Albyn School

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Albyn School
Type	Private independent coeducational
Location	Queens Road, Aberdeen AB15 4PB, Scotland
Coordinates	57°8′29″N, 2°7′55″W
Founded	1867
Age Range	3 months to 18 years
Primary Years	S1 - S6
Secondary Years	P1 - P7
Nursery Years	3 months to 5 years
Website	albynschool.co.uk
Email	information@albynschool.co.uk
Telephone	+44 (0)1224 322408

The Albyn School is a privately owned independent educational establishment, founded in 1867 in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is located on Queens Road at the intersection with Forest Road.

Originally an all-girls school, it became co-educational in 2005.

The school has a nursery, primary school and secondary school; pupils can attend from 3 months to 18 years old.

In the past its main sporting and academic competitor was considered to be St. Margaret's School for Girls, as it was the other all-girls school in the city. Although boys are now admitted, a healthy rivalry remains, particularly in the sport of hockey.

Contents 1 History of the School. 2 Beginnings 3 Taking Root 4 A Thirde Blossoming 5 ‘Miss O’s’ - An Aberdeen Institution 6 A Dignified Walk into Modernity 7 Co-education: The Beginning of a New Age for Albyn 8 References. 9 External Links.

[edit] History of the School.

In 1967, for the centenary celebrations, the school, under the direction of then Headmistress Dorothy Kidd, produced a volume outlining the history of the school up to that time. Nevertheless, the early years of the school remain rather shrouded in mystery, as very little has been preserved from the period before the school moved to its present site in 1926. Even since then the documentation that has survived has been inconsistent in quality and depth, and fragmentary in its availability.

In 2006 the Albyn School Former Pupils’ Club celebrated its centenary with a week of concerts, dinners, gatherings, a reception in the Town House and a church service. However the school traces its foundation back considerably further than 1906, namely to 1867.

[edit] Beginnings

Harriet Warrack

On 7 August 1867 The Aberdeen Journal carried the following advertisement:

“Miss Warrack will resume teaching on the 15th August. Apply to Messrs A & R Milne, 199 Union Street.”

1867 is therefore generally seen as the date that marks the foundation of what later became Albyn Place School for Girls, then Albyn School for Girls and now simply Albyn School. . The fact that Miss Warwick was resuming teaching suggests, however, that she had already been teaching prior to that date. However, lack of further evidence means that 1867 is the year we regard as the foundation year.

Harriet Warrack was born in Aberdeen in 1826. Her father, James Warrack was apparently a tea dealer and grocer at 50 Union Street who had a number of other business interests including a brewery at Gilcomston. At the time of Harriet’s birth the family lived at 38 Dee Street. It appears he was not always financially successful, which may account for the reference in her obituary to Harriet having to “make her own way in the world early in life”. It is therefore likely that she started to teach to help educate her brother and sister. Harriet’s maternal aunt taught at the Lancastrian School in Charlotte Street, where she may have been educated. She may even have started teaching there but there is little remaining evidence to provide a conclusive picture.

She died in Aberdeen on 23 April 1910. Her obituary notice in the Aberdeen Free Press recorded the following:

”Miss Warrack, who was a daughter of James Warrack, a gentleman well known in business circles in Aberdeen in his day, had to make her own way in the world early in life. A woman of marked natural ability, and equipped with a sound education, she instituted a west end school for girls about fifty years ago. This she conducted with conspicuous success, her pupils including not only scholars belonging to the city, but many from the country, who attended her school as boarders. In the development of the somewhat circumscribed system of education hitherto provided for girls, Miss Warrack played a notable part. In this respect she was indeed a pioneer in Aberdeen. She was instrumental in establishing her school as a centre for the University ‘locals’, in which many of her pupils distinguished themselves.

In the early 1880s, Miss Warrack was joined by Mr Alexander Mackie in the conduct of her school in Union Place, and subsequently, on the removal of that school to Albyn Place, she retired from active work.

