Description: The children are shown before their afternoon treat at Caudwell's field, Boythorpe. 2 of the children are named - front row, 4th from right, Eliza Stenton (later Frisby), with her brother who is 4th from the left, Wilfred Stenton. The Ragged school was on Markham Road. It's date of construction was 1878, and was founded for the benefit of children of Chesterfield who were living and working in poverty. The idea of ragged schools was developed by John Pounds, a Portsmouth shoemaker. In 1818 Pounds began teaching poor children without charging fees. Thomas Guthrie helped to promote Pounds' idea of free schooling for working class children. Lord Shaftesbury formed the Ragged School Union in 1844 and over the next eight years over 200 free schools for poor children were established in Britain. The school seen here became a member of the Chesterfield Sunday School Union in 1879. By 1885 there were 340 pupils and 27 teachers.