 Choosing one of the few careers that were open to women in the 19th century, she became a teacher, and then the principal of the Collegiate School for girls in Port Elizabeth.There she revolutionised the Victorian education system, which was heavily based on rote learning and was restricted to subjects that were deemed appropriate for women.She applied methods of teaching which were advanced and liberal for the time, including what was probably the first system of sex education for girls in the country.