Susanna Meredith

Susanna Meredith (née Lloyd; 1823–1901) was a 19th-century Irish-born prison visitor and pioneer for the rehabilitation of female prisoners.

Biography

Susanna Lloyd was born in Ireland, her father was the governor of Cork County Gaol.[1] As a child she learned Latin, Hebrew, French and German.[2] At the age of 17, she married a doctor, but was widowed after seven years of marriage.[1] In 1858, Meredith began visiting Millbank Prison with the British Society.[3] In 1860 she moved to London with her mother and, concerned with employment opportunities for women, began editing Alexandra magazine.[1] She visited female prisoners in Brixton prison and started a mission offering breakfasts, advice, and limited employment opportunities to newly released women.[1] She reported her visits to the Home Secretary Sir George Grey.[3]

Meredith's home at Nine Elms House, 6 Upper Belmont House, Wandsworth Road was known as The Mission to Women and was used by female prisoners leaving prison. Meredith became the Treasurer of the Female Prisoners' Aid Society.[4]

Meredith later turned her attention to the children of convicted women and in 1871 her first home for such children was opened in Addlestone, Surrey by Princess Mary.[1] In 1877, she was told that she was no longer permitted to talk to women prisoners without a matron present. From then, she decided to stop visiting.[3] In 1895 Meredith gave evidence before the Gladstone Committee on prisons.[1][5]

Bibliography
  • 1866: The Sixth Work; Or, The Charity of Moral Effort
  • 1881: A Book about Criminals
  • 1881: Saved Rahab! An Autobiography

References
  1. Taylor & Francis Group; Cathy Hartley; Susan Leckey (2003). A Historical Dictionary of British Women. Routledge. p. 315. ISBN 1-85743-228-2.
  2. Symonds, Richard (1993). Far Above Rubies. Gracewing Publishing. p. 257. ISBN 0-85244-244-0.
  3. The Health of Prisoners: Historical Essays. Rodopi. 1995. p. 94. ISBN 90-5183-817-4.
  4. Turner, Jo; Johnston, Helen. "Female prisoners, aftercare and release: residential provision and support in late nineteenth-century England". The Free Library. British Journal of Community Justice. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  5. Lesley, Husselbee; Paul, Ballard (2012). Free Churches and Society: The Nonconformist Contribution to Social Welfare 1800-2010. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 1441179054.
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