Elizabeth Fry, an English philanthropist, born at Bramerton, near Norwich, May 21, 1780, died in Ramsgate, Oct. 12, 1845. She was the daughter of John Gurney of Norwich. The family belonged to the society of Friends, but did not adhere strictly to its usages either in dress, language, or social habits. But in 1798 William Savery, an American Quaker, visited England, and by his means Elizabeth was converted to the strict piety and customs of a "plain Friend." In 1800 she was married to Joseph Fry, and in 1810 she became a minister. In 1813 she made her first visit to Newgate prison, and in 1817 succeeded in establishing a school and manufactory within the prison, organized a ladies' association for the reformation of the prisoners, and thenceforward devoted all her energies to the promotion of prison reform.Within a few years her influence was apparent in most of the jails, houses of correction, lunatic asylums, and infirmaries of the United Kingdom. From 1837 to 1842 she made several journeys in France and in northern and central Europe, visiting prisons, and expounding her plans of improvement to the public authorities.-See"Memoirs of Elizabeth Fry, with Extracts from her Journals and Letters, edited by Two of her Daughters (2 vols., London, 1847).