A notable feature of some of the early attempts to spread education in Britain and its colonies was the emphasis on female education. The British and Foreign School Society (BFSS), established in 1808 for the promotion of the British system of education, was very soon to recognize the importance of education for girls alongside that of boys. Several schools for female children, especially for the poorer classes, were opened throughout Britain, in Manchester, Birmingham, Dudley, Ipswich, Sheffield and Halifax. A Society of Ladies was formed to promote education among women not just in Britain but also to train women ‘to unite in rescuing other females from the degrading consequence of ignorance’ throughout the British dominion, in India, Ceylon, Canada and the United States. A report dated November 1814, from Miss Ann Eliza Springmann, the superintendent of the Female Establishment, stated how the general condition and manners of poor girls in manufacturing towns had remarkably improved after they learnt to read and write. It was hoped that ladies in general would be stimulated by the examples set by the Female Department of the BFSS and that more women would be encouraged to contribute to the advancement of female education. The school societies thus envisaged a wider participation of British women not only in terms of monetary contributions but also in their roles as encouragers of benevolence and piety. Education of the poor working class was regarded as the special responsibility of the ‘ladies’ of Britain. For the ‘upliftment’ of the moral and material standards of the working class, it was felt education of women was equally important. Reproaching the society for having neglected the state of women for so long, the BFSS pointed out ‘the advantages which must result to families, to society, and to the rising generation, from female education’: