Elizabeth Fry

A ‘living nightmare’ would scarcely describe the misery of the women and their children in Newgate prison in London early in the nineteenth century. Shocked at their condition, Elizabeth Fry began a school for the children in 1812. At first, lessons were surrounded by drunken women prisoners chewing and spitting tobacco, swearing and singing disgusting songs. Gradually she won their friendship and taught them basic hygiene and child-care. Within weeks the living nightmare had been changed into a place of peaceful work. News spread fast and other prisons introduced the same reforms. Elizabeth was far ahead of her time in believing that prison should prepare prisoners for life after their release. She also fought hard to change the law that allowed women to be hanged for crimes as small as stealing socks or teaspoons.

When she was invited to give evidence to Parliament, Elizabeth claimed that she was constantly amazed at the power and influence of the Bible to change the lives of even the most cruel and immoral of women. She believed that to deal effectively with crime the heart had to be changed, and that was something only God could do.

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