Jagannath Shankar Sheth, a prominent philanthropist, donated a building on his estate to be used as a schoolhouse. He also helped set up the Indian Railway Association in 1845 to bring the railways to India. Pic/Wikimedia Commons

Back in the late 1840s and early 1850s, a crop of Indian graduates from Elphinstone College in Fort, under the umbrella of the Students' Literary and Scientific Society, decided to set up a network of schools for girls. Young and relatively poor, they turned to leading shetias (merchant elites) of Bombay. Though many were reputed for being politically and socially conservative, several came forward to support female education. For instance, philanthropist Jagannath Shankar Sheth donated a building on his family estate to be used as a schoolhouse.