2-982-522 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Refuge for Female Convicts at Fulham, [London], 1858. The inmates, '... though apparently left very much at liberty...are still under that degree of superintendence which, while it ensures regularity, does not manifest itself in control...Varied and continuous industrial employment, combined with religious, moral, and school instruction, and great liberty of action, are the leading features of the discipline, rising at a quarter before six and going to bed at nine. The daily routine comprises prayers morning and evening...washing, laundry-work, cooking, baking, house and needle work, employment in the garden and grounds...To those who are practically acquainted with the class of women under consideration, and are aware of the difficulties with which they are surrounded on discharge, liable as they are to meet the scorn of the world on the one hand and its still more dangerous allurements on the other, it will be a matter of astonishment that so many are doing well, either with their own families, or in service, or otherwise gaining an honest livelihood...In the attainment of this result the authorities speak most gratefully of the effective assistance they have derived from the Prisoner-Aid Society and Elizabeth Fry Refuge...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.