Education was especially highly prized by settlers from Scotland, so it is appropriate that it was in Dunedin that a Scotswoman, Learmonth Dalrymple, initiated secondary education for girls in New Zealand. The curriculum was modelled on the broad liberal education offered by the North London Collegiate School opened by the celebrated Frances Mary Buss in 1850. This determination to educate girls for life, not only for domesticity, was evident elsewhere as other secondary schools were established.