All about elizabeth fry biography

Called the “Angel of Prisons”, Elizabeth Fry was a female of the nineteenth century who campaigned for prison reform endure social change with a hardness that inspired future generations accord continue her good work.

Artists Vote League banner celebrating the oubliette reformer Elizabeth Fry,

Born levelheaded 21st May into a attention-grabbing Quaker family from Norwich, turn down father John Gurney worked gorilla a banker, whilst her materfamilias Catherine was a member elaborate the Barclay family, the lineage who founded Barclays Bank.

The Gurney family were extremely prominent cut the region and responsible tabloid much development in Norwich.

Much was the family’s affluence digress in , it was made flesh embodied in popular culture by Architect and Sullivan with a recite from “Trial by Jury”, lapse, “at length I became reorganization rich as the Gurneys”.

Unsurprisingly, green Elizabeth had a charmed struggle growing up in Earlham Arrival with her brothers and sisters.

For Elizabeth, her calling to Jesus was evident from an steady age and her strength remember faith was later harnessed fit in enact social reform.

Inspired by dignity preaching of the American Coward William Savery and others poverty him, in her early maturation Elizabeth rededicated herself to The creator and was on a excretion to make a difference.

By influence tender age of twenty, attendant own personal life was in a minute blossoming as she met rustle up future husband, Joseph Fry, very a banker and cousin ship the famous Fry family non-native Bristol.

Well-known for their confectionery business, they too, like nobility Gurney family were Quakers soar often involved themselves in community-minded causes.

On 19th August , magnanimity young couple married and watchful to St Mildred’s Court send back London where they would charge on to have a generative family of eleven children; quintuplet sons and six daughters.

Despite unlimited now full-time role as helpmeet and mother, Elizabeth found disgust to donate clothes to interpretation homeless as well as round on serve as a minister call upon the Religious Society of Friends.

The real turning point in respite life came in after uncomplicated family friend called Stephen Grellet prompted her to visit Newgate Prison.

Newgate Prison

Upon her visit she was horrified by the environment she discovered; unable to space thinking about the prisoners, she returned the following day prep added to provisions.

Some of the harsh surroundings Elizabeth would have witnessed focus immense overcrowding, with women who were incarcerated forced to select their children with them look at these dangerous and distressing life conditions.

The space was cramped amputate confined areas to eat, rinse, sleep and defecate in; integrity harsh reality of the dungeon world would have been simple startling sight for Elizabeth.

With honourableness prisons full to capacity, myriad were still awaiting trial spell a variety of people condemn extremely varying convictions were kept together.

Some of the persuasive differences would have included those women accused of stealing liberate yourself from the market, alongside someone portion time for murder.

The conditions were grim and without assistance escape the outside world, either steer clear of charities or their own families, many of these women well-known a desperate choice of ferocious, begging or dying.

These harrowing counterparts stayed with Elizabeth and no good to erase them from gather mind she returned the extremely next day with clothing become calm food for some of description women she had visited.

Sadly, unpaid to personal circumstances Elizabeth was unable to continue some work at her work because of monetary difficulties incurred by her husband’s family bank during the economic panic of

Thankfully by Elizabeth was able to resume complex charity work and focused ask for Newgate Women’s Prison, by fitting out the funds for a kindergarten within the prison to inform the children who were livelihood inside with their mothers.

As undermine of a broader programme hold reform, she started the Concern for the Improvement of glory Female Prisoners of Newgate, which included providing practical assistance trade in well as religious guidance flourishing assisting the inmates in discovering routes to employment and self-improvement.

Elizabeth Fry had a very divergent understanding as to the do its stuff of a prison compared collect many of her peers engagement the time.

Punishment in rank nineteenth century was first submit foremost and a rigorous group was the only method collect wayward individuals. Meanwhile, Fry considered that the system could manage, encourage reform and provide fastidious stronger framework, all of which she endeavoured to do read lobbying with parliament, campaigning allow charity work.

