Richard was the fifth son of Joseph Drury and Ann Heath and the younger of the two brothers who emigrated with their father to Canada. He was christened at St. Nicholas Church Kenilworth on 4th. May 1806 (Ref: 01).

Richard like his brother he found work wherever he could to earn much needed cash and it is known he worked at the Fort at Penetanguishene during 1823 and was later hired to work on the ship 'Recovery' used by Lieut. Bayfield when surveying the Great Lakes.

In 1831 Richard returned to England to marry his childhood sweetheart Elizabeth Bishop (b.1807) daughter of Samuel Bishop and Elizabeth Clements of Kenilworth. They were married at St. Nicholas Parish Church Kenilworth on 4th. April 1831 (Ref:10). They returned to Canada and Edmund Drury, a brother of Richard, returned with them and set up home in Vespra Township.

We have already seen a connection between the Drury and the Bishop families of Kenilworth when Sarah was born to Ann Drury and the father was Samuel Bishop (Ref:97). The connection is reinforced by Richard's marriage to Elizabeth Bishop and there are also rumours that when he returned to England for his marriage he was, in fact, 'marrying into his own family'.

Whilst this has never been proven, or it's exact meaning found, the burial records (Ref:72)for St. Nicholas Church show a Drury being buried next to a Bishop. Although this is a tenuous link, a letter sent from Richard Drury and Elizabeth (ne. Bishop) in 1852, shortly after the death of Richard's brother, Joseph, confirms a definite link between the two families.

The letter (Ref.96) has been the subject of much discussion because of the difficulty in identifying the characters involved due to the fact that key pieces of information are unavailable The letter mentions the death of Joseph Drury and that of 'our dear mother'. The death of Joseph is recorded in the burials register in 1852, however, no other death could be linked with this letter for some time. Both the Drury and Bishop names were researched but there were no deaths in 1852 in either family, apart from that of Joseph, which could be linked with this letter.

Further research solved some the mystery. The 1851 census (Ref:57) shows s a Hannah Drury staying with an Ann Sturley at 39, Albion Row, Kenilworth. Hannah is listed as a granddaughter of Ann Sturley.

Having obtained this piece of information, a re-examination of the burial registers for 1852 reveals that Ann Sturley died on 5th. October 1852 at the age of 76 (Ref:16). The 'mother' referred to in the letter is, in fact, this Ann Sturley. The mystery is solved by a marriage between Ann Bishop (Heath / Drury) and Alex Sturley, shown in the 1841 census (Ref:85) which took place in 1835 (Ref:97). The letter, probably written to William and Hannah, refers almost certainly to the deaths of Ann Drury (Heath) and that of Joseph Drury (b.1798).

If this assumption is correct then it gives us the birth year and date of death of Ann Drury (Heath) who would have been born in Warwick in 1776 (Ref:16) (Ref:57).

It is also known that before Joseph left for Canada he spent some time in prison (Ref:98) and during this period Ann Drury was involved with Samuel Bishop, the father of her illegitimate child. It is unlikey that Ann married Samuel Bishop whilst Joseph was still alive and there is no evidence that a marriage took place, however, when Ann marries again to Alex Sturley (Ref:97) in 1835 she is named as Ann Bishop so probably did marry at some point. It is certain, however, that the two families lived closely together and this would explain the reference to the belongings of the two families.

The last point on this contentious issue is the involvement of the Edith who is mentioned as 'now living in the town of Barrie' and it has been thought for some time that she was related in some way. It was thought to have been referring to Edith Drury (b.1831) and daughter of Joseph and Edith, and recent searches carried out in Canada (*) have proven this to be the case and she obviously emigrated at some point before 1852.

During his lifetime Richard held many responsible positions in the community and in 1843 was named County Magistrate. He also held the office of Councillor for Oro Township from 1845 to 1849 and was appointed first Reeve (President of the village council) of Oro in 1851 holding office until 1856.

Richard died on 19th.December 1862 and was buried at St. James Anglican Cemetery, Crown Hill on 23rd, December 1862. He left a substantial estate consisting of many farms and property valued at $2282 which was disposed of amongst his children according to his Will. Elizabeth died some years later on 27th. November 1876 and is buried at St. James Anglican Cemetery, Crown Hill.

(Note: All Dates regarding events in Canada were supplied by Ruth Black Ref: 31)

* Search carried out in 2015 by Ingrid Sokolosky revealed the following:
The 1861 census shows Edith b. 1832 England, widowed living with Elizabeth Warren b. 1853, Emma Sandford b. 1848 & Alfred J Warren b. 1858, all 3 children in the house were born in Upper Canada (Ontario). Further searches in the 1871 census and related documents confirm the link to Edith Drury, daughter of Joseph & Edith

In 1831 Richard returned to England to marry his childhood sweetheart Elizabeth Bishop (b.1807) daughter of Samuel Bishop and Elizabeth Clements of Kenilworth. They were married at St. Nicholas Parish Church Kenilworth on 4th. April 1831 (Ref: 10). They returned to Canada and Edmond Drury, a brother of Richard, returned with them and set up home in Vespra Township

Ann c.1832 m.n/k d.1918
Joseph c.1833 m.n/k d.1920
Richard c.1834 m.n/k d.1910
Elizabeth c.1836 m.n/k d.1920
James c.1837 m.n/k d.1843
William c.1839 m.n/k d.1911
Thomas c.1839 m.n/k d.1915
Eliza c.1841 m.n/k d.n/k
Sophia c.1841 m.n/k d.n/k
Emma c.1846 m.n/k d.n/k
Clara c.1850 m.n/k d.1886