Elizabeth Fry – «an angel of prisons»: British philanthropist and reformer in the assessments of contemporaries

Authors

  • S. A. Vasilieva Academy of Law and Management of Russian Federal Penitentiary Service

Keywords:

Elizabeth Fry, British prison reform, the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders, Quakers

Abstract

The article is devoted to Elizabeth Fry, the British social activist and the reformer of British prison system. The group of politically active Protestant Quakers, which included Fry’s family, had a great influence on the approval of new humanistic principles of criminal justice and the institutionalization of prison charity inBritain. The Quakers were first to talk about punishment as a means of re-education of a convicted person through religion and education. The paper is based on the analysis of a unique historical source not translated into Russian – Thomas Buxton’s “An inquiry, whether crime and misery are produced or prevented by our present system of prison discipline” (1818). A review of the first years of Fry’s philanthropic activity in the largest prison inLondonis presented. The author states that Fry formulated basic principles for the reform of women's prisons: the classification of convicts, women's supervision, organization of work, and spiritual enlightenment. “The Association for the Improvement of Female Prisoners” created by Fry wass acknowledged as the first national women's organization; the experience of matrons was borrowed to many European countries.

Author Biography

S. A. Vasilieva, Academy of Law and Management of Russian Federal Penitentiary Service

Candidate of Science in History, Associate Professor, Deputy of the Head of the Department of Philosophy and History, Academy of Law and Management of Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (Russia)

References

Библиографический список

Buxton T.F. An inquiry, whether crime and misery are produced or prevented by our present system of prison discipline: 3rd ed. London, 1818.

Fry K. Memoir of the Life of Elizabeth Fry: 2nd ed. Montclair, 1974.

Gaols and Houses of Correction // The Justice of the Peace and Parish Officer London. 1831. Vol. 2.

Hatton J. Betsy: The Dramatic Biography of Prison Reformer Elizabeth Fry. Oxford, 2005.

Johnson S. The Value of Kindness: The Story of Elizabeth Fry: 2nd ed. 1976.

Rose J. Elizabeth Fry, a biography. London & Basingstoke, 1980.

Rules for the Government of Gaols, Houses of Correction and Penitentiaries: 2nd ed. London, 1821.

Whitney J. Elizabeth Fry: Quaker Heroine. London, 1937.

Elizabeth Fry Helping society's outcasts and poor. URL: http://historysheroes.e2bn.org/hero/howviewed/108 (дата обращения: 15.06.2015).

Тревельян Дж.М. Социальная история Англии от Чосера до королевы Виктории. Смоленск, 2002.

Васильева С.А. «В темнице был, и вы пришли ко Мне» (Ранняя история пастырского тюремного служения в Англии) // Прикладная юридическая психология. 2015. № 1.

References

Buxton T.F. An inquiry, whether crime and misery are produced or prevented by our present system of prison discipline: 3rd ed. London, 1818.

Elizabeth Fry Helping society's outcasts and poor. URL: http://historysheroes.e2bn.org/hero/howviewed/108 (data obrashhenija: 15.06.2015).

Fry K. Memoir of the Life of Elizabeth Fry: 2nd ed. Montclair, 1974.

Gaols and Houses of Correction . The Justice of the Peace and Parish Officer. London, 1831. Vol. 2.

Hatton J. Betsy: The Dramatic Biography of Prison Reformer Elizabeth Fry. Oxford, 2005.

Johnson S. The Value of Kindness: The Story of Elizabeth Fry: 2nd ed. 1976.

Rose J. Elizabeth Fry, a biography. London & Basingstoke, 1980.

Rules for the Government of Gaols, Houses of Correction and Penitentiaries: 2nd ed. London, 1821.

Trevel'yan Dzh.M. Sotsial'naya istoriya Anglii ot Chosera do korolevy Viktorii. Smolensk, 2002.

Vasil'eva S.A. «V temnitse byl, i vy prishli ko Mne» (Rannyaya istoriya pastyrskogo tyuremnogo sluzheniya v Anglii). Prikladnaya yuridicheskaya psikhologiya. 2015. № 1..

Whitney J. Elizabeth Fry: Quaker Heroine. London UK, 1937.

Published

2020-07-22

How to Cite

Vasilieva, S. A. (2020). Elizabeth Fry – «an angel of prisons»: British philanthropist and reformer in the assessments of contemporaries. PERM UNIVERSITY HERALD. History, 30(3), 143–148. Retrieved from https://press.psu.ru/index.php/history/article/view/3479