John Cory statue

John doesn't have the greatest vista to look out on these days from where he stands in Gorsedd Gardens, the busy Boulevard De Nantes and the old Dock Feeder canal.  I'm sure when the statue was unveiled in 1906 things would have looked better.  If not John Cory may have had something to say about it as he was apparently there at the unveiling. Most statues of famous people are erected after the person has died but not in this instance.  The work and generosity of this man seems to have outweighed that convention.

So who was John Cory?  It's easy to get a bit confused if you try looking him up as there were two wealthy Cory families in Cardiff at the time and both contained a John Cory.  This particular John Cory, was born in Bideford, Devon in March 1828, son of Richard Cory and his wife Sarah.

The Cory company, originally set up by Richard Cory and then run by his sons was tremendously successful at making money.  They owned coal mines in South Wales, an awful lot of railway wagons, were partly responsible for the development of Barry Docks and owned coal depots across the world.

Source: Wiipedia

Yes they made a lot of money but seemed to specialise in giving away large sums to good causes, many of them closely associated with the church.  John Cory became the leader of the Methodists in Cardiff and gave money to the Salvation Army.  He was an evangelist and closely associated with the Temperance movement in Cardiff

I'm not sure John Cory would have approved of being pictured on a cigarette card.

The Cory's originally lived in a mansion near St Mellons to the NE of Cardiff.  They then purchased land to the west of Cardiff and were responsible for the construction of Duffryn House and its landscape gardens, now in the ownership of National Trust.

 Vaendre Hall near St Mellons, Cardiff

Duffryn House

I associate the name Cory with a building that bore their name.  The Cory Hall stood opposite where Queen Street Stations is now.  It's where I saw my first concert - Ralph McTell in around 1973.  It's long gone now together with the YMCA building that stood next to it and also built from money given by the Cory family.

Cory Hall also called Temperance Hall - I guess it didn't have a bar.
Source: WalesOnline

John Cory died in January 1910.  He is buried in the church in St Nicholas to the west of Cardiff.  It may be hard to get a drink there too as he had the Inn converted to a Temperance Hall.

Source: http://newspapers.library.wales/view/3237976/3237977/22

 So next time you are in the Gorsedd Gardens opposite Cardiff Museum or passing down boulevard de Nantes on a Megabus, take a peep at John there holding his bowler hat in one hand and what is presumably a bible in the other.

Position of Statue. 
Source: Google Maps