Elizabeth Fry (last post)

She could feel at last 
the pleasure of having with my children the double tie, not only of mother and children, but a friendship formed upon its own grounds. I certainly think that in no common degree my children feel me their familiar friend.

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The effect Elizabeth Fry had on people who met her:

Worldly people went away temporarily aware at least that life was short, that there might be a God, that they could do something, if they tried, to improve suffering in others less fortunate than themselves.

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Again, the tension Fry felt between home and outside work:

Elizabeth became increasingly restless. There was so much to do, so many opportunities were open to her, such prompt results occurred in reform wherever she appeared, albeit not within her own obstinate family circle. She felt driven hither and thither in the effort to work - ‘while it is yet day’. And constantly she faced a conflict of heart. She didn’t want to disregard her husband’s protest about being away from home too much; she didn’t want to leave him, or her family. But she felt drawn to her work.

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Fry and the role of women in the 1800s:

She was called to give evidence before a Committee of the House of Commons on the Prisons of the Metropolis. She was the first woman other than a queen to be called into the councils of the government in an official manner to advise them on matters of public concern.

The only respectable paid occupation open to an educated woman was that of governess. The right to vote was still limited to the higher taxpayers among men and the dream of ever granting it to women had hardly dawned in the boldest minds. Yet the early nineteenth century was remarkable for the growing influence of women on national affairs. Elizabeth Fry, Caroline Norton, Harriet Martineau and Florence Nightingale each left her mark indelibly on the course of English law. The beautiful Caroline Norton fought for and won the legal right of a mother to share in the company and education of her children after separation from a brutal husband. While Harriet Martineau, through her journalism and writing, proved an ardent advocate of social reform. On the whole, these women used intelligence and information, clarity of mind and a firm purpose as their weapons, rather than beauty or charm. Elizabeth Fry was the forerunner of these women and was the most shy although she was learning to manage her timidity.

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Treat prisoners as if they were redeemable; treat the mentally ill as far as possible as if they were sane; teach children, but do not overwork them or treat them harshly – these, in various contexts and applications, were the tenets of Elizabeth Fry’s gospel. 

And they carried weight; gradually producing results. In Russia, Germany and Denmark, in Holland, France, Scotland, Ireland and England chains were removed, old cruelties were stopped, men gaolers ceased to control women prisoners, the mentally ill were allowed books and occupations and sunshine and to sit at table for their meals instead of being treated like animals. And all prompted by the word of Elizabeth Fry.

Elizabeth Fry: 
wife, mother, Quaker;
prison reformer; 
campaigner against slavery & capital punishment;
campaigner for nursing and education reform &
reform of treatment of women convicts being sent to Australia;
and so much more!
1780-1845