The Late Mrs. Fry

The late Mrs. Fry, 1845. Portrait of 'the excellent and philanthropic lady', British prison reformer Elizabeth Fry, '...who for so many years devoted her time and her purse to ameliorate the miseries of the inmates of our various prisons...She gave much attention to the condition of female convicts and prisoners, at a time when our prison discipline and management were many degrees worse than they are now...About two years ago Mrs. Fry was seized with a pulmonary-complaint, but the proximate cause of her death was paralysis. It will be recollected that when the King of Prussia recently visited this country, his Majesty paid great attention to her, and visited her at her residence at Dagenham, in Essex. The whole of Mrs. Fry's family and the leading members of the Society of Friends were present at a public breakfast upon the occasion'. From "Illustrated London News", 1845, Vol VII. Artist Unknown. (Photo by The Print Collector/Heritage Images via Getty Images)