Fry returned in 1816 and was eventually able to fund a prison school for the children who were imprisoned with their mothers. Rather than attempt to impose discipline on the women, she suggested rules and then asked the prisoners to vote on them. In 1817, she helped found the "Association for the Reformation of the Female Prisoners in Newgate". This association provided materials for women so that they could learn to sew patchwork, which was calming and also allowed skills to develop, such as needlework and knitting which could offer employment when they were out of prison and then could earn money for themselves. This approach was copied elsewhere and led to the eventual creation of the "British Ladies' Society for Promoting the Reformation of Female Prisoners" in 1821. Hannah Bevan, Elizabeth Pryor, Elizabeth Hanbury, and Katherine Fry were visiting convict ships the following year. (Elizabeth Pryor was in time disowned after she asked the prison authorities for remuneration for her work.)