George Watson's College
Motto	Ex Corde Caritas
Established	1741
Type	Independent school
Principal	Mr. Gareth Edwards MA
Students	2300 (approx.)
Location	Edinburgh, , Scotland
Colours	maroon, white, navy
Website	www.gwc.org.uk

George Watson's College is a leading co-educational independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Scotland's capital city 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 has always been maintained by the Merchant Company of Edinburgh. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... For other uses, see Motto (disambiguation). ... Educational institutions are often categorised along several dimensions. ... An independent school is a school which is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operation and is instead operated by tuition charges, gifts, and perhaps the investment yield of an endowment. ... For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). ... This article is about the country. ... School colors are the colors chosen by a school to represent it on uniforms and other items of identification. ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 295 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,462 × 909 pixels, file size: 1. ... A day school is an institution where children are given educational instruction only during the day and after which children return to their homes. ... This article is about the country. ... Merchiston is an wealthy area in the south-west of Edinburgh. ... For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). ... A boarding school is a usually fee-charging school where some or all pupils not only study, but also live during term time, with their fellow students and possibly teachers. ... A day school is an institution where children are given educational instruction only during the day and after which children return to their homes. ... The Company of Merchants of the City of Edinburgh, also known as the Merchant Company of Edinburgh or just the Merchant Company, is a livery company of the City of Edinburgh, originally founded in order to protect trading rights in the City of Edinburgh, which also carries out a significant...

History

Foundation

The school was established at the instructions of George Watson (1654–1723) who bequeathed the bulk of his fortune — £12,000, a vast sum in 1723 — to found a hospital school for the provision of post-primary boarding education to the "children and grand-children of decayed Merchants of Edinburgh, and of the Ministers of the Old Church thereof". He further expressed a preference for those by the surname of Davidson or Watson. Watsons memorial shown in situ with - inset - a close-up to allow the wording to be read. ... A boarding school is a usually fee-charging school where some or all pupils not only study, but also live during term time, with their fellow students and possibly teachers. ...

Watson was never a member of the Merchant Company of Edinburgh, but he was impressed by their running of the Merchant Maiden Hospital and so he chose the Company to implement the terms of his Will. After some years, the Governors finally bought land known as Heriot's Croft, located off Lauriston Place in Edinburgh, close to the Meadows and opposite George Heriot's School, and engaged an architect. The foundation stone of the building was laid on 22 May 1738, and it was completed early in 1741. (At the time, there was concern that this site was too far from the city, but today it would be regarded as close to the city centre.) The Mary Erskine School, popularly known simply as Mary Erskines or MES for short, is an all girls independent secondary school in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Lauriston is an area of central Edinburgh, Scotland. ... View across the Meadows towards Salisbury Crags (left) and Arthurs Seat The Meadows is a large public park in Edinburgh, Scotland, just to the south of the city centre. ... George Heriots School is an independent primary and secondary school on Lauriston Place in Edinburgh, Scotland, with around 1600 pupils. ... is the 142nd day of the year (143rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 4 - Court Jew Joseph Suss Oppenheimer is executed in Württenberg April 15 - Premiere in London of Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel. ...

The school formally opened as George Watson's Hospital on Whitsunday, 17 May 1741. The initial roll consisted of 11 boys, aged 9-10 years; by 1749 there were 30, while in 1842 pupils numbered 86, this number being maintained until the end of the Hospital system in 1870. The term Whitsunday may refer to: The Sunday of the feast of Whitsun or Pentecost in the Christian calendar, observed 50 days after Easter. ... is the 137th day of the year (138th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events April 10 - Austrian army attack troops of Frederick the Great at Mollwitz August 10 - Raja of Travancore defeats Dutch East India Company naval expedition at Battle of Colachel December 19 - Vitus Bering dies in his expedition east of Siberia December 25 - Anders Celsius develops his own thermometer scale Celsius...

