Caroline Fry
Encyclopedia
Caroline Fry a British Christian
writer, later Mrs Caroline Wilson, was born and died at Tunbridge Wells
in Kent
. She was one of ten children born to John and Jane Fry. She married William Wilson at Desford, Leicestershire on 26 May 1831.
(1775 – 1849) attended Oxford University and later became rector of Desford parish. He also wrote a number of Christian books. He was instrumental in educating his sister in theological matters emphasizing an evangelical faith that influenced Caroline and others of her family to abandon their "high-and-dry" religious convictions for a more fervent evangelical piety. Caroline Fry's conversion experience as a young adult in 1822 is recorded in her Autobiography, as inserted as an introduction to her book entitled,Christ Our Example. Fry has produced an impressive list of publications over her life as listed below. She began her professional writing career in 1823 by writing a monthly periodical called the Assistant of Education, Religious and Literary,which she intended for the education of children. In addition to writing church theology, she wrote devotional meditations, prayers, poetry and recounted moral lessons one might learn from the life stories of people she encountered in her travels throughout the English countryside published in two volumes entitled, The Listener.
Fry can rightfully be considered a church theologian, a writer, a poet and a Christian educator -- someone who wrote from a staunch Reformed perspective on a variety of theological issues. In her book, The Listener in Oxford she describes herself as someone predestined to arrive "at the very birth-time" of conflict. Her anguish was due to the major theological differences creating strife between the newly formed Tractarian movement led by John Henry Newman, John Keble and Edward Bouvaird Pusey and the existing parties of the Church of England. Her description of the Oxford lectures give readers a unique insight as to what impact the Anglo-Catholic movement was having upon the Church during a difficult time of transition, especially in her book entitled, The Table of the Lord, addressing divisive issues held by opposing parties in regard to the theology of the sacraments.
Sir Thomas Lawrence
painted a famous portrait of her in 1827. Tate Gallery "Miss Caroline Fry" page
(the two previous items are from The Assistant of Education)
(source COPAC)
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
writer, later Mrs Caroline Wilson, was born and died at Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in west Kent, England, about south-east of central London by road, by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. She was one of ten children born to John and Jane Fry. She married William Wilson at Desford, Leicestershire on 26 May 1831.
Life
Fry's family was affiliated with the "High Church" in the Church of England. Her brother John FryJohn Fry
John Fry is a co-founder of Fry's Electronics and owner of the San Jose SaberCats.He has also founded and continues to fund a mathematical research institute, the American Institute of Mathematics.-References:...
(1775 – 1849) attended Oxford University and later became rector of Desford parish. He also wrote a number of Christian books. He was instrumental in educating his sister in theological matters emphasizing an evangelical faith that influenced Caroline and others of her family to abandon their "high-and-dry" religious convictions for a more fervent evangelical piety. Caroline Fry's conversion experience as a young adult in 1822 is recorded in her Autobiography, as inserted as an introduction to her book entitled,Christ Our Example. Fry has produced an impressive list of publications over her life as listed below. She began her professional writing career in 1823 by writing a monthly periodical called the Assistant of Education, Religious and Literary,which she intended for the education of children. In addition to writing church theology, she wrote devotional meditations, prayers, poetry and recounted moral lessons one might learn from the life stories of people she encountered in her travels throughout the English countryside published in two volumes entitled, The Listener.
Fry can rightfully be considered a church theologian, a writer, a poet and a Christian educator -- someone who wrote from a staunch Reformed perspective on a variety of theological issues. In her book, The Listener in Oxford she describes herself as someone predestined to arrive "at the very birth-time" of conflict. Her anguish was due to the major theological differences creating strife between the newly formed Tractarian movement led by John Henry Newman, John Keble and Edward Bouvaird Pusey and the existing parties of the Church of England. Her description of the Oxford lectures give readers a unique insight as to what impact the Anglo-Catholic movement was having upon the Church during a difficult time of transition, especially in her book entitled, The Table of the Lord, addressing divisive issues held by opposing parties in regard to the theology of the sacraments.
Sir Thomas Lawrence
Thomas Lawrence (painter)
Sir Thomas Lawrence RA FRS was a leading English portrait painter and president of the Royal Academy.Lawrence was a child prodigy. He was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper. At the age of ten, having moved to Bath, he was supporting his family with his...
painted a famous portrait of her in 1827. Tate Gallery "Miss Caroline Fry" page
Some of her published writings
- The Assistant of Education: religious and literary. Intended for the use of young persons from ten to sixteen years of age (periodical)
- An Autobiography; letters and remains of the author of the "Listener," etc
- Christ our Example (still available secondhand and possibly new)
- Christ our Law
- Daily readings : passages of scripture selected for social reading, with applications
- Death, and other poems
- Gatherings; a collection of short pieces
- The Gospel of the Old Testament : an explanation of the types and figures by which Christ was exhibited under the legal dispensation / rewritten from the original work of Samuel Mather
- The Great Commandment
- The Listener (still readily available secondhand)
- The Listener in Oxford
- Narrative of Poll Peg, of Leicestershire
- Peggy Lum, or, A hint to the purchasers of smuggled goods
(the two previous items are from The Assistant of Education)
- A Poetical Catechism; or, sacred poetry for the use of young persons
- Prayers
- Scripture principles of education
- The Scripture Reader's Guide to the devotional use of the Holy Scriptures
- Seek to be like the Saviour
- Serious poetry (available online as an e-text at University of California, Davis)
- Sunday Afternoons at Home
- The Table of the Lord
- A word to women, The love of the world, and other gatherings
(source COPAC)
Sources
- Caroline Fry genealogy page at "Murphys in Oz"
- Making of America Books at University of Michigan - search for "Caroline Fry" and follow links to:
- A critical dictionary of English literature, and British and American authors (page 641)
- The divine life: a book of facts and histories (pages 90-99 are a description of her early life and spiritual progress)