In the days when all relatively large schools outside the home were considered to be "public" even though they charged fees, "private" schooling generally meant instruction in one's own home by parents or a tutor. But with the coming of free common schooling, the meaning of these words changed. By the end of the nineteenth century, a private school was seen as an institution which, in contrast to the public common or parish school, or even to tuition-charging public secondary schools, charged rather high fees and catered to a relatively exclusive clientele. The top photograph was taken in the Salle de Reception of the Ursulines convent school in Quebec City; the other photograph records the students and staff of Mrs. Forster's School "Pinecrest" on the Grange Road, Toronto in 1864. These two schools had one goal in common: the education of "young ladies". Public school promoters often complained that the clientele of these private seminaries, colleges and academies could not be attracted into the public schools, although in actual fact, with the expansion of public schooling many of the smaller private schools did disappear.
