Dollar Academy, founded in 1818 by John McNabb, is an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
co-educational day and
boarding school in Scotland. The open campus occupies a site in the centre of
Dollar, Clackmannanshire
Dollar ( gd, Dolair) is a small town with a population of 2,800 people in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is east of Stirling.
Toponymy
Possible interpretations are that Dollar is derived from ''Doilleir'', an Irish and Scots Gaelic word mea ...
, at the foot of the
Ochil Hills
The Ochil Hills (; gd, Monadh Ochail is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the towns of Stirling, Alloa, Kinross, Auchterarder and Perth. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/ Gl ...
.
Overview
As of 2020, there are over 1200 pupils at Dollar Academy, making it the sixth largest independent school in Scotland.
Day pupils are usually from the village of Dollar or the surrounding counties of Clackmannanshire, Stirlingshire, Perth and Kinross, and Fife. The remaining pupils are boarders. Almost 50% of the boarding pupils are from overseas, with the rest being British nationals. The overall share of international students is about 20% of all students.
History
Dollar was founded in 1818 following a bequest by Captain John McNab or McNabb. He captained, owned and leased out many ships over the decades and it is known that at least four voyages transported black slaves to the West Indies in 1789–91, less than twenty years before the
Slave Trade Act 1807
The Slave Trade Act 1807, officially An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the slave trade in the British Empire. Although it did not abolish the practice of slavery, it ...
. In 2019, in order to understand the extent of John McNabb’s involvement in the slave trade, research was commissioned in collaboration with external advisors. The school had been "shamed" about this connection in 1998.
The school also teaches about McNabb's links to the slave trade in several subjects. McNabb bequeathed part of his fortune – £65,000, – to provide "a charity or school for the poor of the parish of Dollar where I was born".
Architecture
William Playfair
William Playfair (22 September 1759 – 11 February 1823), a Scottish engineer and political economist, served as a secret agent on behalf of Great Britain during its war with France. The founder of graphical methods of statistics, Playfai ...
was commissioned to design the building. The interior of the ''Playfair Building'' was gutted by a fire in 1961, but Playfair's Greek-style outer facades remained intact. The interior was rebuilt on a plan based on central corridors with equal sized classrooms on both sides. An extra (second) floor was concealed, increasing the total available space. The school was re-opened in 1966 by former pupil
Lord Heyworth, and the assembly hall was rebuilt after the fire. The school library is a "
whispering gallery
The Whispering Gallery of St Paul's Cathedral, London
A whispering gallery is usually a circular, hemispherical, elliptical or ellipsoidal enclosure, often beneath a dome or a vault, in which whispers can be heard clearly in other parts of t ...
" because of its domed ceiling.
Many other buildings have been added to the school over time- such as the ''Dewar Building'' for science and the ''Maguire Building'' for art and physical education. And in 2016 the ''Westwater Buildin''g was added, named after Private George Philip Westwater, an FP killed in the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
at Gallipoli. This building contains the Modern Languages department and two Economics classrooms.
Traditions
Each year full colours and half colours are awarded to senior pupils for achievement in sporting or cultural pursuits. These awards merit piping on the school blazer (blue for cultural, white for sporting) and/or a distinctive blazer badge. Internationalists' Award ties are presented to pupils, prep, junior and senior, who has represented their country in sporting or cultural activities.
Pipe Band
The school has two main Pipe Bands. The "A" band won the Scottish Schools CCF Pipes and Drums competition every year from 2000 to 2012 and 2014 and 2015,
as well as winning the
RSPBA
The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association (RSPBA) is an association aiming to oversee pipe band competition, and to promote and encourage the development of pipe band culture worldwide pipe band competition, and to promote and encourage the devel ...
World Pipe Band Championships
The World Pipe Band Championships is a pipe band competition held in Glasgow, Scotland. The World Pipe Band Championships as we currently know them have been staged since 1947 although the Grade 1 Pipe Band Competition winners at the annual Cowal ...
in 2010, 2014 and 2015. In 2013, the band was placed first at the last "Major" of the season, the
Cowal Gathering. In 2015, the band won the Scottish, British, United Kingdom, European and World Championships, leading to them being awarded the title "Champion of Champions". Additionally, the Novice, or "B" band won the British, Scottish and European Championships in 2015, and was crowned "Champion of Champions".
Rectors
*The Rev. Dr Andrew Mylne DD (1818–1850)
*The Rev. Dr Thomas Burbidge (1850–1851)
*The Dr John Milne LLD (1851–1868)
*The Rev. Dr William Barrack (1868–1878)
*
George Thom
George Thom (1842–1916) was a Scottish mathematician and pedagogue who was principal at Dollar Academy from 1878 to 1902.
Life and work
Thom graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 1863. In 1867 he became Principal of Doveton College in ...
(1878–1902)
*Charles Dougall (1902–1923)
*Hugh Martin (1923–1936)
*Harry Bell OBE (1936–1960)
*James Millar (1960–1962) – Acting Rector
*Graham Richardson (1962–1975)
*Ian Hendry (1975–1984)
*Lloyd Harrison (1984–1994)
*John Robertson (1994–2010)
*David Knapman (2010–2019)
*Ian Munro (current Rector)
Former pupils
Academia and science
*John Thomas Irvine Boswell, botanist
*
John Macmillan Brown, university professor and administrator
*Andrew Clark, church of England clergyman, scholar and diarist
*
Sir James Dewar, inventor of the
Vacuum flask
A vacuum flask (also known as a Dewar flask, Dewar bottle or thermos) is an insulating storage vessel that greatly lengthens the time over which its contents remain hotter or cooler than the flask's surroundings. Invented by Sir James Dewa ...
