Paisley Grammar School is a secondary school in Paisley, the largest town in

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

, Scotland. The school was founded in 1576 by

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

King James VI James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

and is situated on Glasgow Road. The school is recognised as one of Scotland's oldest schools with an established history. The present school building (which was called the 'Paisley Grammar School and William B. Barbour Academy' due to a bequest by the former Member of Parliament for Paisley, William B. Barbour, and until recently was the school's proper title) was opened in 1898 by

Lord Balfour of Burleigh Lord Balfour of Burleigh, in the County of Kinross, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1607 for Sir Michael Balfour. He was succeeded by his daughter, Margaret, his only child. She married Robert Arnot, who assumed the su ...

, then

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

. The school was fee paying until the mid-1960s and in 1986, when threatened with imminent closure by

Strathclyde Regional Council Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

intervened personally to ensure the survival of the school. The law was changed so that local councils could no longer close schools which were more than 80% full without approval by the

. Following a consultation, in January 2021,

Renfrewshire Council Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Ren ...

approved plans for the school to be moved to a new site, approving construction of a Paisley Grammar School Community Campus at the old site of the Chivas Brothers Whiskey Distillery. The new community campus will move pupils and staff to a modern facility with outdoor areas, state-of-the-art technology, and high-quality media, drama and sports facilities not possible on the current site. The new school will neighbour West College Scotland’s Paisley Campus on Renfrew Road.

Notable former pupils

Notable former pupils include: * John Amabile – interior designer and TV presenter. *

Agnes Barr Auchencloss Agnes Barr Auchencloss (30 May 1886 – 4 July 1972) was a Scottish medical officer. She is best known for her work at the World War I munitions factory H.M. Factory Gretna. She is included in the University of Glasgow Roll of Honour. Family ...

– medical officer * Michael Barratt – television presenter and announcer. *

Colin Campbell Colin may refer to: * Colin (given name) * Colin (surname) * ''Colin'' (film), a 2008 Cannes film festival zombie movie * Colin (horse) (1905–1932), thoroughbred racehorse * Colin (humpback whale), a humpback whale calf abandoned north of Sydney, ...

– former

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...

( SNP). *

James Carlile James Carlile (1784–1854) was a Scottish clergyman from Paisley. He was a joint minister of a Scots church in Dublin and an Irish commissioner of education. He introduced a different style of education in Ireland whereby children of differen ...

(1795–1841) – Irish

Commissioner of National Education A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

. * Sir William Cockburn (1891–1957) – banker and cricketer. *

Thomas Gibson Thomas Ellis Gibson (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his television roles as Daniel Nyland on ''Chicago Hope'' (1994–1997), Greg Montgomery on ''Dharma & Greg'' (1997–2002) and Aaron Hotchner on ''C ...

(1915–1993) – plastic surgeon and bioengineer. *

Fred Goodwin Frederick Anderson Goodwin FRSE FCIBS (born 17 August 1958) is a Scottish chartered accountant and former banker who was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) between 2001 and 2009. From 2000 to 2008, he pre ...

– former CEO of Royal Bank of Scotland. *

Peter Howitt Peter Howitt (; born 5 May 1957) is a British actor and film director. Biography Early life Howitt was born on 5 May 1957, the son of Frank Howitt, a renowned Fleet Street journalist who, in 1963, broke the infamous Profumo Scandal by get ...

(1970) – actor and film writer/director. *

Omer Hussain Rana Omer Hussain (born 3 December 1984 in Paisley, Scotland), better known as Omer Hussain, is a Pakistani Scottish cricket player. He made his debut for the Scottish cricket team on 18 September 2005 in a C&G Trophy match against Warwickshi ...

–

Scottish cricket Cricket has a considerably lower profile in Scotland than it has in neighbouring England. Scotland is not one of the twelve leading cricketing nations which play Test matches, but the Scottish national team is now allowed to play full One Day I ...

internationalist. *

Kenny Ireland George Ian Kenneth "Kenny" Ireland (7 August 1945 – 31 July 2014) was a Scottish actor and theatre director. Ireland was best known to television viewers for his role in '' Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV'' in the 1980s, and for playing Donald ...

(1945–2014) – theatre director & actor, notable for his role as "Donald" in ITV's '' Benidorm''. *

John Jackson John or Johnny Jackson may refer to: Entertainment Art * John Baptist Jackson (1701–1780), British artist * John Jackson (painter) (1778–1831), British painter * John Jackson (engraver) (1801–1848), English wood engraver * John Richardson ...

(1887–1958) –

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, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

. *

Jacqui Lait Jacqueline Anne Harkness Lait (born 16 December 1947) is a British Conservative Party politician and former Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituencies of Hastings and Rye (1992–1997) and Beckenham (1997–2010). Early life Lait was bo ...

(née Harkness) – former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(

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 i ...

) and first ever female

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

. *

Matthew Leishman Matthew Leishman (27 April 1794 – 8 August 1874) was a Scottish minister. He served as minister of Govan Old Parish Church for 53 years, during which he served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1858. Life He wa ...

