Tory

Tory

Tory [Irish tóraidhe, "pursuer"], name applied to members of the CONSERVATIVE PARTY and its antecedents. The name originated as an epithet for dispossessed Irish "papists" who plundered English settlers and soldiers in Ireland. It was applied 1679-80 to supporters of the succession of the duke of York (later James II, a Roman Catholic) to the English throne. From 1689 it was the name of the political party associated with conservative beliefs and later closely identified with the Church of England. The term survived as a nickname for the British Conservative Party and was applied by analogy to the Conservative Party that emerged in Canada in the 19th century. "Tory" is still the American term for supporters of Britain during the American Revolution; those who are called LOYALISTS in Canadian parlance.