Scotland Schools and Education

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Scotland

Schools and Education Records

Online Resources

• Britain, School and University Students at Findmypast — index & images ($)
• Scotland, Lanarkshire School Registers and Records at Findmypast - index ($)
• Fife, Scotland, School Admissions and Discharges, 1867-1916 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
• Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, Carnegie Music Institution Registers, 1910-1920 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
• Burntisland, Fife, Scotland, Directory and Yearbook, 1892 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
• Perthshire, Scotland, School Registers of Admission and Withdrawals, 1869-1902 at Ancestry - index & images ($)
• Britain, School and University Register Books at Findmypast - index & images ($)
• Glasgow Anderson's College Anatomy Sutdents 1860-1874 at Findmypast - index & images ($)

Introduction

If your ancestor went to one of Scotland’s colleges, universities, or schools, he or she may be in the institution’s enrollment records. Some of these records have been published, notably for the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. These records may contain valuable information about your ancestor, such as name, birthplace, residence, father’s name, and other biographical details.

Education record types include:

• schools' admission/enrollment registers
• headmasters' log books
• school inspection reports
• certificate examination registers

History

Education has always been important in Scotland. The first education act was passed in 1496, when the King James IV ordered that the eldest sons of barons and free-holders study Latin, arts, and law. In the early 1700s, another education act ordered that a school be established in every parish and would be provided by the local landowners. By the end of the 1700s, most parishes in Scotland had at least one school. Some private schools were set up in the 1700s and 1800s. While some schools provided education for the children of gentlefolk, others only offered basic education. The Education Act of 1872 set up an education system for the whole of Scotland, but its administration was left to the Scottish Education Department (SED) in London. The Education Department remained in London until the 1920s. For more information, see the Education Records research guide on the National Records of Scotland website. In 1872, an education act was passed which made schooling compulsory for children between the ages of 5 and 13. The age was raised to 15 in the mid-1900s.

Universities

History

Scotland's universities developed in three distinct stages: the ancient universities (St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh) were founded in the 15th and 16th centuries; the plate glass universities (Dundee, Strathclyde, Heriot-Watt, Stirling) raised to university status in the 1960s; and the newest group (Glasgow Caledonian, Napier, Paisley, Robert Gordon, Abertay) elevated to university status in the 1990s.

A graduate was entitled to use post-nominal letters to identify their degree and awarding institution. This table shows the accepted abbreviations of Scotland's universities used in post-nominal letters:

Abbreviation	University
Aberd	Aberdeen
Abertay	Abertay Dundee
Dund	Dundee
Edin	Edinburgh
Glas	Glasgow
GCaledonian	Glasgow Caledonian
H-W	Heriot-Watt
not abbreviated	Napier
not abbreviated	Paisley
RGordon	Robert Gordon
St And	St Andrews
Stir	Stirling
Strath	Strathclyde

Ancient Universities

The term Ancient Universities refers to the seven British and Irish universities which were founded in the medieval and early modern period. Of these, four were established in the Kingdom of Scotland.

St. Andrews

Founded in 1410 and is the third university in the British Isles, after Oxford and Cambridge. Main campus located in St Andrews.

James Maitland Anderson collected the names of early graduates in a series of works:

• Early Records of the University of St Andrews: The Graduate Roll, 1413–1579, and The Matriculation Roll, 1473-1579, images, published in 1926
• The Matriculation Roll of the University of St Andrews, 1747–1897 ($), images, published in 1905

The University's Keeper of Manuscripts and Muniments from 1974 to 1995, Dr. Robert N. Smart, has compiled biographical sketches of almost 12,000 of the students, officers and external graduates of the University named in Maitland Anderson's The Matriculation Roll of the University of St Andrews, 1747-1897 (1905):

• Robert N Smart, Biographical Register of the University of St Andrews 1747-1897 (2004, St Andrews University Library)

Glasgow

Founded in 1451 and is the fourth oldest university in the British Isles.

The University is compiling a searchable database of graduates to 1918:

• Browse an alphabetical list of graduates to 1918, index

A list of graduates from 1727 to 1897:

• A Roll of the Graduates of the University of Glasgow, images, compiled by W. Innes Addison in 1898

Aberdeen

Founded in 1494 as King's College, Aberdeen. Aberdeen's second university college, Marischal College, was established in 1593. The two were merged in 1860 as the University of Aberdeen.

The names of early graduates and officers can be found in:

• Officers and Graduates of University and King's College, Aberdeen, 1495-1860, images, edited by Peter John Anderson in 1893
• Fasti Academiae Mariscallanae Aberdonensis: Records of the Marischal College and University of Aberdeen Volume II, 1593-1860, images, edited by Peter John Anderson in 1898
• Fasti Academiae Mariscallanae Aberdonensis: Records of the Marischal College and University of Aberdeen Volume III, images, compiled by James Fowler Kellas Johnstone in 1889

Edinburgh

Founded in 1582 as Tonius College. In 1617 renamed King James's College.

An incomplete list of historical alumni (dating to 1587):

• Alumni, The University of Edinburgh, index

Later establishments

Dundee

A university college was opened in Dundee in 1883 as an extension of St. Andrew's University. In the reforms of the 1960s, the college gained its institutional independence as a university.

Accessing the Records

Most of the Scottish education records have not been digitized and are only available in print. The National Records of Scotland house school inspection reports, examination results, plans of school buildings, and records of individual schools and schoolmasters. Any other school will likely only be found in local archives. Only a small amount of records have been digitized.

Online

• Fife, Scotland, School Admissions and Discharges, 1867-1916 index and images - lists of children who were admitted to and discharged from schools. Information includes admission and discharge date, name, parents' names, address, birth date, and age.
• Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, Carnegie Music Institution Registers, 1910-1920 index and images - lists of students who attended the Carnegie Music Institution. Information includes name, year and term of attendance, residence, and subject.
• Perthshire, Scotland, School Registers of Admission and Withdrawals, 1869-1902 - index and images - lists of students who were admitted and then withdrawn from school. Information includes the school, name, date of birth, name and address of parent or guardian, last school attended, date, and reason for leaving.
• Britain, School and University Register Books ($) index and images - digitized copies of school and university register books. A list of former pupils is included, which often gives biographical sketches of these pupils, including name, birth year, father's name, details of employment after school, and family information.

FamilySearch Library

The FamilySearch Library has very few Scottish school records, but there are some records for larger cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow. You can find school records in the Place Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under:

SCOTLAND - SCHOOLS SCOTLAND

[COUNTY] - SCHOOLS SCOTLAND

[COUNTY], [CITY or PARISH] - SCHOOLS