Beginning in 1836, four teacher training institutions and hundreds of elementary schools were established in the British Colonies, in the West Indies, Mauritius and Seychelles by the Lady Mico Charity. This followed the successful efforts of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton to direct the resources of the Charity to the education of the children of the ex-slaves in these British Colonies (in the West Indies, Mauritius and Seychelles) where slavery was being abolished. In an era where denominational education was the norm, the defining feature of the Mico institutions was that they were of Christian influence but non-denominational.
