Terry's of York Archive

General administrative records, including will and codicil of Joseph Terry, with associated papers, 1852-1854; deeds of co-partnership, 1856, 1880, 1888; articles of association, 1895-1961, 1964-1966; register of seals, 1895-1962; register of directors and managers, 1919-1954; directors’ minute book, 1895-1899; management committee minutes, 1973-1977, 1980-1982; minute book of statutory general meetings and shareholders annual general meetings, 1895-1898; annual general meeting minutes, 1928-1964; annual reports, including annual statements of account, 1955-1961; papers relating to shareholding, including shareholders minute books, 1898-1966, shares ledger, 1895-1934, register of members, 1895-1962, and share transfer lists, 1954-1961; office records of D. C. Stewart, including workflow plans, time cards, examples of accounting records, photographs and printed pictures of office equipment, 20th century.
Financial records, including general and departmental accounts, 1890-1915, 1928-1943; stores and departmental stores balances, 1896-1914; purchase ledgers and day book, 1829-1890, 1927-1942; cash book, 1912-1918; and bills payable and receivable book, 1889-1930.
Staff records, including report on employees’ wages by John Terry, 1917; papers relating to staff wages, 1884-1974; staff leaving book, c.1870-c.1930; list of employees injured on active service in World War II, 1941-1945; retirement allowances, 1949-1967; pension scheme booklet and associated papers, 1930-1978.
Records relating to production, including handwritten draft notes for ‘The Manufacture of Chocolate’ by Mr J. R. Terry, 1837; papers relating to recipes and methodologies, 1845-1963; recipes and costs book for fancy room and bake house, 1893-1914; stock books, 1889-1914; papers relating to recipes, production and apportionment charges, 1904-1919; industry research, reports, recipes and notes by Sir Francis Terry, 1907-1936; product costings files, c.1910-1930, 1935.
Records relating to advertising and sales, including sales papers, 1825-1980; papers relating to pricing, 1893-1924; sales representatives’ ledgers and circulars, 1824-1827, 1936-1977; trade ledgers, 1862-1869, 1895-1928; illustrated product brochures for Terry’s, Terry’s Suchard, and Kraft, 1914-2005; product photographs, c.1970s-1980s; agreements with rival firms concerning prices and advertising, 1935-196; reports on the present situation of the chocolate trade by Noel Terry, 1933, 1935; and market research reports, 1970-1972; papers and photographs concerning supplies to royalty, 1937-1978.
Land and building records, including deeds and documents relating to Clementhorpe and Vine Street properties, 1824-1885; papers relating to works and alterations at Clementhorpe factory site, 1840-1888; Clementhorpe factory floor plans, 1850s; inventory of the plant and tools at the Confectionery and Chocolate Works, Clementhorpe Road, 1895; tenancy agreements and leases, with related correspondence, 1919-1956; records of the subcommittee on estates, including minutes, valuations and rents, 1954-1983; Bishopthorpe Road factory site plan, 20th century; photocopies of Terry’s factory site plans, 20th century; material relating to St Helen’s Square shop and restaurant, including deeds and plans, minutes and papers, recipes, menus, price lists, music programmes, inventory of contents and papers concerning its sale, 1558-1981; material relating to overseas properties, including maps, plans, photographs and papers concerning Venezuelan estates, 1883-1963; and Leonard Vyle’s reports on his visit to the West Indies, 1944-1945.
Records relating to affiliated social clubs, including Cricket Club minute book, cash book, register of officers and match particulars, 1896-1928; Terry’s Choral Society minute book, 1924-1933; Chess Club minute books, 1938-1972; Bowling Club minute books, 1941-1974; Pig Club cash book, invoices/receipts and associated financial papers, 1948-1955; Ladies Netball Team minute book, 1952-1961; published volumes of plays performed by Terry’s Dramatic Society, 20th century; and York & District Amalgamation of Anglers members ticket books, 20th century.
Records relating to public and social events, including visitors’ books, 1881-2005; correspondence, photographs, commemorative booklets and other papers relating to royal visits, 1935, 1937, 1957, and wartime events, 1941-1945; minutes and papers of the 1967 Bicentenary Celebration sub-committee, 1966-1968; Blue Peter script, 1967; papers, correspondence and trade fair plans for the City of York 1900th anniversary, 1969-1971; scrap book and other papers concerning Terry’s sponsorship of the Ebor Handicap, 1973-1975.
Press cuttings and scrapbooks, 1853-1992; photographs, glass plate negatives, transparencies and slides, including images of cocoa growing, Terry’s products, staff, clubs and societies, social events and the Bishopthorpe Road factory, 1920s-1946; portraits of Terry family and others, 19th century-1938; videos and cinefilm reels, 1937-1967; papers and other memorabilia relating to history of the company, 1890-1978; exhibition material, 19th 20th century.
Published books and articles, 1916-1965.
Records relating to associated companies, including Douglas Argyle Ltd minute book, 1935-1966; correspondence and papers concerning Lavell & Co. Ltd, 1929-1937, Mercado’s, 1933-1934, Massada’s, London, 1933, Forte’s Holdings Ltd, 1960-1970, and Dowsett Engineering Construction Ltd and Stephenson & Son Chartered Surveyors, 1973-1977; papers relating to the takeover by United Biscuits, 1981-1982.