In accordance with Watson's will, the Governors were responsible for former pupils up to the age of 25; they were helped to find apprenticeships and paid an allowance. Watson's stated preference was for allowing the Hospital's charges to become skilled workers, though the Governors also allowed boys who showed an ability to pursue medicine or academia.^[1]

Re-establishment as a Day School

By the 1860s, the hospital school system had fallen into general public disrepute, while the Merchant Company was fearful both of government intervention in the schooling system and of its own decline. The solution was to re-found Watson's, and the three other hospitals under its governorship, as day schools. In July 1868 the Company applied to Parliament for powers to reorganise their schools and make different use of their endowments to as to make education more widely available. A boarding school is a usually fee-charging school where some or all pupils not only study, but also live during term time, with their fellow students and possibly teachers. ... A day school is an institution where children are given educational instruction only during the day and after which children return to their homes. ...

Watsons's was thus completely transformed, reopening on 26 September 1870 as a fee-paying day school with a roll of 800 boys, initially called George Watson's College Schools for Boys.

More change was to come quickly. In 1869, the original Hospital building was sold to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. When the infirmary sought to expand in 1871, the school moved a short distance west to the former Merchant Maiden Hospital building in Archibald Place. The original Hospital building was incorporated into the infirmary, and the chapel remained in use as the hospital chapel until the infirmary itself moved away. The remains of the building were demolished in 2004 during the redevelopment of the infirmary site by the Quartermile consortium,^[1] which also redeveloped the site of the Archibald Place buildings, which had in turn been demolished in the 1930s after the school moved to its present site. The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, also known as the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. ... Quartermile is the marketing name given to the mixed use redevelopment of the 19 acre former Edinburgh Royal Infirmary site, in Lauriston, Edinburgh, overlooking The Meadows. ...

1932 Buildings

In the years following the Great War, the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary needed to expand once more and was interested in the site then occupied by Watson's. At the same time, the Archibald Place building was cramped and in need of modernisation, as well as being distant from the school's playing fields at Myreside. In 1924 the Merchant Company announced that they had taken the decision to sell the Archibald Place building to the Infirmary for a "fair" price. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...

Negotiations over the sale took their time, as did the search for a new location. Eventually, in 1927, agreement was made to acquire the site of Merchiston Castle School – adjacent to the Myreside playing fields – and a competition was held to design the new school building. The winner was announced in June 1928 as James B Dunn, himself a Watsonian, with a plan described as "simple, direct and masterly". This page is about the School. ...

Building work on the new site commenced in August 1929. The new building, facing Colinton Road, was in a neo-classical style and sandstone-faced. It is H-shaped, extending over two stories, with a large central Assembly Hall which seats up to 1835.

The new building was completed in 1932. It was opened on 22 September of that year by HRH Prince George (later Duke of Kent). The Prince George, Duke of Kent (George Edward Alexander Edmund) (20 December 1902–25 August 1942) was a member of the British Royal Family, the fourth son of King George V. He held the title of Duke of Kent from 1934 to his death in 1942. ...

Adjacent to the main building is the PE block, featuring gymnasia and a swimming pool, and also includes the school boiler house with its large chimney. Beyond the PE block is the Elementary building (now Upper Primary). Physical education (PE) is the interdisciplinary study of all area of science relating to the transmission of physical knowledge and skills to an individual or a group, the application of these skills, and their results. ...

The Golden Jubilee of the creation of the 1932 buildings fell in 1982 and was marked by a number of celebrations. These culminated on 29 June by a visit from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. The Queen spent two hours touring the campus, including a short concert, and she unveiled a commemorative plaque.^[1] Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ...

George Watson's Ladies College

The reforms which saw the Hospital's transformation into a day school also saw the Merchant Company wish to open a school for girls. In July 1868 the Company applied to Parliament for powers to reorganise their schools and make different use of their endowments to as to make education more widely available.