After the move she still continued to take a keen interest in educational affairs, and was a frequent visitor to the Albyn Place School, in the welfare of which she always maintained an interested concern. Miss Warrack was a woman of strong force of character, an admirable organiser, and never failed to leave the impress of her marked individuality on her pupils, who, in after life, were ready to recognise the potent influence which she exercised upon them. Throughout her life, Miss Warrack was a loyal supporter of the Free Church. For many years she was connected with the Free West Church…while in later years she was an attached member of Queen’s Cross Free Church.”

In 1886 the budding school moved to the bottom end of Albyn Place, occupying Nos 4-6 in a terrace diagonally opposite the site of St Margaret’s School. It became known officially as the Albyn Place School for Girls but to most people at that time it was known as “Mackie’s”, thanks to the reputation of the Principal (by which title he was known), Alexander Mackie.

Nevertheless, the early years of the School remain rather shrouded in mystery, as very little has been preserved from the period before the School moved to its present site in 1926. Even since then the documentation that has survived has been inconsistent in quality and depth, and fragmentary in its availability.

[edit] Taking Root

Alexander Mackie

The future Albyn Principal, was born on 11 September 1855 on the estate of Delgaty Castle in Buchan where his father was a gardener. Mr Mackie senior was soon promoted to the post of Head Gardener in Duff House, where Alexander spent his formative years in the very lap of nature. He was a ‘lad o’ pairts’ in the traditional style, a country boy who never lost his love of country life and pursuits at the same time as developing a passion for literature and the rigours of intellectual development.

His early schooling was at the Free Church Institution in Macduff. From there, in 1870, he moved to the Aberdeen Grammar School, which at that time only had five classes. He completed his studies with success and in 1872 secured the 6th Bursary for matriculation to the MA degree at King’s College, Aberdeen. He studied seven subjects, including classics, languages, philosophy, mathematics and science, before focussing on what was to become his great love and chosen subject as a teacher, English language and literature. He was a committed and enthusiastic student and in 1876 he graduated as MA Hons with the added achievement of the Seafield Gold Medal in English.

At this stage he was considering following a lifetime of commitment to the church and consequently enrolled at the Free Church Divinity Hall, where he stayed for three years. Interestingly, in the middle of his studies he spent a semester at Tubingen University, studying German theology and honing his command of the German language. On his return he won the Lumsden Scholarship for an essay on “The Augsburg Confession and Apology.” However, by this time he was beginning to realise that the church was not for him.

Whilst at Divinity Hall he had also obtained a post as assistant to Professor Bain in English and Logic at the University, and it was here he decided that his true vocation was as a teacher of language and literature. When Professor Bain retired in 1880 Alexander Mackie had to decide what to do next. He chose school teaching and decided to throw in his lot with Miss Harriet Warrack, the founder and Principal of the Union Place School for Girls.

He soon established himself as an invaluable colleague. Miss Warrack thought so highly of her young graduate teacher that when she retired from active teaching in 1886 she handed over to him the full management and control of the School, which was then to move to Albyn Place and became indissolubly linked to his name until his untimely death in post in June 1915.

On 3 July 1884 he had married Philippa Rattray at St John’s Church, Aberdeen, whose father was Dr Robert Gordon Rattray, medical superintendent of the Royal Infirmary. Theirs was a particularly successful marriage. She was herself a teacher and lover of literature. Their home at Ashprington was a happy house.

What was the precise nature of Alexander Mackie’s achievement? It is regarded as being twofold - first in the pioneering work he achieved in the North East in the education of women, and secondly in his teaching of English, at which he excelled.

Even at this stage the School had a Kindergarten Department and Primary section in which the girls followed the same subjects as in the local public schools. However, it also offered music, dancing, drawing and painting. In the Upper School (the term was already being used then) the girls worked towards the University Local and Entrance Examinations in English Language and Literature, Mathematics, Science, Languages Ancient and Modern. Hockey and tennis were already much enjoyed as recreations.

