Agnes Fry
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Agnes Fry | |
|---|---|
 Image from a Fry family album | |
| Born | 25 March 1869 Highgate |
| Died | 15 August 1958 (aged 89) |
| Occupations | Writer, bryologist |
| Father | Sir Edward Fry |
| Relatives | Joan Mary Fry, Roger Eliot Fry, Isabel Fry, Margery Fry, Ruth Fry |
Agnes Fry FRAS (25 March 1869 - 15 August 1958) was a British bryologist, astronomer, botanical illustrator, writer and poet, who donated Failand House's Estate to the National Trust.
Fry was born on 25 March 1869,[1] in Highgate.[2] Her father was Sir Edward Fry, the jurist, and the family were prominent Quakers connected to Fry's Chocolate.[2] One of nine children,[3] Fry had two brothers and six sisters:
- Edward Portsmouth Fry (1860–1928)
- Mariabella Fry (1861–1920)
- Joan Mary Fry (1862–1955) Quaker social reformer
- Elizabeth Alice Fry (1864–1868)
- Roger Eliot Fry (1866–1934) – Artist, member of the Bloomsbury Group
- Her twin sister Isabel Fry (1869–1958), educator
- (Sara) Margery Fry (1874–1958) – penal reformer, principal of Somerville College (1926–1931), founder of the Howard League
- (Anna) Ruth Fry (1878–1962) – pacifist and Quaker activist
In his diaries Ernest Satow recorded that of Edward Fry's daughters, Agnes was "the deaf but interesting and learned one".[4]
Research
Botany
Edward Fry encouraged the education of his daughters, in particular he encouraged an interest in natural sciences.[2] Fry collaborated with her father on several scientific works, including the botanical illustrations for British Mosses.[5] They co-authored The Mycetozoa, published in 1899,[6] which ran to a second edition in 1915.[7] In his introduction to The Liverworts he praised her "zealous cooperation" in their research.[8] She collected a large number of specimens, in particular from the family's estate at Failand. Specimens she collected there included: Physarum viride, Fuligo septica, Chondrioderma spumarioides, Lamproderma irideum and Dictydium umbilicatum.[6] She was an early member of the British Mycological Society.[2] She was also a member of the Bristol Naturalists' Society.[7]
Astronomy
Agnes Fry was an amateur astronomer, joining the British Astronomical Association on 29 November 1905. She was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society on 14 February 1919 on the recommendation of W F Denning.[9]
Textiles
Fry was also a collector of embroidery, particularly that produced by 'peasant' communities from around the world. In 1949 she donated her collection of 260 pieces to Bristol Museum. Her friends and relatives donated pieces to the collection, and she also commissioned pieces from local craftspeople through her network of acquaintances.[10] When she donated the collection the also gave £50 to fund its display, which she stipulated should have "good illumination as needlework requires narrow inspection".[10]
Correspondence with the Eugenics Society
Fry was a member of the Eugenics Society and corresponded with them, in particular around the question of how to prevent people with disabilities from marrying.[11]
Letter to Eugenics Society enquiring about preventing a disabled woman from marrying, p. 1 (Wellcome Collection)
Letter to Eugenics Society enquiring about preventing a disabled woman from marrying, p. 2 (Wellcome Collection)
Reply to Agnes Fry suggesting sterilisation as a course of action, p. 1 (Wellcome Collection)
Reply to Agnes Fry suggesting sterilisation as a course of action, p. 1 (Wellcome Collection)
