Prison reformer. Born as Elizabeth Gurney in Norwich into a Quaker banking family. Priscilla Wakefield was her aunt. She first visited Newgate prison in 1813 and was appalled at the conditions of female prisoners. She campaigned and was influential in the introduction of the Prison Act of 1823. She is represented on the English £5 note.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Elizabeth Fry
Commemorated ati
Elizabeth Fry
Mrs Elizabeth Fry, 1780 - 1845, prison reformer, lived here, 1800 to 1809. T...
New Lansdowne Club
The Elizabeth Fry Refuge, 1849 -1913, to help women in need. Elizabeth Fry, 1...
Other Subjects
Cleveland Street Workhouse
Created with an Act of Parliament in 1775, initially for the parish of St Paul in Covent Garden, this is the most intact example of an 18th century workhouse institution left standing in London. Jo...
Blind Veterans UK
This charity was founded at the start of WW1 by Arthur Pearson, the newspaper magnate who became blind in later life, as The Blinded Soldiers' and Sailors' Care Committee. February 1915 it opened t...
Friendly Female Society
From Bridge to Nowhere: "The Female Friendly Society {sic} was started in 1802, by and for women, operating “by love, kindness, and absence of humbug”. It gave small grants to “poor, aged women of ...
Morley College
This college has its origins in the temperance Royal Victoria Coffee and Music Hall. In 1882, using the back-stage and the dressing rooms of the theatre, Emma Cons introduced Tuesday “penny” lectur...
Commissioner Adelaide Cox
In 1927 she was writing as “Commissioner Adelaide Cox, CBE, until recently Leader of the Women’s Social Work of the Salvation Army”. Our colleague, Andrew Behan provides: Born in Childs Hill, Hen...