At this time his own subject, English, was regarded as something of a Cinderella so he took steps to address that. He approached it with a rigour and thoroughness that was unprecedented. He regarded it as an exact science and instilled in the girls the virtues of composition, clarity, logic and rhetoric in all his teaching. He himself edited for use in schools Macaulay’s essays on “Milton” and “Warren Hastings” as illustrations of the laws of rhetoric. Waffle and padding were absolutely taboo. It is therefore particularly apt that the School Library should be named after the most literary of Albyn’s headteachers.

As a man he was renowned for his urbanity and equanimity, the opposite of the Victorian martinet. He used wit, occasionally sarcasm and irony, together with a balanced charm to run a most effective school in which teachers were allowed simply to teach and the girls were encouraged to learn.

“His bluff, breezy manner swept the pupils along. Neither with them nor the members of staff did he affect aloofness. In school, as out of it, he was the same debonair gentleman. His manner was entirely natural, simple, good-humoured and both by pupils and teachers he was accordingly respected and loved.” (John Minto Robertson)

One of the proofs for the affection in which he was held is undoubtedly the foundation of the Albyn Place School Former Pupils’ Club in 1906, convened to sustain not only the bonds of friendship but also much of the ethos and even learning that was associated with the School in Mr Mackie’s time. It is therefore also not perhaps surprising that it was at their instigation that the rather fine and certainly touching collection of Mr Mackie’s Prose and Verse, assembled by John Minto Robertson, a former member of staff, was published posthumously and as a commemoration in 1916. (see Alexander Mackie: Prose and Verse. Edited with a Memoir, by John Minto Robertson MA, The Rosemount Press, Aberdeen, 1916)

Within a few years Albyn School’s reputation as an intellectual seminary was secure, exemplified by the number of pupils who went on to success at the universities in Aberdeen and Scotland as a whole.

Alexander Mackie’s reputation soon spread beyond the school gates to both town and gown. He was appointed to the committee of the City Library and then was elected Examiner in English at the University of Aberdeen.

In 1911 the School became liable to Government Inspection - not for the last time! The Science Laboratories were set up and equipped. It was around this time that the School also chose its motto, “Vigor et Juventas”, which had been suggested to the Principal by his friend W Keith Leask.

Despite all these innovations and the extent of his commitment to the School, Alexander Mackie’s enthusiasms were not limited to Albyn Place itself. He was a lifelong lover of nature and in particular of angling. He wrote many poems, essays and articles on these subjects for the Scottish Field, the Aberdeen newspapers and magazines and elsewhere and in 1912 published The Art of Worm-Fishing, a book long regarded as a standard work on the subject!

As a student of rhetoric he was well-known in the North East as a speaker and public lecturer and was in great demand for all manner of occasions, speaking on literary as well as natural topics. One of his most successful was the talk he repeatedly gave on William Alexander’s Johnny Gibb of Gushetneuk, apparently a literary treat as well as an elocutionary (ie dialect!) tour de force.

Although he wrote little on the theoretical aspect of teaching, he was nonetheless moved to aspire to a more prominent role in the educational development of Scotland and in 1902, at the age of 47, therefore applied for the Chair of Education at St Andrews. It was not to be, however, but pupils and staff were apparently all mightily relieved when it became clear that Albyn would remain “Mackie’s School”.

Alexander Mackie’s reputation even began to spread to the dominions of the Empire. In 1913 he was invited to go on a lecture tour of Canada, travelling from New York via Niagara, Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg to as far as the other Banff and the Rockies.

It was felt that perhaps this trip had taken too much out of him. Shortly after his return he fell ill. He had been an active man of the most robust health throughout his life. All were shocked and saddened to witness his decline. His condition slowly but steadily worsened and he was obliged to cut down on his school duties. He gave up all his teaching at the beginning of the session 1914-1915 and was absent for much of the year. Finally, hours after the school closed for the summer holiday on 25 June 1915, he died peacefully at home, shortly before his sixtieth birthday. He was buried in Springbank Cemetery, Aberdeen.

