Fry, Margery (1874–1958)

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Fry, Margery (1874–1958)

English prison reformer. Born Sara Margery Fry in 1874; died 1958; attended Roedean and Somerville College, Oxford; never married; no children.

Began career as warden of the women's hostel at Birmingham University (1899–1904); during WWI, worked in France for Friends War Victims Relief Committee, after which she became secretary of the Penal Reform League, which was amalgamated (1921) as the Howard League for Penal Reform; served as chair of the league (1919–26), a period also marked by increasing involvement in campaign to abolish capital punishment; appointed a magistrate (1921); served as education advisor to Holloway Prison (1922) and as principal of Somerville College (1926–31).

See also Women in World History.