1. ragged schools a name given to the charity schools which provide education and, in most cases, food, clothing, and lodging for destitute children; they receive no Government support. The movement had its beginning in the magnanimous efforts of John Pounds (d. 1839), a shoemaker of Portsmouth; but the zeal and eloquence of Dr. Guthrie (q. v.) of Edinburgh greatly furthered the development and spread of these schools throughout the kingdom.
Definitions of ragged schools