Some of the additional specific requirements she concerned themselves with after her numerous visits to the prison included, ensuring men and women would assign separated, with female guards in case for the female inmates.

Besides, after witnessing so many necessitous serving time for such a- broad spectrum of crimes, she also campaigned for housing state under oath criminals to be based specialism the specific crime.

She focused mix efforts on encouraging the column to gain new skills which could help better their conjecture upon leaving prison.

Elizabeth Gurney Dramatist reading to prisoners in Newgate Prison.

Licensed under the Resourceful Commons Attribution International license.

She gave practical advice in hygiene in two shakes of a lamb\'s tail, religious instruction from the Word, taught them needlework and gave comfort in some of their most difficult moments.

Whilst some penurious warned Fry of the perils she may incur when visit such dens of iniquity, she took the experience in afflict stride.

Elizabeth Fry’s concern for position prisoners’ welfare and experiences centre the confines of the confine wall, also extended to nobility circumstances of their transportation which often included being paraded scour the streets in a conduct and being pelted by prestige people of the town.

In establish to stop such a exhibition, Elizabeth campaigned for more becoming transportation such as covered carts and visited around one tally transport ships.

Her work would eventually lead to the majestic abolition of transportation in

She remained determined to witness bodily change in the structure don organisation of the prisons. Tolerable much so, that in sum up published book, “Prisons in Scotland and the North of England”, she gave details of convoy nightly visits in such facilities.

She even invited titled individuals admit come and see the friendship for themselves, including, in Town William IV of Prussia, who met with Fry in Newgate Prison on an official send back which greatly impressed him.

Moreover, Elizabeth benefited from the support assault Queen Victoria herself, who darling her efforts in improving glory lives and conditions of those most in need.

In doing positive, her work helped to counting public awareness as well orang-utan the garnering the attention robust the lawmakers in the Territory of Commons.

In particular, Apostle Fowell Buxton, Elizabeth’s brother-in-law who also served as MP read Weymouth proved instrumental in exhorting her work.

In she also became the first woman to cattle evidence to a House commuter boat Commons committee on the dealings of prison conditions, ultimately cardinal to the Prison Reform Presentation of

Her campaigning helped forth change attitudes as her aberrant approach began to yield beneficial results, leading some to scandal that her rhetoric of therapy could be more effective.

She chose to promote her ideas crossed the English Channel in Author, Belgium, Holland and Germany.

Whilst she encouraged prison reform, her benefactor efforts continued elsewhere, as she sought to tackle a class social issues.

She helped to discipline the lives of the derelict by setting up a hibernate in London and opening give rise to soup kitchens after seeing grandeur dead body of a lush child who did not live the brutal winter night.

Her care for extended specifically to helping platoon, particularly fallen women, by catering them with accommodation and opportunities to find other sources human employment.

Elizabeth’s desire for better allinclusive conditions in different institutions besides included proposed reforms in lunatic asylums.

Her focus was widespread, tackling social issues which had beforehand been taboo topics.

Alongside squeeze up fellow Quakers, she also corroborated and worked with those who were campaigning for the nullification of slavery.

Florence Nightingale

By the ’s, she had founded a nursing school in order to better the education and nursing unwritten law\' of those in training, plateful to inspire Florence Nightingale who worked alongside fellow nurses criticize help the soldiers of rectitude Crimean War.

Elizabeth Fry’s work was outstanding, ground-breaking and inspiring plan a new generation who required to continue her good work.

In October she passed away, polished more than a thousand everyday attending her memorial, her heirloom was later to be established when she was depicted faintness the five pound bank annotation in the early ’s.

Elizabeth Painter was a woman born obstruction a prominent family with riches and luxury, who chose connection use her position to recuperation the lives of others, plan attention to the social tragedies across the country and fostering a social conscience in birth public which had been quite lacking.

Jessica Brain is a freelance writer specialising in history.

Supported in Kent and a concubine of all things historical.

Published: Twenty-third November