Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal.

After her husband went bankrupt in 1828 Fry's brother became her business manager and benefactor. They married on 19 August 1800 at the Norwich Goat Lane Friends Meeting House and moved to St Mildred's Court in the City of London. One admirer was Queen Victoria who granted her an audience a few times and contributed money to her cause.

She has sometimes been referred to as the "angel of prisons". Since 2001 Elizabeth Fry has been depicted on the Bank of England £5 note.