Fry
Fry names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Fry SIR EDWARD. British lawyer
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
SIR EDWARD. British lawyer. He was born at Bristol, Eng., in 1827, and was educated at Bristol College and University College, London. He was admitted to the bar in 1854, and became Queen's Council and Bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1869. He presided over the Royal Commission on the Irish Lord Acts in 1897-1898; was Conciliator in the S. Wales Colliery Dispute in 1898; Chairman of the Departmental Committee on the Patent Laws in 1900; Arbitrator between the United States and Mexico in the Pious Funds case 1902, and Ambassador Extraordinary and First British Plenipotentiary to the Hague Peace Conference in 1907. He was successively Judge of the High Court, of the Chancery Division, and of Appeal. He died in 1918. His works include: "The Doctrine of Election"; "Treatise on the Specific Performance of Contracts"; "British Mosses"; "Studies by the by the way."
Fry ELIZABETH (GURNEY)
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
ELIZABETH (GURNEY), an English philanthropist and prison reformer; born in Earlham, Earlham, Norfolk, Eng- Larinam, land, May 21, 1780. Brought up a Quaker by her family, she did not adapt her mode of life to that prescribed by the more orthodox of the sect till 1798, being then induced to do so by the preaching of William Savery, an American Friend traveling in England. This change was consummated by her marriage, in 1800, with Joseph Fry , himself Friend." In 1810 Mrs. Fry joined the a "plain ministry, and thenceforward devoted herself to Christian service. By her exertions, important reforms were effected in the prison systems of Great Britain, France and Germany. She died in Ramsgate, Oct. 12 , 1845.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both lives were closed when Collier's wrote in 1921 — Elizabeth Fry died in 1845, Sir Edward in 1918 — and the factual outlines here still stand. What has moved is their afterlife: Elizabeth Fry was the face of the Bank of England's £5 note from 2002 until it was withdrawn in favour of a Churchill polymer note in 2017, and she is now routinely taught as the founder of modern prison reform alongside John Howard. Sir Edward's "Treatise on the Specific Performance of Contracts" is still cited by lawyers simply as "Fry", while the Hague arbitration work Collier's lists led on to the Permanent Court of Arbitration that still sits in the Peace Palace; his son Roger Fry, unmentioned here, became the more famous name as the art critic who introduced Post-Impressionism to Britain.
Written for this edition, 2026.