Mrs Mackie, his partner in every respect, followed him in May 1919.

[edit] A Thirde Blossoming

Miss Margaret Thirde was appointed in 1915 as the third Head of Albyn in succession to Alexander Mackie. Like him she taught English. Not much has been preserved about her apart from many happy memories. The 1967 Centenary volume describes her in the following terms:

“Miss Thirde was brave, eager, and energetic, full of ideas. She was one of the advance guard amongst those educationalists who disapproved of teaching girls as if they were boys, in the expectation that later on they would be indistinguishable from men. Cooking and sewing, singing and dancing and drawing were now given much more prominence in our timetables, and we did in fact pass our external examinations without doing a stroke of bookwork any afternoon of the week.

Miss Thirde herself taught English…… (she) supplied an element of drama otherwise quite lacking at School. Life jerked out of its rut the moment that she came into the room. She went faster to the point that anyone I had met before. She even went faster on her feet than any other adult, along the bleak passages of the old School and up the long flight of stairs, while her gown, slipping off her shoulders, swept the ground behind her.” (from Lyn Irvine, So Much Love, So Little Money London 1957, quoted in Albyn School Centenary 1967 p 45)

At the end of 1919 she resigned her post to get married and then moved to South Africa with her new husband.

As Margaret Henderson she became a well-known figure of the local community and when she died her husband donated a substantial sum to the local independent boys’ school, Kearsney College. This was used to construct a fine new school hall named the Margaret Henderson Hall in her honour. The Hall is still very much central to the life of the College.

[edit] ‘Miss O’s’ - An Aberdeen Institution

If there had been any doubt about the importance of Albyn in the Aberdeen community it was soon dispelled after the appointment of Miss ECS Oliver as Headmistress in January 1920, an event that marked the beginning of one of the great eras in the history of the School.

Under her management and leadership the School made a dramatic leap forward when she took the decision to move from the increasingly cramped environment at the foot of Albyn Place to the more spacious surroundings of Queen’s Road. The school had already acquired No 21 as a boarding house and quickly bought 19 and 23. For the first time girls had tennis courts at the school and, more dramatically, electric lighting instead of gas. Hockey was played on rather bumpy pitches at Kepplestone.

In 1927 a uniform was introduced that is still recognisable today. In the following year special colours blazers were introduced for excellence in hockey and tennis.

“The war years at ‘Miss O’’ are most noted for the division of the school when boarders and some day girls were sent into the country, the seniors to Blelack (near Dinnet) and juniors to Tillypronie”, a time for those who experienced it of halcyon days of adventure and enjoyment as well as learning in a less formal environment. Tillypronie House was leased by Miss Oliver from Lord Royden at the beginning of the war and together with the nearby hunting lodge Reinacharn formed the boarding house for the Kindergarten and the Lower School. The challenges of managing such a complex enterprise must have been many, with French and English being taught in town and Maths and Latin at Blelack, alternating on a weekly basis! Meanwhile others had remained in town to complete their schooling, with No 23 Queen’s Road taken over by the ARP authorities.

However, the experience seems to have positive for all involved and the return to ‘normality’ in Easter 1945 was greeted with very mixed feelings.

During Miss Oliver’s tenure there were numerous developments in curriculum and ethos, with a vigorous involvement in the arts, sport and political and moral debate complementing rigorous academic expectations and strict standards of behaviour, courtesy and deportment. And yet all of this laced with the originality and strength of character of Miss Oliver herself, giving all day parties for the whole school, smoking, and being followed into her French lessons by her dachshunds: a much revered and respected figure.

In 1948 “Miss O”, as she was almost universally known, was finally forced to retire through ill-health after leading the School through 28 years, a remarkable achievement.

