British Banknotes 5 Pound Sterling note 2002 Elizabeth Fry
Bank of England
Obverse: Portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at right. On the left side is a hologram window with sitting Britannia (as logo of Bank of England). Denominations in numerals are in top corners. In center in words. Signatures: Merlyn Lowther, Chief Cashier of the Bank of England.
Reverse: Portrait of Elizabeth Fry (1780 – 1845) by Charles Robert Leslie from the National Portrait Gallery, London.; Elizabeth Fry reading the bible to prisoners at Newgate Prison in London, 1823. In recognition of her work she was awarded the key to the prison, which is used in the design of the banknote.
Elizabeth Fry visited Newgate prison. Prison conditions horrified her. The women's section was overcrowded with women and children, some of whom had not even received a trial. Women and children did their own cooking and washing in the small cells in which they slept. At that time, people in England could be executed for over 200 crimes.
Watermark: Queen Elizabeth II.
Watermark - hold the £5 note up to the light and you will see an image of the Queen’s portrait.
Ultra-violet feature - if you look at the front of the £5 note under a good quality ultra-violet light, the number 5 appears in bright red and green whilst the background remains dull in contrast.
Hologram - there is a hologram on the foil patch on the front of the £5 note. If you tilt the note, the image will change between a brightly coloured picture of Britannia and the number 5.
Metallic thread - there is a metallic thread embedded in every banknote. This appears as silver dashes on the back of the £5 note. If you hold the note up to the light the metallic thread will appear as a continous dark line.
Date of Issue: 21 May 2002.
Signatures: Merlyn Lowther (2002-2003) or Andrew Bailey (2004) (Chief Cashiers).
Design: Roger Withington.
Printer: Bank of England Printing Works, Debden.
Original Size: 135 x 70 mm.
Texts: Bank of England; I Promise to Pay the Bearer on Demand the Sum of Five Pounds; London, for the Governor and Company of the Bank of England.
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In preparation for the "E Series" of notes, issued by the Bank of England, photographs of The Queen were especially commissioned by the Bank. The photographs were taken by Don Ford in 1985-1986, one of the Bank’s technical photographers, under the direction of Roger Withington. Mr. Withington designed the notes of the "E Series" and prepared the engraving of the Queen, which appeared on this series of notes, from one of the photographs taken by Mr. Ford. The portrait shows Queen Elizabeth wearing Queen Mary’s "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" Tiara, Queen Alexandra’s cluster earrings and, although difficult to identify, Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee necklace.
5 Pounds George Stephenson 10 Pounds Charles Dickens
20 Pounds Michael Faraday 50 Pounds Sir John Houblon
20 Pounds Michael Faraday 50 Pounds Sir John Houblon
The new series of notes. The £20 was first issued on 1st January 1999, and the £10 on 7th November 2000. The £10 note is the first to have the metallic security thread 'windowed' on the reverse rather than the front of the note.
Elizabeth Fry
Elizabeth Fry, née Gurney (born May 21, 1780, Norwich, Norfolk, England — died October 12, 1845, Ramsgate, Kent), British Quaker philanthropist and one of the chief promoters of prison reform in Europe. She has sometimes been referred to as the "angel of prisons". She also helped to improve the British hospital system and the treatment of the insane.
The daughter of a wealthy Quaker banker and merchant, she married (1800) Joseph Fry, a London merchant, and combined her work with the care of a large family. Unwearyingly attending to the poor, she was acknowledged as a “minister” by the Society of Friends (1811) and later traveled in Scotland, northern England, Ireland, and much of Europe. There she inspected prisons and wrote reports. Her recommendations for Newgate Prison, for instance, included separation of the sexes, classification of criminals, female supervision for women, adequate provision for religious and secular instruction, and useful employment. Even in her lifetime her suggestions were increasingly acted upon throughout most of Europe.
Prompted by a family friend, Stephen Grellet, Fry visited Newgate Prison. The conditions she saw there horrified her. The women's section was overcrowded with women and children, some of whom had not even received a trial. The prisoners did their own cooking and washing in the small cells in which they slept on straw.
She returned the following day with food and clothes for some prisoners. She was unable to further her work for nearly four years because of difficulties within the Fry family, including financial difficulties in the Fry bank. Fry returned in 1816 and was eventually able to found a prison school for the children who were imprisoned with their mothers. She began a system of supervision and required the women to sew and to read the Bible. In 1817 she helped found the Association for the Reformation of the Female Prisoners in Newgate. This led to the eventual creation of the British Ladies' Society for Promoting the Reformation of Female Prisoners, widely described by biographers and historians as constituting the first "nationwide" women's organisation in Britain.
Elizabeth Fry wrote in her book Prisons in Scotland and the North of England that she stayed the night in some of the prisons and invited nobility to come and stay and see for themselves the conditions prisoners lived in. Her kindness helped her gain the friendship of the prisoners and they began to try to improve their conditions for themselves. Thomas Fowell Buxton, Fry's brother-in-law, was elected to Parliament for Weymouth and began to promote her work among his fellow MPs. In 1818 Fry gave evidence to a House of Commons committee on the conditions prevalent in British prisons, becoming the first woman to present evidence in Parliament.
Elizabeth Fry also helped the homeless, establishing a "nightly shelter" in London after seeing the body of a young boy in the winter of 1819/1820. In 1824, during a visit to Brighton, she instituted the Brighton District Visiting Society. The society arranged for volunteers to visit the homes of the poor and provide help and comfort to them. The plan was successful and was duplicated in other districts and towns across Britain.
After her husband went bankrupt in 1828, Fry's brother became her business manager and benefactor. Thanks to him, her work went on and expanded.
In 1840 Fry opened a training school for nurses. Her programme inspired Florence Nightingale, who took a team of Fry's nurses to assist wounded soldiers in the Crimean War.
In 1842, Frederick William IV of Prussia went to see Fry in Newgate Prison during an official visit to Great Britain. The King of Prussia, who had met the social reformer during her previous tours of the continent promoting welfare change and humanitarianism, was so impressed by her work that he told his reluctant courtiers that he would personally visit the gaol when he was in London.
Fry became well known in society. Some people praised her for having such an influential role as a woman. Others alleged that she was neglecting her duties as a wife and mother in order to conduct her humanitarian work One admirer was Queen Victoria, who granted her an audience a few times and contributed money to her cause. Another admirer was Robert Peel who passed several acts to further her cause including the Gaols Act 1823. The act was largely ineffective, because there were no inspectors to make sure that it was being followed.
Elizabeth Fry died from a stroke in Ramsgate, England, on 12 October 1845. Her remains were buried in the Friends' burial ground at Barking. Seamen of the Ramsgate Coast Guard flew their flag at half mast in respect of Mrs Fry; a practice that until this occasion had been officially reserved for the death of a ruling monarch. More than a thousand people stood in silence during the burial.
Bank of England 5 Pound note 2002 Elizabeth Fry
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