HOME
ARTICLES
Church
The Church in Scotland
Data Sources
The Museum, Newton Stewart
General
A Tour of Wigtownshire
Geography
Counties, Countries, and other...
Geography of Wigtownshire
History
Origins of the People
Scot/English Border
Graveyards
Schools
Castle of St. John
Humour
The List
Ghost of Galdenoch
LDS
Death and the IGI
Poetry
The Rover of Loch Ryan
Professions
Farm Servant vs Ag Lab
Research Techniques
What can a Professional Genealogist do?
What Makes a Good Researcher
|
Schools in Wigtownshire |
| by Jim McLay |
Before 1560 schools may have existed in some religious institutions such as
the Dominican monastery in Wigtown, but the historical record starts in the
years 1560 to 1696 when church reformers proposed an elementary school in every
parish, and a more advanced grammar school in every town. The grammar school
in Wigtown dates from the sixteenth century.
The first dates that can be assigned to parish schools from the records
are as follow. Wigtown appears about 1600, Whithorn 1633, Stranraer before
1696, Penninghame 1700. Kirkmaiden 1713, Old Luce and Portpatrick both in
1717, Leswalt 1724, Kirkcolm 1745, Stoneykirk 1746, Kirkinner 1749,
Kirkcowan and Mochrum both in 1750, Glasserton 1751, Sorbie in 1756, and
Inch and New Luce both in the year 1777.
From 1696 to 1800 it became the law of Scotland that every parish have a
school and a master. In these schools a teacher taught all ages and
abilities, while burgh schools had a divide between the elementary class
and the class for older pupils where Latin was taught. Endowed schools
appeared during this time, and private schools for girls were found in
certain towns.
In the years 1800 to 1872 the education service expanded helped by
government grants. Two endowments started schools in Newton Stewart - the
Douglas in 1833 and the Ewart in 1864. In 1872 an Act made attendance at
school compulsory and provided finance. From 1873 to 1918 School Boards
managed each parish school sometimes providing more schools, to enable all
those aged 5 to 12 to have a basic education, while many endowments were
reorganised to provide secondary education beyond age 12.
In Penninghame parish, there were about a dozen schools in the past.
These were Penninghame parish school in Newton Stewart, Loudon school for
the southeast, Killiemore and later Grange school for the southwest,
and Knowe school, formerly an endowed school, in the north. A school for
females was started at Challoch and later became the school for those
living just north of Newton Stewart. St Ninian's is the Roman Catholic
school in Newton Stewart while secondary pupils attend the Douglas-Ewart
High school. Corsbie Infant school was provided by the Earl of Galloway
but later absorbed into Penninghame primary which now shares campus with
St Ninian's, the two providing all elementary education in the parish today.
School Board minutes and school log books have survived in some cases and
are in the Ewart Library, Dumfries, but these rarely mention pupil names.
Schools maintained an admission book after 1873, recording each pupil
admitted and some of those are also in the Ewart Library. While there are
admission books for the Ewart after 1894, there are no surviving records
for the Douglas; complete records date from 1923 when the Douglas and the
Ewart united. After 1918 education became the responsibility of local
authorities - Wigtownshire from 1918 to 1975, Dumfries and Galloway
thereafter.
The minutes of the education committee are available for consultation but
rarely mention pupils. Earlier minutes record teacher appointments, but
not later ones. The information in schools or in county archives after
1873 is limited and even where a document contains the names of pupils,
the record is unlikely to be of any value to geneologists, and generally
other resources (censuses, registration) are more helpful.
|
References -
James A Russell, Education in Wigtownshire, 1560-1970 Galloway Gazette, 1971
James Scotland, History of Scottish Education, University of London Press, 1970
|
Jim McLay
April 2002 |
|