–

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

in 1858. *

Alexander Munro MacRobert Alexander Munro MacRobert King's Counsel, KC (1873 – 18 October 1930) was a Scotland, Scottish lawyer and Unionist Party (Scotland), Unionist politician. He was Lord Advocate of Scotland in 1929. Life He was born in 1873 the son of Jean Carm ...

(1873–1930) – former

Lord Advocate , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png , incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , appointer = Monarch on the advice ...

and

(

). *

Kyle Magennis Kyle Martin Magennis (born 26 August 1998) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock. He has previously played for St Mirren and Hibernian, and also represented Scotland at under ...

– professional footballer. *

Jim Mather James Stuart "Jim" Mather (born 6 March 1947) is a former Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism from 2007 to 2011, and he was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) from 2003 to 2011 ...

– former

( SNP). * Lord McEwan – former Judge in Scottish

Court of Session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...

and

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Cou ...

. * Ann McKechin –

(

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

) for Glasgow North (2001–2015). * Archibald McLardie (1889–1915) – lawyer and footballer. * John Macquarrie (1919–2007) – sometime Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity,

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, and Canon Residentiary,

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. *

Andrew Neil Andrew Ferguson Neil (born 21 May 1949) is a Scottish former journalist and broadcaster who is chairman of ''The Spectator'' and presenter of '' The Andrew Neil Show'' on Channel 4. He was editor of ''The Sunday Times'' from 1983 to 1994. He f ...

– journalist and broadcaster. *

David Nish David John Nish (born 26 September 1947) is an English former footballer who played as a defender. Nish's £225,000 transfer from Leicester City to Derby County in 1972 broke the British transfer record.BBC NewsWere you there...when the Rams ...

– Chief Executive of

Standard Life Standard Life is a life assurance, pensions and long-terms savings company in the UK which is owned by Phoenix Group. History 1825–2010 The Standard Life Assurance Company was established in 1825 and was reincorporated as a mutual assurance ...

plc. * Frederick Ramsden – cricketer * Brian Reid – former professional footballer. *

Andrew Robertson Andrew Henry Robertson (born 11 March 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Liverpool and captains the Scotland national team. Robertson began his senior career with Queen's Park in 2012 before joini ...

– former President of the

Montreal Board of Trade Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

etc. *Ian Smart - solicitor and former President of the

Law Society of Scotland The Law Society of Scotland is the professional governing body for Scottish solicitors. It promotes excellence among solicitors through the support and regulation of its members. It also promotes the interests of the public in relation to the ...

. *

David Stow David Stow (17 May 1793 – 6 November 1864) was a Scottish educationalist. Life Born at Paisley, Renfrewshire, the son of a successful merchant, he was educated at Paisley Grammar School before entering the Port-Eglinton Spinning Co. in 1 ...

(1793–1864) – educationalist. * Andrew Symington, (1785–1853) - Presbyterian minister *

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– actor, (''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'' etc.) *

Tom Urie Tom Urie (born 1969, Paisley, Scotland) is an actor and musician. He is best known for his role as Big Bob (Bob O'Hara) in the BBC Scotland soap opera ''River City''. In November 2019, Urie played Gordie in the BBC Scotland drama ''Guilt''. C ...

– actor and musician. * Frank Walker (1897–1949) – Scottish footballer. *

Frank Arneil Walker Frank Arneil Walker OBE is a Scottish architectural academic and writer. He is emeritus professor of architecture of the University of Strathclyde. He writes regularly on architectural and urban history, is author of ''The South Clyde Estuar ...

– Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Strathclyde University. *

John Wilson (Scottish writer) John Wilson of Elleray FRSE (18 May 1785 – 3 April 1854) was a Scottish advocate, literary critic and author, the writer most frequently identified with the pseudonym Christopher North of ''Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine''. He was prof ...

* John Wilson – Canadian children's author. * Robert Wilson – cricketer. *

Kenyon Wright Kenyon Edward Wright (31 August 1932 – 11 January 2017) was a priest of the Scottish Episcopal Church and a political campaigner. Wright chaired the Scottish Constitutional Convention (1989–1999), which laid the groundwork for the creation ...

– former Chairman of the

Scottish Constitutional Convention The Scottish Constitutional Convention (SCC) was an association of Scottish political parties, churches and other civic groups, that developed a framework for Scottish devolution. It is credited as having paved the way for the establishment of t ...

. * Lord Wylie (1923–2005) – former

and former

( Scottish Unionist Party).

Old Grammarians

The Old Grammarians Club is a society formed by and for former pupils and staff of Paisley Grammar School. The club has been running in some form since 1928 and was founded with a need to 'keep in touch' after school years following world war I. Ross Brisco is the current president who was elected to office in 2018. The Club are committed to organising social gatherings throughout the year including a yearly ball and a golf club with yearly tournament. The Old Grammarians Club also contributes to the school's annual prize-giving; giving the Old Grammarians Prize to one pupil in the sixth year.

References

External links

Paisley Grammar School's page on Scottish Schools Onlinewww.paisleygrammarschool.comwww.old-grammarians.co.uk
{{authority control 1576 establishments in Scotland Educational institutions established in the 1570s Grammar schools in Scotland Secondary schools in Renfrewshire Schools with a royal charter Schools in Paisley, Renfrewshire