<P> By 1844, there were at least 20 free schools for the poor, maintained through the generosity of community philanthropists, the volunteers working with their local churches, and the organisational support of the London City Mission . During this time, it was suggested that it would be beneficial to establish an official organisation or society to share resources and promote their common cause . </P> <P> In April 1844 the London Ragged School Union was founded during a meeting of four men to pray for the city's poor children . Starey, the secretary of Field Lane school, was present . There was a massive growth in the numbers of schools, teachers and students . By 1851, the number of educators would grow to include around 1,600 persons . By 1867, some 226 Sunday Ragged Schools, 204 day schools and 207 evening schools provided a free education for about 26,000 students . However, the schools were heavily reliant on volunteers and continually faced problems in finding and keeping staff . Women played an important role as volunteer teachers . A newspaper report on the progress of the schools announced that' the most valuable teachers in ragged schools are those of the female sex' . </P> <P> The ragged school movement became respectable, even fashionable, attracting the attention of many wealthy philanthropists . Wealthy individuals such as Angela Burdett - Coutts gave large sums of money to the London Ragged School Union . This helped to establish 350 ragged schools by the time the 1870 Education Act was passed . As Eager (1953) explains, "He gave what had been a Nonconformist undertaking, the cachet of his Tory churchmanship--an important factor at a time when even broad - minded (Anglican) churchmen thought that Nonconformists should be fairly credited with good intentions, but that cooperation (with them) was undesirable". </P> <P> The success of the ragged schools definitively demonstrated that there was a demand for education among the poor . In response, England and Wales established school boards to administer elementary schools . However, education was still not free of fees . After 1870 public funding began to be provided for elementary education among working people . </P>

Who set up ragged schools in victorian times