The Earlham Hall is now part of the UEA housing its law school. I had been curious about its background and story as the scale and the layout of the house had led me to think this probably was once a grand house for the rich, although it was very shabby in its current appearance.
When I was taking pictures of the house some days ago, a kind gentleman came up to me and drew my attention to the prominence of the once occupants of this house and the house itself.
The Earlham Hall dates from1642 and was the family home of the Gurney family from 1786-1912.
It even has well preserved a horse-mill for pumping water.
The family of John and Catherine Gurney had been grain wholesalers, then began financing farmers, and by 1800 were primarily bankers. They were the Quakers and active in social welfare concerns. (Quakers are members of a group with Christian roots that began in England in the 1650s. The formal title of the movement is the Society of Friends or the Religious Society of Friends. Quakers believe that there is something of God in everybody and that each human being is of unique worth.)
Two of their children, Elizabeth Gurney Fry and Joseph John Gurney, became among the most prominent Quakers of the 19th century. Both of them became evangelicals, travelled widely in the ministry, and were active in social reform causes.
For Elizabeth Gurney Fry (1780 – 1845), she was also a famous prison reformer in the British history. Her portrait even appears in the currency note of 5 Sterling Pounds currently in use. She was well educated, which was unusual for a girl in those days. She provided items for the women prisoners so they could sew, knit and make goods to sell. She started a prison school for the children to give them something to do. In 1818 she was asked to speak to people in Parliament about the prisons, and subsequently the 1823 Gaol Act was passed by Parliament which had incorporated some of her improvement suggestions, for example, the female prisoners are now looked after by female warders.