History
In 1828 Charles Chalmers started a small school in Park Place on a site now occupied by the McEwan Hall. In May 1833, Charles Chalmers took a lease of Merchiston Castle (the former home of John Napier, the inventor of logarithms) — which at that time stood in rural surroundings — and moved the school. It is from here that the school name is derived. [2] Over time, the number of pupils grew and the Merchiston Castle became too small to accommodate the school. The governors decided to purchase 90 acres of ground at the Colinton House estate, four miles south-west of Edinburgh. Building began in 1928 including the Chalmers and Rogerson boarding houses, designed by Sir Robert Lorimer. [3] In 1930 the school moved to Colinton. [4]
Three years later, in 1933, Merchiston celebrated its centenary, attended by the Duke and Duchess of York. [5] Fifty years on, in 1983, at a time of further expansion and with 350 boys on the roll, their daughter, now Queen Elizabeth II, visited the school for its 150th anniversary. [5]
Sports and games
A range of sports and activities is available at the school; particularly in rugby union, which over 60 Merchistonians have played at international level. The Merchistonian Football Club for former pupils of the School was a founding member of the Scottish Rugby Union and was involved in the very first rugby international, [7] supplying three players. [8] The former 1st XV coach, Frank Hadden, who was at the school from 1983 to 2000, was the head coach of the Scottish national team from 2005 to 2009. The school has won the Scottish Schools U18 Rugby Cup a record eight times: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2018, 2021 and 2022. [9] Merchiston also participates, with the Edinburgh Academy, in the oldest continuous rugby football fixture in the world, the first being on 11 December 1858 at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. [10]
Historical abuse
Gordon Cruden, a French teacher, stood trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and was found guilty in December 2015 of three charges of indecent exposure at the school between 1980 and 1985. The court did not proceed to a conviction, but dealt with the matter in terms of section 246 (3) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 by way of an absolute discharge. This means that although Cruden was found guilty, he was not convicted of the offences for which he stood trial. [13]
In 2021 at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, the lawyer representing Merchiston said there was at least one member of the staff where the warning signs were missed. He gave an "unreserved apology" to former pupils who were abused at school. [14]
Former pupils described abuse at Merchiston as comparable to "the Lord of the Flies " in further hearings at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry. One of the pupils stated that you had to "accept there was a form of corruption" alongside the school behaving "in whatever manner pleased it" and that "staff did 'nothing whatsoever' to help pupils". The inquiry resumed its proceedings in January 2022, already discovering a culture of 'don't yell and don't tell' at the school with a former pupil stating that "No one would have listened" to issues raised by pupils and that "the school would not have taken action after complaints" during their tenure. [15]
Fettes College is a co-educational private boarding and day school in Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In 1978 the College had a nine-hole golf course, an ice-skating rink used in winter for ice hockey and in summer as an outdoor swimming pool, a cross-country running track and a rifle shooting range within the forested 300-acre grounds. Fettes is sometimes referred to as a public school, although that term was traditionally used in Scotland for state schools. The school was founded with a bequest of Sir William Fettes in 1870 and started admitting girls in 1970. It follows the English rather than the Scottish education system and has nine houses. The main building, called the Bryce Building, was designed by David Bryce.
Edinburgh Napier University is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napier. The technical college was inaugurated as a university in 1992 by Lord Douglas-Hamilton, becoming Napier University. In 2009, the university was renamed Edinburgh Napier University.
Craiglockhart is a suburb in the south west of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying between Colinton to the south, Morningside to the east Merchiston to the north east, and Longstone and Kingsknowe to the west. The Water of Leith is also to the west.
Merchiston is a residential area around Merchiston Avenue in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Loretto School, founded in 1827, is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 0 to 18. The campus occupies 85 acres (34 ha) in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland.
Colinton is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) south-west of the city centre. Up until the late 18th century it appears on maps as Collington. It is bordered by Dreghorn to the south and Craiglockhart to the north-east. To the north-west it extends to Lanark Road and to the south-west to the City Bypass. Bonaly is a subsection of the area on its southern side.
Holy Corner is a colloquial name for a small area of Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the area more properly known as Burghmuirhead, itself part of the lands of Greenhill. Holy Corner lies between the areas of Bruntsfield and Morningside.
George Watson's College is a co-educational private day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a hospital school in 1741, became a day school in 1871, and was merged with its sister school George Watson's Ladies College in 1974. It is a Merchant Company of Edinburgh school and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
Clan Napier is a Lowland Scottish clan.
Merchiston Tower, also known as Merchiston Castle, was probably built by Alexander Napier, the 2nd Laird of Merchiston around 1454. It serves as the seat for Clan Napier. It was the home of John Napier, the 8th Laird of Merchiston and the inventor of logarithms, who was born there in 1550.
Merchiston is an area of Edinburgh in Scotland.
St Columba's College was an independent, preparatory Marist college in Largs, Ayrshire. It served as a prep school feeder for Catholic boarding schools throughout the United Kingdom with links to St. Joseph's College, Dumfries and Ampleforth. The school closed in 1982. Since 1998 a number of reports of sexual and physical abuse of at least 9 pupils dating from between 1950 and 1982 have emerged. Phase 4 of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry examined the St Columba's abuse in October 2019.
Norman George Robertson Mair was a Scottish international rugby union and cricket player. He later became a journalist for The Scotsman reporting on rugby and golf, and also wrote for Rugby World.
Thomas Anderson was a Scotland international rugby union player; and also a Scotland international cricketer.
Merchistonian Football Club is a rugby football team based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was for former pupils of Merchiston Castle School. It is believed the club was established in 1860.
David Chalmers, styled David Chalmers of Redhall, FRSE FSA was a Scottish industrialist. He was heavily involved in paper manufacture, founding his own company of David Chalmers & Co, and by the late 19th century was the sole owner of Cowan & Co Paperworks.
The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was established in October 2015 to inquire into cases of abuse of children in care in Scotland. It was to report and make recommendations within four years by 2019. But this deadline was later changed to "as soon as reasonably practicable". Concerns have been raised about mounting costs and delays in the inquiry. Six years after the start of the on-going inquiry and long after the original deadline, Lady Smith released a report which was critical of the previous Scottish government for the 'woeful and avoidable' delay in setting up the inquiry.
Tom Whittington was a Scotland international rugby union player who represented Scotland in 1873.
John Wheeler Dowden, FRCSEd was a surgeon, born in Ireland, who worked for most of his career at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He was president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh from 1931 to 1933.
Merchiston International School is an independent boarding school for boys and girls in the Longhua District in Shenzhen, China. It is open to students aged 4 to 18 as either boarding or day students, though the senior school is only for boarding students; it was modelled after English public schools. It is affiliated with, and is the first overseas campus for Merchiston Castle School, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
