Fry, Elizabeth

(1780–1845)

   Philanthropist.

   Fry was born Elizabeth Gurney in Norwich, England, and married the London merchant, Joseph Fry. She was a devout member of the Society of Friends and in 1811 was admitted as a ‘minister’. She is remembered as a pioneer of prison reform. In 1813 she began reading the Bible to the female prisoners in Newgate and by 1818 she was considered sufficiently expert to be giving evidence on the state of the nation’s prisons to a Parliamentary committee. Despite having a large family, she continued to work for the betterment of prisons both in Britain and abroad while, at the same time, she also campaigned for hostels for the homeless. After her death a hostel for discharged prisoners was named after her in London. Her work was inspired by her religious faith and her philanthropy was combined with an active desire to spread the gospel.

   Elizabeth Fry, Memoir, edited by two of her daughters, 2^nd edn (1848);

   J. Kent, Elizabeth Fry (1962).