Richard R. Terry (1864–1938) was a pioneering English organist, choral director, and composer who revitalized Tudor church music in the Catholic tradition. Born in Ellington, Northumberland, he began playing organ at age 11 and trained at schools in South Shields, St Albans, and London. By 1881, he worked as a pupil teacher in Jarrow, later studying at Oxford (1887–89) and Cambridge (1888–90), where he became a choral scholar at King's College under influences like Charles Villiers Stanford and Arthur Henry Mann.Leaving Cambridge without a degree in 1890, Terry taught music at Bedford County School and served as organist in Antigua (1892) and Highgate School (1895). Converting to Catholicism in 1896, he joined Downside School as organist and director, igniting his passion for Latin polyphony by composers like William Byrd and Thomas Tallis, inspired by Gregorian chant revivals at Solesmes Abbey.In 1901, Cardinal Herbert Vaughan appointed him Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral, where the choir premiered Byrd's masses and motets by Palestrina. Terry's tenure (1901–24) earned acclaim, including a 1911 Durham D.Mus. honoris causa and a special congress on early English music. However, tensions with successor Cardinal Bourne over finances, post-WWI staff shortages, and Terry's external commitments led to his 1924 resignation amid criticisms of erratic behavior and neglect.His legacy endures: he edited performing editions of Byrd, Tallis, Morley, and others for Novello; published psalters, the Westminster Hymnal (1912), and shanty collections (1921); and initiated the Tudor Church Music series for Oxford University Press. Knighted in 1922, Terry composed hymns (e.g., "Highwood," "Billing"), carols (e.g., "Myn Lyking"), anthems, and masses, shaping 20th-century English choral traditions and carol revivals.