St Ninian's School, Moffat

St Ninian's Preparatory School
Established 1879
Closed 1979
Type Preparatory school
Founder Arthur J C Dowding & Reverend W H Churchill
Location Old Well Road
Moffat
Dumfriesshire
DG10 9AW
Scotland
Gender Boys
Ages 5–13

St Ninian's Preparatory School was an independent preparatory school for boys in Moffat, Scotland.[1]

History

St Ninian's Preparatory School for boys was founded in 1879 by Arthur John Caswall Dowding and Reverend William Henry Churchill.[1] Dowding had previously been an Assistant Master for three years at Fettes College in Edinburgh.[1] E. W. Hornung was one of the nine boys with which the school opened at Easter 1879. In 1887, the Reverend John William Rundall, who was Assistant Master at St Ninian's from 1882-1887, became the new owner and headmaster of the school, until his death in 1903.[2]

Following the death of Rundall, aged 44, ownership of the school passed to his widow Constance Ethel Pearse. Her brother, the Reverend Francis Wingate Pearse became headmaster in 1906, having been headmaster at Harlington Preparatory School, Llanbedr, Merionethshire, in Wales. In 1910, Constance Pearse died, bequeathing the school to another brother, Hugh, who conveyed ownership to Reverend Pearse. In August 1934 Reverend Pearse sold the school to Mr D A Gregory and retired.[3]

Hugh Dowding, son of the founder, was born at the school in 1882 and educated there. In 1987, to honour the contribution made by Lord Dowding during the Second World War, the RAF Association in conjunction with the RAF Benevolent Fund, purchased St Ninian's School, his birthplace.[4] The building was renamed Dowding House and restored to provide sheltered housing for former members of the Royal Air Force or their dependents.[5] The driving force behind this project was Irene 'Sandy' Park, a former Women's Auxiliary Air Force officer, and native of Moffat.[6]

A stained-glass window (by Charles Eamer Kempe) from the demolished school chapel, commemorating former St Ninian's pupils who died during the Second Boer War, can be found in the west window of St John's Church (Episcopal) in Moffat.[7] There is a plaque in the church with the names and details of the ten fallen, among them Captain David Younger, VC.[7]

Notable alumni

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Well Road and the Schools of Moffat". The Well Road Centre, Moffat. 1 December 1999. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  2. ↑ David M Bertie, ed. (2000). Scottish Episcopal Clergy, 1689-2000. T&TClark Ltd. p. 425. ISBN 0567087468.
  3. ↑ "Sale of St Ninian's SchooL, Moffat". The Scotsman. 29 August 1934. p. 10. Retrieved 26 January 2014. The old established boys' school of St Ninian's, Moffat, has been sold to Mr D. A. Gregory, for over four years mathematical master at Scaitcliffe, Enfield Green, Surrey. Mr Gregory was educated at Rossall and at Edinburgh University. The headmaster of St Ninian's is the Rev. F. Wingate Pearse, who is retiring
  4. ↑ "Dowding House". The Spectator. 21 November 1987. p. 35. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  5. ↑ RAFA Sheltered Housing
  6. ↑ "Irene "Sandy" Park MBE, former WAAF met officer and charity worker". The Scotsman. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  7. 1 2 "History". St John's Church, Moffat. 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  8. ↑ "Dowding, Hugh Caswall Tremenheere, first Baron Dowding (1882–1970)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. 2004. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "Burgh's Victoria Cross hero". The Helensburgh Heritage Trust. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  10. ↑ "Gairdner, William Henry Temple (1873–1928)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. 2004. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  11. ↑ "Papers of E W Hornung". University of Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library Special Collections. January 2012. XMS127. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Captain George Hunt". The Daily Telegraph. 21 August 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "Hector Maclean". The Scotsman. 8 August 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  14. ↑ "Lieutenant Donald Mackintosh". University of Glasgow. 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "Captain D R Younger VC". www.britishempire.co.uk. 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
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