Born: 21 May 1780, United Kingdom
Died: 12 October 1845
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: Elizabeth Gurney Fry, Mrs. Joseph Fry, Elizabeth or Betsy Gurney, The Angel of the Prisons, The Female Howard
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
English philanthropist. She was the daughter of John Gurney of Norwich, and her family belonged to the society of Friends. In 1800 she was married to Joseph Fry, and in 1810 she became a minister. After her first visit to Newgate prison in 1813, she began efforts which resulted in establishing a school and manufactory within the prison, organized a ladies’ association for the reformation of the prisoners, and devoted all her energies to the promotion of prison reform. Within a few years her influence was apparent in most of the jails, houses of correction, lunatic asylums, and infirmaries of the United Kingdom. From 1837 to 1842 she made several journeys in France and in Northern and Central Europe, visiting prisons, and rendered valuable service bv expounding her plans of improvement to the public authorities. The noble work of this humane and kindly woman is described in “Memoirs of Elizabeth Fry, edited by Two of her Daughters” (two volumes, London 1847).