Elizabeth Fry
Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845), British prison reformer, born Elizabeth Gurney. She was ordained as a Quaker preacher in 1811. In 1813 she visited Newgate prison and, horrified by conditions there, began to campaign for prison reform. She formed an association for female prisoners in 1817 and subsequently visited gaols in northern England and Scotland with her brother Joseph, publishing an influential report in 1819. She later campaigned for improvements in the treatment of prisoners and the insane throughout Europe.