[edit] A Dignified Walk into Modernity

In those days Albyn was still a proprietary school owned by the Head. That now changed. In her final act of devotion to Albyn, instead of selling Albyn to her successor for her own profit, Miss Oliver arranged for the appointment of a Board of Governors and the creation of the Albyn School for Girls Ltd, a company run as a charitable trust. She donated the School to that company, membership of which was open to Former Pupils and certain honorary members only, a situation that still holds today.

In January 1949 the new Board appointed Miss Walker, a fine woman who was noted for “her kindliness and tact, a gentle wise hand.” She too led the school through many developments: recognition of Grant Aided Status, acquisition of the Summerhill playing fields and the sustained development over many years. Mrs IM Fowlie, Vice Chairman on the original Board, soon became chairman and led the School for two decades, providing continuity of strategic planning and development.

One of that Board’s inspired decisions was the appointment of Miss Dorothy Kidd (1916-2004) as Headmistress. She dominated Albyn in every respect for 18 years from 1958 to 1976. Shortly after the beginning of the School Year 2004-05 we learned of her passing. Miss Kidd was one of the great figures in the history of the School, along with Harriet Warrack, Mr Mackie and Miss Oliver. In her time the School opened the new Hall, gym, new science labs and celebrated its centenary in 1967. Her photo hangs outside the Library and the Science Labs rightly bear her name. The Memorial Service for her took place in Rubislaw Church on 30 September 2004. Sheriff Muir Russell gave the address. The School Ensemble sang Rutter’s Clare Benediction. It was a time to reflect on a great lady who is still remembered and revered by FPs and former staff.

Born in Cults and educated at the Girls’ High School Miss Kidd studied Mathematics at Aberdeen before going on to teacher training at Cambridge. She taught in Liverpool and at Manchester High School before returning to Scotland as Deputy Head of Laurel Bank School, the well-known girls’ school in Glasgow, alas now defunct. She was appointed to Albyn from there in 1958.

The School at that time numbered around 520, including 60 boarders housed in No 19 Queen’s Road. During her first few years at Albyn Miss Kidd lived in the old coachman’s house which had been converted by Miss Walker for her retirement. The house is now occupied by the Janitor, Mr Farquhar, and his family.

In 1959 the School purchased 17 Queen’s Road and three years later the new Foyer, Hall and Gymnasium were opened byt Sir Peter Scott, who was Rector of Aberdeen University at the time. Miss Kidd recalled he was “shaking like a leaf at the prospect of addressing the girls!”

The more recent years will have to be glossed over more sketchily as time has not yet allowed for the completion of research for this History. In fact there is still a great deal to be done to do justice to the Albyn story.

After Miss Kidd’s retiral the Board appointed Miss Christine Campbell in 1976. She had previously been Headmistress of St Bride’s, the girls school in Helensburgh that subsequently became Lomond School. Miss Campbell was a highly popular figure, much liked and respected by the staff. Alas her tenure was cut short by illness and she died in office on the first day of the Easter holidays in 1982, a tragic event that shocked the whole school community, despite her months of illness.

Miss Catherine Morrison, a long-serving servant of the School, Head of English, Deputy Head and many other things besides, was thrust into the Headmistress’ office, serving as Acting Head from January to December 1982. She is another of those extraordinary Albyn figures who lives long in the collective memory of the School.

Miss Norma Smith, a chemist, was appointed in December 1982. She was a tremendously loyal, intelligent and thoughtful Head who guided the School sensitively through the next 15 years, retiring in 1997. A scientist herself she was able to oversee the construction of the new science block on the south side of the playground, opened by the Vice Chancellor of Aberdeen University in 1992 and dedicated to the memory of Dorothy Kidd. Born in Edinburgh and educated at George Watson’s Ladies College and then Edinburgh University Miss Smith came to Albyn from Berwickshire High in Duns where she was Assistant Head. Prior to that she had been Head of Chemistry at Gordonstoun and also taught at St Christopher’s, Letchworth, and St Leonard’s.

