Terry was the eldest son of Charles Terry, a physician, and Ellen Octavia Prichard. After attending
St Paul's Cathedral School,
King's College School, and
Lancing College, he was an undergraduate at
Clare College, Cambridge, where he obtained a B.A. in history (2nd class) in 1886 and an M.A. in 1891. He held lectureships in history at Durham College of Science (now part of the
University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne), the
University of Aberdeen and the
University of Cambridge. In 1901 he married Edith Mary Allfrey of Newport Pagnell, daughter of Francis Allfrey, a brewer; the marriage was childless. He was appointed
Burnett-Fletcher Professor of History and Archaeology at the
University of Aberdeen from 1903 until his retirement in 1930. He served as president of the Association of Scottish History. Terry was also known as a composer and amateur musician. In 1898 he became conductor of the Aberdeen University Choral and Orchestral Society, with roughly 150 singers and 70 instrumentalists; and in 1909 he founded the Aberdeen and North East of Scotland Music Festival. Terry had a close professional and personal association with
Edward Elgar, both being involved in the
Three Choirs Festival in the cathedrals of
Hereford,
Gloucester and
Worcester. Terry arranged for Elgar to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen in 1906 and four years later helped with the proofreading of the original manuscript of the
violin concerto, which Elgar later bequeathed to him. Terry later gifted this volume to his colleague at the University of Aberdeen
Sir John Marnoch ==Works==