Frances Mary Buss was a prominent nineteenth-century pioneer of women's education in Britain. She aimed to establish the same opportunities for the education of girls as were enjoyed by their brothers. She sought to secure education for women at its highest level. At 23 she founded North London Collegiate School for Ladies in 1850 and 21 years later she established Camden School for Girls. Both began as private schools in family houses in Camden Street, but they grew so rapidly that they moved to larger buildings and were recognised as Public Endowed Schools. The artist, Ida Southwell Perrin, in the earlier period of her professional career, was a portrait painter and it was at that time (1896) that this picture was painted – two years after the death of Frances Mary Buss.