*
John Archibald Watt Dollar, veterinarian to four monarchs
*
George Alexander Gibson
George Alexander Gibson FRSE FRCPE (27 January 1854 – 18 January 1913) was a Scottish physician, medical author and amateur geologist. As an author he wrote on the diverse fields of both geology and heart disease. The Gibson Memorial Lecture ...
, physician and geologist
*
Sir David Gill,
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...
*
William Frederick Harvey
Lieutenant-Colonel William Frederick Harvey Order of the Indian Empire, CIE Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, FRCPE Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (1873-11 September 1948) was a Scottish expert on public health, serving fo ...
, public health expert, Director of the Central Research Institute in India, Vice President of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
*Professor Sir Donald Mackay, economist
*
Matthew Hay, physician and forensic expert
*
John Robertson Henderson
John Robertson Henderson CIE FRSE FZS FLS (21 May 1863 – 26 October 1925) was a Scottish zoologist who specialized in the taxonomy of marine crustaceans, particularly the decapods, and worked on specimens collected by the oceanic research v ...
FRSE zoologist and antiquary
*Sir
Hector Hetherington
Sir Hector James Wright Hetherington (21 July 1888 – 15 January 1965) was a Scottish philosopher, who was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool from 1927 to 1936, and Principal of the University of Glasgow until 1961.
Early life
H ...
, social philosopher
*
Henry Halcro Johnston botanist
*
James MacRitchie, Municipal Engineer in Singapore 1883–95, Lighthouse Engineer in Japan
*
James Samuel Risien Russell Guyanese-British physician, neurologist,
*
Sir David Wallace,
CMG,
FRCSEd, Surgeon
*
Andrew Wilson FRSE (1852-1912) zoologist and author
Politics
*
Herbert Beresford, Canadian politician
*Sir
George Christopher Molesworth Birdwood
Sir George Christopher Molesworth Birdwood (8 December 183228 June 1917) was an Anglo-Indian official, naturalist, and writer.
Life
The son of General Christopher Birdwood, he was born at Belgaum, then in the Bombay Presidency, on 8 December 1 ...
, colonial administrator in India
*
Lord Constable CBE, KC,
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
politician and judge
*
William Scott Fell, Australian
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
politician and businessman
*Sir
John Dunlop Imrie FRSE CBE, City Chamberlain of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
1926–1951, First Government Commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago 1951–53
*Sir
George Reid
Sir George Houston Reid, (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was an Australian politician who led the Reid Government as the fourth Prime Minister of Australia from 1904 to 1905, having previously been Premier of New South Wales fr ...
, Lord Lieutenant for Clackmannanshire and former Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
*
Sir William Snadden Bt,
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
politician
*
Euphemia Gilchrist Somerville, social worker and local politician
*Sir
Frank Swettenham
Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham (28 March 1850 – 11 June 1946) was a British colonial administrator who became the first Resident general of the Federated Malay States, which brought the Malay states of Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and ...
, first Resident-General of the
Federated Malay States
*
Mandy Telford, former President of the
National Union of Students
*
James Galloway Weir
James Galloway Weir (6 July 1839 – 18 May 1911) was a Scottish people, Scottish businessman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician.
Biography
Born in Scotland, he was the son of a builder, James Ross Weir. He was a pupil at Dollar Ac ...
,
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
MP and sewing machine entrepreneur
*Rt Hon
Lord Keen of Elie
Richard Sanderson Keen, Baron Keen of Elie (born 29 March 1954) is a British lawyer and Conservative Party politician. He was Advocate General for Scotland from May 2015 until his resignation on 16 September 2020.
Early life
Keen was educated ...
PC QC, Conservative Party politician lawyer
Media and arts
*
Henry Clark Barlow, literary scholar
*
Ian Hamilton Finlay
Ian Hamilton Finlay, CBE (28 October 1925 – 27 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener.
Life
Finlay was born in Nassau, Bahamas, to James Hamilton Finlay and his wife, Annie Pettigrew, both of Scots descent.
He was e ...
, poet, playwright, artist and experimental garden designer
*
Alasdair Hutton OBE TD, announcer, former journalist and politician
*
Alan Johnston
Alan Graham Johnston (born 17 May 1962) is a British journalist working for the BBC. He has been the BBC's correspondent in Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, the Gaza Strip and Italy. He is based in London.
Johnston was kidnapped in the Gaza Strip on ...
,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, Chairman of Unilever and ICI
*Sir Archibald Page, engineer and electricity supply manager
*
- mining engineer and joint author of the "Reid Report" on the state of British mining
*Sir
, Rifle shooter, five times Commonwealth Games Medallist, double European Champion and two-time Olympian
*
, Rifle shooter, double Commonwealth Games Medallist, double European Champion and Olympian
*
(1784–1848), linguist and poet (Master of Classical and Oriental Languages)
* Prof