By Jannat Panhwar Class 7th The
Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to make the treatment of prisoners more humane, and she was supported in her efforts by the reigning monarch. Since 2001, she has been depicted on the Bank of England £5 note.
Birth and family background
Elizabeth Gurney was born in Gurney Court England to a Quaker family. Her family home as a child was Her father, John Gurney, was a partner in Gurney's bank. Her mother, Catherine, was a part of the Barclay family, who were among the founders of Barclays Bank. Her mother died when
Awakening of social concern
At the age of 18, young
She met Joseph Fry (1777 – 1861), a banker and also a Quaker, when she was twenty years old. They married on
Joseph and Elizabeth Fry lived in Plashet House in East Ham between 1809 and 1829, then moved to
Prison work
Prompted by a family friend, Stephen Grellet, Fry visited Newgate prison. The conditions she saw there horrified her. The women's section was overcrowded with women and children, some of whom had not even received a trial. They did their own cooking and washing in the small cells in which they slept on straw. Elizabeth Fry often as in said in the book of prisons volume three that she actually stayed the nights in some of the prisons and invited nobility to come and stay and see the conditions they lived in.
She returned the following day with food and clothes for some of the prisoners. She was unable to further her work for nearly 4 years because of difficulties within the Fry family, including financial difficulties in the Fry bank. Fry returned in 1816 and was eventually able to find a prison school for the children who were imprisoned with their parents. She began a system of supervision and required the women to sew and to read the Bible. In 1817 she helped found the Association for the Reformation of the Female Prisoners in Newgate. This led to the eventual creation of the British Ladies' Society for Promoting the Reformation of Female Prisoners, widely described by biographers and historians as constituting the first "nationwide" women's organization in
Thomas Fowell Buxton, Fry's brother-in-law, was elected to Parliament for
Other humanitarian work
Elizabeth Fry also helped the homeless, establishing a "nightly shelter" in
After her husband went bankrupt in 1828, Fry's brother became her business manager and benefactor. Thanks to him her work went on and expanded.
In 1840 Fry opened a training school for nurses. Her programmer inspired Florence Nightingale, who took a team of Fry's nurses to assist wounded soldiers in the Crimean War.
Death
Elizabeth Fry died from a stroke in
Memorials
Two plaques commemorate her birthplace, at
On the campus of The University of East Anglia there is a modern building named in her honour, it is home to the university's School of Social Work and Psychology and is used many other schools for general teaching.
Her resting place at the former Society of Friends Burial Ground, off
Elizabeth Fry is also depicted on two panels of the Quaker Tapestry, panels E5 and E6.
In February 2007 a new plaque was placed in her honour on the Friends Meeting House in
The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies honours her memory by advocating for women who are in the criminal justice system. They also celebrate and promote a National Elizabeth Fry Week in
Since 2001 Fry has been depicted on the reverse of £5 notes issued by the Bank of England. She is shown reading to prisoners at Newgate Prison. The design also incorporates a key, representing the key to the prison which was awarded to Fry in recognition of her work.
There is an Elizabeth Fry Ward in
In the Lady Chapel of mancester's Anglican Cathedral one of the portrait windows of Noble Women on the West wall of the Chapel features Elizabeth Fry.
On the former British Television series Top of the pops there is a statue of Elizabeth Fry in the lobby of the Old Bailey set.