She started Walthamstow Hall school for missionaries' daughters and she played a key part in creating Eltham College for boys.

Her mother was Lydia Rebecca (born Duplex) and her father was Dr John Rutherford.

[1] Her husband owned a major share in the Abney Park Cemetery Company and he served on the board of the London Missionary Society.

When the school had its official opening it was attended by William Ellis who was the LMS's secretary, the minister and abolitionist Dr. Francis Augustus Cox, Dr. Andrew Reed and the linguist (later Professor) James Legge.

[3] The school taught the girls a wide range of subjects but Latin was included to make sure that they understood linguistics and the structure of words.