[4] In his youth, he added Somerset to his surname by deed poll, the Fry family originating from Wells in that county, and Plantagenet was a nickname which he adopted at university, relating to his advocacy of Richard III.
[5] Peter George Robin Fry was born in 1931, and was the third child and only son of a distinguished naval officer (created OBE in the 1953 New Year Honours) and pianist.
From this point on his father refused to subsidise him any more, so Fry found employment as a librarian and projectionist with the National Film Board of Canada.
In 1952 he inherited some money from his grandmother, left his job and married, against his parents' wishes, Audrey Russell whom he had known at medical school.
[11] In 1996, Fry was told he was dying of bowel cancer, but he refused treatment, and suffocated himself with a plastic bag at his home in Wattisfield, Suffolk at the age of 65,[5] after writing a letter explaining his actions to the coroner.