount Vernon, Iowa
- Eastern Counties of England (Essex, Yorkshire)?
- Isaac Corey of Plainfield, Connecticut (John 1 Line?) (Ancestry Tree)
- John 1 Cory of Southold, Long Island, New York (Ancestry Tree)
- John Corey of Roxbury, Massachusetts (John 1 line via DNA) (Ancestry Tree)
- Harpole/Northampton/Norfolk Corys (Ancestry Tree)
- Nicholas Cory(e) of Harpole, Northampton
- Giles Cory of Salem, Massachusetts
- Hiram Isaac Corey of Vermont/Wisconsin/Michigan
- Thomas Cory of Chelmsford, Massachusetts
- Joseph Corey of RI and Voluntown, New London, CT
- Irish Corrys (Ancestry Tree)
- Norfolk Corys Bramerton Hall (Ancestry Tree)
- Scottish Corries (Ancestry Tree)
- Other Corys that have not yet been classified in the above lines (Ancestry Tree)