Susanna Meredith
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Susanna Meredith (née Lloyd; 1823–1901) was a 19th-century Irish-born prison visitor and pioneer for the rehabilitation of female prisoners.
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] 1847 - 1852 - She managed the Adelaide Industrial School in Cork, which became a central depot for the export of Irish Lace to England. 1856 ? She moved to England with her widowed mother. 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]
