Who was Elizabeth Fry?
Prison Reformer and Quaker.
Date and Place of Birth:
21st May 1780, Gurney Court, Magdalen Street,
Norwich, Norfolk, England.
Family Background:
Christened Elizabeth Gurney. Daughter of a wealthy
Quaker banker and merchant. Her mother, Catherine, was a member
of the Barclay family the founders of Barclays Bank.
Education:
Schooled at home by family. She was expected
to devote at least two hours a day in silent prayer. Looked after
her other brothers and sisters from the age of 12.
Chronology/Biography of Elizabeth Fry:
1768: Her family
move from Norwich to Earlham Hall which is now in the grounds of
the University of East Anglia.
1792: Death of her
mother.
1797: Elizabeth begins
sunday school and starts visiting the sick.
1798: She hears William
Savery from America give a talk at a Quaker meeting and feels she
has a religious experience.
1799: She feels
guilty for enjoying the profane pleasures of the theatre in London
and begins to dress in plain clothes and lead a life of prayer.
She meets John Fry, a merchant and also a Quaker. She refuses his
offer of marriage.
1800: She finally
accepts to Marry John Fry. the couple move to London and finally
settle at St Mildred's Court, Poultry in the City of London.
1801: Birth of her
daughter Katherine.
1802: Birth of Fry's
second child, also a daughter called Rachel. Elizabeth is very ill
after the childbirth.
1804: Birth of her
first son, John.
1806: Fry is appointed
as a visitor to the school and workhouse by the Friends of Gracechurch
Street Meeting House. Birth of her fourth child William.
1807: Birth of her
fifth child Richenda.
1808: Death of her
her husband's father.
1809: The family
move to Plashet House in East Ham. This is a larger home and was
Joseph's father's house until his death. Elizabeth begins schooling
for the local neighbourhood and encourages children to be vaccinated.
Birth of her sixth child Joseph. Death of Elizabeth's father.
1811: Birth of her
seventh child, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Fry becomes a Quaker Minister
and begins to preach and to travel further afield.
1812: Birth of her
eighth child Hannah.
1813: The family
have to drastically reduce their spending due to the privations
of the Napoleonic War. A French Quaker Minister and former aristocrat
visits Britain and is horrified by conditions in Newgate Prison.
He contacts Elizabeth for help as she is a family friend. ELizabeth
visits the prison with clothing and is shocked by what she sees.
1814: Birth of her
ninth child Louisa. Again she is ill after the childbirth but still
continues to send clothing to the prison. Death of her brother John.
1815: Death of her
daughter Elizabeth, affectionately known as Betsy.
1816: Birth of her
tenth child Samuel. Joseph is now a banker and his business is in
trouble and the family are forced to move back to St Mildred's Court.
She continues to visit Newgate Prison and the children incarcerated
there and has the idea for a school.
1817: Joseph and
Elizabeth convince the authorities to build a school. Elizabeth
forms the "Association for the Reformation of the Female Prisoners
in Newgate". This widely seen by historians to be the first
national women's organisation in Britain. A group of ladies visit
the prison and take clothing. This is picked up by the newspapers.
She also worked on efforts to improve the treatment of prisoners
that were deported to Australia.
1818: Elizabeth
Fry speaks to a Parliamentary Commission and is the first woman
to do so. SHe recommends that women should look after women prisoners.
Elizabeth and her brother appeal to the Home Secretary for clemency
for the lives of the forgers Charlotte Newman, Mary Ann James and
Harriet Skelton but are unsuccessful. The wife of King George the
Third, Queen Charlotte asks to speak with Elizabeth at the Mansion
House. Elizabeth suggests that prisoners should be taken through
the streets in closed vehicles to prevent the mob throwing stones
at them. She embarks on a visit to the North of England and Scotland
and visits prisons on the way. Her brother in law Thomas Fowell
Buxton is elected as an M.P for Weymouth and is now able to project
her cause in parliament. He publishes a book called "Inquiry
into Prison Discipline" which looks at Elizabeth's work.
1819: Elizabeth
goes to Kent to recover from illness. She writes a report about
her experiences in Northern England and Scotland. Back in London
she founds a night shelter for young people.
1821: Death of her
sister Priscilla. Elizabeth founds "The British Ladies Society
for Promoting the Reformation of Female Prisoners". She and
her daughters visit prisons in Wakefield, Sheffield, Leeds York,
Durham Newcastle, Nottingham, Lincoln Carlisle and Lancaster and
establish ladies committees in those towns.
1822: Birth of her
eleventh child Daniel. Her first grandchild is also born on the
same day, November 1st.
1823: The "Gaols"
act sees prisoner segregation for the first time and a reduction
in the number of crimes for which people could be executed.
1824: A school for
hardened criminals is set up in Chelsea. She visits Brighton for
the good of her health and sets up the Brighton District Visiting
Society to help poor people. This sets the pattern for similar institutions
across the country.
1826: She continues
her prison visiting in the Midlands and gives evidence to the Police
Committee in Parliament.
1827: Visits Ireland
and its asylums and prisons. She argues against capital punishment
for women.
1828: Joseph Fry's
banking business goes bankrupt and ELizabeth is accused of using
some of his funds for her projects. Her brother's bank underwrites
the debts thus securing her financial security.
1829: Elizabeth
and Joseph go to live with their eldest son William to reduce costs
and then move on to a smaller house in Upton Lane.
1831: Elizabeth
meets the young Princess Victoria and several members of the Royal
Family.
1832: She again
appears before a House of Commons committee.
1833: She visits
the Channel Islands is appalled by the state of prisons there as
they are not under full British control.
1834: She visits
prisons in Scotland with her family.
1835: She speaks
to the House of Lords on the sate of Prisons.The Prison Act makes
conditions harsher not lighter favouring the United States model.
1838: Makes an official
trip to France with Joseph. Holds a meeting at the Westminster Meeting
House which is attended by nobility from Britain and the Continent.
1839: Again visits
France.
1840: She holds
a meeting with Queen Victoria. In june she attends the World Ant-Slavery
convention at Exeter Hall, London. Fry opened a new school for nurses
which was to inspire Florence Nightingale,
who took some of Elizabeth's nurses to the Crimean War.
1841: She travels
in Holland, Denmark and Germany. On her return she holds meetings
with Prince Albert and Sir Robert Peel.
1843: She makes
her last visit to France.
1844: She goes to
Bath to take the waters as she is increasing ill health. Her son
William dies and her two daughters Juliana and Emma die of Scarlet
fever.
1845: Death of her
Rother in law. She attends the Friends Meeting House in Norwich.
The annual meeting of the Ladies British Society is held at Plaistow
Friends Meeting House to accommodate her illness.
(1849:) After her
death the first Elizabeth Fry refuge was opened by the Lord Mayor
of London at 195 Mare Street, Hackney and was funded by subscriptions.
Written Works:
- 1827: "Observations,
on the visiting superintendence and government of female prisoners"
Marriage:
August 18th 1800: To Joseph Fry at Goats Lane
Quaker Meeting House, Norwich.
Date and Place of Death:
12th October 1845, Ramsgate, Kent, England of
a stroke.
Age at Death:
65.
Site of Grave:
Friend’s Burial Grounds, Barking, Essex, London.
Over a thousand people attended her funeral.
Places of Interest:
Friend’s Burial Grounds, Barking, London.
