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Elizabeth Fry came to be known as the Genius of Mercy for her work on prison reform and other attempts to bring equality to the destitute and poor, not only in England but throughout Europe. She was greatly influenced by the American preacher William Savery who made her feel a higher calling to serve God as a Quaker and to forgo the life of luxury she could have had as the daughter of a wealthy man. Against the wishes of her family, she devoted herself to good works and tried to improve the lives of children by opening a school for the poor. Her father hoped that her marriage to another wealthy Quaker would deter her from wasting her youth on these pursuits but she only agreed to marry her future husband on condition that he allow her to continue what she saw as her mission in life. He did so but the arrival of children in rapid succession and her other wifely duties kept her busy for some time.
Elizabeth had a gift for public speaking which she put to use to influence reform of the prison system that until then had more or less left people to rot. She began in the women's prison at Newdegate where she won support by her empathy. She founded the association for the Improvement of Female Prisoners in 1817 with the object of establishing separation of the sexes, classification of criminals, female supervision of women, religious and secular instruction, and useful employment. Other institutions began to adopt similar methods. She was also concerned with the conditions of convicts transported to New South Wales, inducing the government to make proper regulation of the voyages of convict ships and arranging that arrivals in Australia be provided with accommodation and work. Her reforms attracted attention throughout Europe, with the royal families of Russia and Germany asking her advice on prison, school and asylum reforms. The hard years of labour took their toll and she finally succumbed to an illness in 1845. |