Elizabeth fry why is she famous

Most people thought this was the way things should be or believed nothing could be done to change the entrenched system. Elizabeth Fry disagreed on both accounts and pushed for a number of prison reforms we still practice today.

The daughter of an English banker, the year-old Elizabeth married Joseph Fry, a wealthy tea dealer. Children came quickly, eventually numbering When she had rededicated her life to Christ at age 18, she wanted to help the downtrodden. So as a young bride and mother, she gave medicine and clothes to the homeless and helped establish the Sisters of Devonshire Square, a nursing school. In , at age 33, her attention turned to the female prisoners in London's Newgate prison. She began to visit the prison almost daily, and what she found there horrified her.

At Newgate, women awaiting trial for stealing apples were crammed into the same cell as women who had been convicted of murder or forgery both capital crimes. Women ate, defecated, and slept in the same confined area. If an inmate had children, they accompanied her to prison and lived in the same inhumane conditions. For those without help from family, friends, or charities, the options were to beg and to steal food, or to starve to death.

Many women begged for alcohol as well, languishing naked and drunk. Punishments for rich people were very different from those for poor people.

A poor child who poached stole a rabbit might be transported travel by prison ship to Australia. A person with some money who poached a rabbit might be fined, then set free.

In Elizabeth organised a group to help female prisoners at Newgate prison. She provided items for the women so they could sew, knit and make goods to sell. She started a prison school for the children to give them something to do.

In Elizabeth was asked to speak to people in Parliament about the prisons. The Gaol prison Act was passed by Parliament, and some improvements were made. Female warders now looked after female prisoners. It moved to Reading in where the work continues in her memory.

Times have changed and the Elizabeth Fry Charity, although retaining its charitable status, now owns and manages a hostel defined as an Independently Managed Approved Premises. It receives funding through a contract with the Ministry of Justice to provide and manage the Approved Premises and fundraises to provide vital additional services to the women we support.

The organisation is regulated by the Charity Commission and governed by the applicable laws of England and Wales. Please complete the below form and select the relevent subject in order for us to best respond to your message. Please select the checkbox if you are happy for us to store your data:. Subject: Referral Information Enquiries.