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==Founder of the "Ragged Schools"==

==Founder of the "Ragged Schools"==

Having started as a Sunday school teacher, then as a teacher in her parents schools, Carpenter set up her first school for poor children in Bristol in 1946. She was horrified at the plight of poor orphans who lived on the streets, and the brutal way they were treated if they resorted to crime and were placed in prison. With charitable donations, she set up schools for abandoned children where they could be taught to read the Bible and acquire enough skills to earn their own living. These became known as "ragged schools", a term she disliked, but the schools proliferated rapidly as her ideas spread. She was treated with suspicion by the authorities but gained influential admirers, including Frances Cobbe, Lady Byron and Matthew Davenport Hill.

Having started as a Sunday school teacher, then as a teacher in her parents schools, Carpenter set up her first school for poor children in Bristol in 1846. She was horrified at the plight of poor orphans who lived on the streets, and the brutal way they were treated if they resorted to crime and were placed in prison. With charitable donations, she set up schools for abandoned children where they could be taught to read the Bible and acquire enough skills to earn their own living. These became known as "ragged schools", a term she disliked, but the schools proliferated rapidly as her ideas spread. She had a long struggle with lack of money, personal illness and other setbacks, yet persevered in her work. She was treated with suspicion by the authorities but gained influential admirers, including Frances Cobbe, Lady Byron and Matthew Davenport Hill.

Carpenter also set up schools for older children, and reformatory schools for those who already had a criminal record. She believed that children could be saved or reclaimed from a life of crime with kindness and humanity, and that schools should provide both moral training and recreation. Her Red Lodge school for Girls opened in 1854. She wrote books about her enterprise, ''Ragged Schools'' (1850), ''Reformatory Schools'' (1851) and ''Juvenile Delinquents'' (1853), as a result of which she was invited to testify before a parliamentary committee. Her ideas had a considerable impact on the Youthful Offenders Act of 1854, and the Industrial Schools Act of 1857. She must be considered one of the driving forces behind the eventual introduction of universal education.

Carpenter also set up schools for older children, and reformatory schools for those who already had a criminal record. She believed that children could be saved or reclaimed from a life of crime with kindness and humanity, and that schools should provide both moral training and recreation. Her Red Lodge school for Girls opened in 1854. She wrote books about her enterprise, ''Ragged Schools'' (1850), ''Reformatory Schools'' (1851) and ''Juvenile Delinquents'' (1853), as a result of which she was invited to testify before a parliamentary committee. Her ideas had a considerable impact on the Youthful Offenders Act of 1854, and the Industrial Schools Act of 1857. She must be considered one of the driving forces behind the eventual introduction of universal education.