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(Hernhusband ) was a nephew of Joseph Fry 1728-1787, founder of Fry’s Chocolate.
So you can see that I had considerable luck in finding reliable information on which to base my tree – that luck was further enhanced when computers became available to record this information, and made it possible to retrieve pictures, notes, relationships and sources of information as required. Perhaps the luckiest was that Elizabeth Fry had 11 children, and I am descended from her youngest child, Daniel Henry- usually known as Harry.
Another piece of luck occurred when a lawn bowls team from Western Australia visited Cohuna where my father lived. They noted the name on Dad’s hatband - W.G.Fry - and asked what the “G “ stood for – when he replied “Gurney” they said you must be related to the Frys in Busselton, WA. When he made contact, they were indeed related, and furthermore, had produced a book “The Frys of Shenfield and Crendon” which showed how Elizabeth Fry had been involved in the setting up of the Western Australian Company in 1840 – her cousin Elinor Bell was married to the Chief Commissioner of that Company.
My aunt Ella provided many original documents relating to family members, with valuable source material. It included a letter from Elizabeth Fry to Daniel Henry while he was at school (1837), and Francis Fry’s Indenture as a seaman in 1868. One piece of less than good luck – Joseph Fry ( husband of Elizabeth), was a tea merchant, and partner in the WS Fry Bank. Unfortunately that bank became insolvent in 1828 when investments in South America lost value . Gurneys salvaged the tea business, and kept Joseph as a salaried employee.
Many of the Frys and Gurneys were Quakers and as such were usually well educated, quite often wealthy business men, and interested in social reform.
As Quakers refused to take oaths , they were not allowed to serve on juries, or attend universities. So they set up their own schools and businesses, and with strict ethical standards often became extremely wealthy- in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Trial by Jury” the Judge admits “at length I became as rich as the Gurneys”
Elizabeth Fry , nee Gurney 1780 -1845 was one of the best known Quakers. There is a plaque in central London showing where she lived from 1800 to 1809, her statue stands in the entrance to the Old Bailey. Her portrait appeared on the English £5 note from 2002 to 2017
In 1813 she first visited Newgate Prison, then provided clothing for children, formed a school for children, provided sewing materials for women, sale of articles produced, and arranged for a female Superintendent. She spoke to women on convict ships, checked on conditions, and arranged for women to be taken to ships in closed carriages. She provided sewing materials –for occupation and sale on arrival. The “Rajah Quilt”, made by women prisoners on the convict ship Rajah, 1841, is held at the National Gallery Canberra
Other achievements included having her first child vaccinated against smallpox, then learning the procedure and vaccinating poor children in the area. She founded soup kitchens, established libraries for Coastguards, persuaded Queen Victoria to contribute to her “causes” and in 1840 founded the Institute of Nursing Sisters, some of whom went to the Crimean War with Florence Nightingale.