The origins of Terry’s can be traced to 1767 when William Bayldon and Robert Berry opened a shop in York selling candied peel, lozenges and other sweetmeats. In 1823 Bayldon and Berry were joined by Joseph Terry who had married Bayldon’s niece, Harriet Atkinson. Shortly afterwards Bayldon left the business and Berry was succeeded by his son George, forming the partnership Terry & Berry. George left in 1828 and the business, by then based in St Helen’s Square with a factory in Brearly Yard, was renamed simply Terry’s of York.
The business soon expanded as Terry began to introduce a wider range of products, using the nearby rail links to supply towns and cities across the North of England, as well as London. By 1840 Terry’s was producing boiled sweets, candied peel, mint cakes, gum balls, marmalade and medicated lozenges.
Joseph Terry died in 1850 and the business was continued by his sons, Robert, John and Joseph, who in 1862 leased a new factory site in Clementhorpe close to the river Ouse. The new location allowed raw materials to be shipped directly to the factory’s warehouses from the Humber Estuary. The company was renamed Joseph Terry & Sons and the St Helen’s Square shop became a shop and restaurant. In 1895 the business was incorporated as Joseph Terry & Sons Ltd.
In the 1860s only 13 of the company’s 400 products were chocolate, but as demand grew Terry’s opened a specialist department to develop a wider range of chocolate products. In the 1920s the company expanded significantly with the construction of a new purpose built factory on Bishopthorpe Road, at its peak employing 2,500 workers. Managed by Frank and Noel Terry, sons of Joseph Terry junior, the new Chocolate Works factory began production on the Terry’s Chocolate Apple in 1926 and the famous Chocolate Orange in 1931, followed by Terry’s All Gold boxed chocolates in 1932.
In 1963 Terry’s was sold to the Forte Group and in 1975 it was bought by United Biscuits before passing, in 1993, into the ownership of Kraft Foods, where it was amalgamated with Jacobs Suchard to form Terry’s Suchard and later became part of Mondelez International. The Chocolate Works factory ceased production in 2005 and the site was consequently sold for redevelopment. Today, Terry’s Chocolate Oranges and Terry’s All Gold are still produced by Mondelez International.

The archive is arranged in eight broad divisions, which reflect the main functions of the company: governance; administration; finance; shares and dividends; trade; production; marketing; and estate.

Records are open to the public, subject to the overriding provisions of relevant legislation, including data protection laws. 24 hours' notice is required to access photographic material.

The archive was gifted to the Borthwick Institute by Kraft Foods UK in 2005. A further addition was made to the archive in 2007.

The origins of Terry’s can be traced to 1767 when William Bayldon and Robert Berry opened a shop in York selling candied peel, lozenges and other sweetmeats. In 1823 Bayldon and Berry were joined by Joseph Terry who had married Bayldon’s niece, Harriet Atkinson. Shortly afterwards Bayldon left the business and Berry was succeeded by his son George, forming the partnership Terry & Berry. George left in 1828 and the business, by then based in St Helen’s Square with a factory in Brearly Yard, was renamed simply Terry’s of York.
The business soon expanded as Terry began to introduce a wider range of products, using the nearby rail links to supply towns and cities across the North of England, as well as London. By 1840 Terry’s was producing boiled sweets, candied peel, mint cakes, gum balls, marmalade and medicated lozenges.
Joseph Terry died in 1850 and the business was continued by his sons, Robert, John and Joseph, who in 1862 leased a new factory site in Clementhorpe close to the river Ouse. The new location allowed raw materials to be shipped directly to the factory’s warehouses from the Humber Estuary. The company was renamed Joseph Terry & Sons and the St Helen’s Square shop became a shop and restaurant. In 1895 the business was incorporated as Joseph Terry & Sons Ltd.
In the 1860s only 13 of the company’s 400 products were chocolate, but as demand grew Terry’s opened a specialist department to develop a wider range of chocolate products. In the 1920s the company expanded significantly with the construction of a new purpose built factory on Bishopthorpe Road, at its peak employing 2,500 workers. Managed by Frank and Noel Terry, sons of Joseph Terry junior, the new Chocolate Works factory began production on the Terry’s Chocolate Apple in 1926 and the famous Chocolate Orange in 1931, followed by Terry’s All Gold boxed chocolates in 1932.
In 1963 Terry’s was sold to the Forte Group and in 1975 it was bought by United Biscuits before passing, in 1993, into the ownership of Kraft Foods, where it was amalgamated with Jacobs Suchard to form Terry’s Suchard and later became part of Mondelez International. The Chocolate Works factory ceased production in 2005 and the site was consequently sold for redevelopment. Today, Terry’s Chocolate Oranges and Terry’s All Gold are still produced by Mondelez International.

This material has not yet been catalogued. A partial box list is available for consultation, please contact the Borthwick Institute for more information.

Includes video cassettes, cinefilm reels, and slides. Access to audiovisual material may be restricted due to technical requirements, please contact the Borthwick Institute for more information.

Created 02.11.15
Revised 05.08.16

A reprographics service is available to researchers subject to the access restrictions outlined above. Copying will not be undertaken if there is any risk of damage to the document. Copies are supplied in accordance with the Borthwick Institute for Archives' terms and conditions for the supply of copies, and under provisions of any relevant copyright legislation. Permission to reproduce images of documents in the custody of the Borthwick Institute must be sought.

Further accruals are not expected.

Administrative records have been retained by Kraft Foods.
Audiovisual material from the Terry's Archive has been transferred to the Yorkshire Film Archive.
Terry's packaging material is held by the Castle Museum, York

Francesca Taylor, 'Unwrapping the Terry's Chocolate Apple', from the Borthwick Blog, September 2013 (http://borthwickinstitute.blogspot.com/2013/09/unwrapping-terrys-chocolate-apple.html)

Published

GB 193