Montrose Academy - History - Montrose Academy

Montrose Academy

The new Montrose Academy was founded in 1815. It was partly funded by public subscription funds of £1350, adding to £1000 from Montrose Town Council. Built close to the site of the former grammar school, the foundation stone was laid on 27 February or 15 March 1815 by Mrs Ford of Finhaven. It existed alongside other schools including White's Free School and the local trades school, and had the largest attendance.

Montrose Academy is seen to have replaced the ancient Grammar School of Montrose which had established itself during the 16th century and absorbed all other existing burgh schools in the area. Its inception as an academy was part of a broader 18th century development in the Scottish school system towards the inclusion of more practical subjects such as navigation, drawing, arithmetic and book-keeping, alongside the traditional tuition of the Classics. This was seen in other Scottish provincial towns and reflected a commitment to learning which was "rooted in the past, but re-energized and adapted" due to the effects of urban growth and the rise of a commercial elite. Academies were concentrated in the industrial towns of the east. The wide curricular provision was such that an 1866 report complained that "Classics do not occupy a prominent place, and nothing else has been substituted in the way of sound and systematic training".

Academies were initially supplementary but eventually superseded the old grammar schools, as had occurred in Montrose. The foundation of Montrose Academy came 55 years after that of the very first academy in Perth in 1760. The pupils were required to pay fees, which funded teachers' salaries. Sometimes, as in the case of James Mill, poor boys were sponsored by local ministers or benevolent landowners. In the mid-nineteenth century, a bequest left by John Erskine of Saint James Parish, Jamaica to the sum of £3000, provided education for eight orphaned boys.

Around 1815 James Calvert was Rector of the Grammar School. John Rintoul taught Reading and Grammar, James Norval taught Grammar and Geography, Robert Baird and William Beattie taught Writing and Arithmetic, and Robert Munro taught Drawing. As was commonly practiced at the time, James Calvert had 20-30 pupils boarding in his house between 1815 and 1820. The first rector of Montrose Academy after it was formally established is said to be have been called Johnston. John Pringle Nichol was Rector from 1828 to 1834 and was qualified to teach Classical Literature, English Literature, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Geography, History, Natural History, Geology, Astronomy, Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Anatomy, Physiology, Animal Mechanics, Moral Philosophy and Political Economy. He was later appointed Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow in 1836, finding fame through his essays and lectures.

In 1832 the Montrose Grammar School building was acquired by the Board of Health for use as a cholera hospital, resulting in the transfer of teachers to Montrose Academy. The 1841 Census reveals that Rev. Alexander Stewart was rector of Montrose Academy while James Calvert was "Rector of the Grammar School". It is evident that both schools existed as independent institutions but within the same building. Yet by 1846 it is clear that Montrose Academy had come to replace the old Grammar School, and it is mentioned as the prominent educational institution in the town. There was no formalised leadership of the school for some time. In 1845, the second Statistical Account recorded that the Rector of the school taught mathematics, geography and French and that there were two teachers of English; two teachers of writing and arithmetic and two for Latin. The school was then attended by 347 pupils. By the mid-nineteenth century the staff consisted of the rector, the rector's assistant, four masters and a mistress. Staff from around this time include Alexander Madoland (Drawing Master from 1843 to 1881); and Alex Monfries (English Master in 1867). Reading of the Bible was considered an obligatory part of learning.

Montrose Academy remained a burgh school until 1872 when it was designated "a higher class public school" and the best in its region because it was an exclusive fee-paying school which provided higher instruction in such subjects as Latin, Greek, modern languages, mathematics and natural science. The 1872 Education Act transferred management of all burgh schools from town councils to elected school boards. Montrose Academy received £300 annually, on the condition that it admitted 25 free scholars by examination. From 1888 further reform brought in a Scottish leaving certificate, to be examined by university professors. Girls and boys were taught together in Latin classes. In 1895, girls were particularly proficient in German classes and boys often pursued the study of Medicine. Montrose Academy continued to provide preparatory education until the mid-twentieth century. The intake then was predominantly middle class.