In February 1871 the Company took over the lease of Melville House in George Square, Edinburgh and used it as the location of the nascent George Watson's College Schools for Young Ladies. It was renamed to George Watson's College for Ladies in 1877 and to George Watson's Ladies College in 1890.^[1]

Amalgamation

Radical change was once more on the cards in the 1960s, as social attitudes and values progressed around the world. In 1967 the Merchant Company announced its plan to combine the two Watson's Colleges to form a single co-educational campus in Colinton Road. This plan was not received without misgivings, but was generally cautiously welcomed. Coeducation is the integrated education of men and women. ...

Building work was required to house the combined school. The main building was expanded with further science labs; the PE block grew a covered Games Hall; a new "Design Centre" was purpose-built to house Art, Technical and Home Economics; and a new Lower Primary building (for primary 1-3) was built adjacent to the existing Elementary (Junior School) building.

The first joint assembly of the amalgamated school was held on 1 October 1974. The school quickly found itself in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest co-educational school in Scotland, with a roll of over 2400 pupils.^[1] is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... Suresh Joachim, minutes away from breaking the ironing world record at 55 hours and 5 minutes, at Shoppers World, Brampton. ...

Since then the school has remained co-educational, and has primarily served day pupils, although various boarding houses have been maintained from time to time in the Tipperlinn Road area, and on-campus at New Myreside House.

George Watson's College also incorporates the once entirely separate John Watson's School, the former premises of which now house the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, holds the national collection of modern art. ...

Houses

The College's pipe band at Sanix World Rugby Youth Tournament, Global Arena, Japan 2006

Pupils at the school are separated into four groups, known as "houses", a practice common in many British independent schools. Originally, the Boys' and Ladies' colleges had their own sets of houses, which were merged when the school amalgamated in 1974. The houses are: Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Global Stadium at Global Arena during the World Rugby Youth Tournament 2006 This prestigious rugby union tournament is held every year during Golden Week in Fukuoka prefecture, Japan. ... Global Arena is a sports facility in Munakata city, Fukuoka prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. ... The House System is a traditional feature of British schools, similar to the collegiate system of a university. ...

• Cockburn/Greyfriars
• Preston/Falconhall
• Melville/Ogilvie
• Lauriston

The school operates a house competition where members can earn house points through participation in various sporting and other events including dance, choir and drama. The final event in the academic year where house points can be earned is the annual Sports Day. The pupil heads of the winning house are awarded a trophy at the school's annual prize-giving ceremony. Sports Days are annual events staged by many schools in which children participate in competitive sporting activities, often with the aim of winning trophies or prizes. ...

Sports and affiliations

Sport plays a significant part in the life of the school, with a rebuilding of the physical education block planned. The main sports of the school are rugby and hockey for boys, and hockey and netball for girls. The school regularly competes in many athletic and skiing events throughout the year. There is an alumni rugby club known as Watsonians, who regularly play in the Scottish BT Premiership. Official website www. ...

The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference (HMC) is an association of the headmasters or headmistressess of 242 leading day and boarding independent boys and coeducational schools in the United Kingdom, Crown dependencies and the Republic of Ireland. ...

Notable teaching staff

Lin (Linda) Anderson (born in Greenock, Scotland) is a Scottish crime writer, best known as creator of forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod. ... Neil Francis Ian McCallum (born 22 November 1977 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish cricket player. ... George Salmond (born December 1, 1969 in Dundee) is a Scottish cricketer. ...

Notable alumni

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The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office and is responsible for internal affairs in England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole United Kingdom (including Scotland and Northern Ireland). ... The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor and prior to the Union the Chancellor of England and the Lord Chancellor of Scotland, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom, and its predecessor states. ... Andrew Gavin Hastings, OBE (born January 3, 1962 in Edinburgh) of Watsonians, Cambridge University Rugby Football Club, the Scotland national rugby union team and the British and Irish Lions was one of the outstanding rugby players of his generation, winning 61 caps for Scotland, 20 of which as captain. ... 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References

Links

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George Watson's College

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