The legacy was then placed in the hands of Mrs Sheena Taylor, who joined Albyn from Torry Academy, where she had been Assistant Head and English teacher. Her time at Albyn was brief and fraught with controversy, leading to her departure in 1999, when she was replaced by Miss Jennifer Leslie. Miss Leslie had been a long-standing member of staff who as Head of Modern Languages and then Deputy Head had played a crucial role in maintaining the ethos and standards associated with the School. She was now charged with steering the School through choppy waters whilst maintaining staff and pupil morale. She did so admirably and for that the School owes her a great debt of gratitude.

There had in previous years been attempts to unite the three main independent schools in Aberdeen. Rumours also regularly resurfaced over the years about mergers with school X or Y. However in the years surrounding the millennium a serious attempt was made to bring Albyn under the sovereignty of another institution and turn it into a junior school. It very nearly succeeded. It is testimony to the reserves of spirit and loyalty that staff, parents and former pupils demonstrated towards their School that this attempt failed. The Board of Governors showed great courage and determination to lead the School out of this crisis and take it forward. Other Schools would have folded in such circumstances, but not Albyn. The vigour and youth encapsulated in the School’s motto kept the belief alive that Albyn could and should continue to thrive.

On Miss Leslie’s retiral in 2002 the Board appointed Dr John Halliday, the first male Head since Alexander Mackie a century before and gave him the task of providing stability, reinforcing confidence and then taking the School forward.

The Governors and Senior Management have therefore now entered on an exciting and ambitious programme of development. In November 2004 the School revitalised the Nursery provision, opening a baby and toddler unit in the former Home Economics building. Albyn was the first all-through school in Scotland to open a nursery for children aged 3 months and upwards.

[edit] Co-education: The Beginning of a New Age for Albyn

2005 was an historic year for Albyn. In January 2005 the Board announced the beginning of a process towards full-coeducation over the next 8 years. The first boys were admitted to the Lower School, up to Primary 5, in August 2005, and they will remain the oldest boys as the School becomes fully co-educational by 2014. Plans are afoot for a brand-new Primary School building and other developments are in the pipeline.

With 30 new boys in the primary section the School has successfully embarked on its move towards full co-education. Whilst boys were once admitted to the Kindergarten up to Primary 3 this is the first time they have had the opportunity to spend their whole schooling at Albyn.

At Albyn each child is regarded as unique and full of energy and potential. The School aims to encourage and nurture each individual to promote self-esteem, achievement in all areas, together with a sense of social responsibility.

Last year (2004/2005) their academic results were excellent, with all 6th year leavers going to their first choice universities including Oxbridge, studying a whole range of courses, including medicine, veterinary medicine, engineering, languages, business and law, to name but a few. 33% are studying a science course of one kind or another.

One girl was the top student for the whole of Scotland in Advanced Higher Modern Studies, whilst another 6th year pupil has just completed a special Nuffield Bursary research project into breast cancer.

Meanwhile the extra-curricular activities are also given great prominence. Two examples from many: In October 2005 the hockey 1st XI went on tour to Ireland, whilst Christmas witnessed the Scottish premiere of the musical Dear Edwina as the Upper School show.

The success of the School is based on small classes, the maximisation of achievement and a strong community spirit led by a committed, well qualified staff team.

After 139 years the School is thriving and developing fast. In 2002 the annual turnover was £1.9 million. This year it is over £3 million. By the time of the 150th Anniversary in 2017 it will have changed again. But whoever is Head in that year will surely still be able to quote Dorothy Kidd’s words from 1967:

“Albyn today is the product of all the Albyns of the past. Buildings have changed, courses have changed, fashions have changed and hem lines have gone up and down….but I believe and hope that much of the cheerful, personal, friendly atmosphere of the old School remains today.”

[edit] References.

1.[1]History of Albyn School.

[edit] External Links.

[2]School Website.