St Trinnean's was a

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

girls' school in Edinburgh. It was founded in 1922 by its

headmistress A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

, Catherine Fraser Lee, who followed the Dalton Plan so that pupils could study what they wished and there was no homework. It was located at 10, Palmerston Road – the former home of Horatius Bonar – a minister and prodigious hymn writer. In 1925, it relocated to the grand mansion of

St Leonard's Hall St Leonard's Hall is a mid-nineteenth century baronial style building within the Pollock Halls of Residence site of the University of Edinburgh. The hall was designed by John Lessels, and built in 1869-1870 for Thomas Nelson Junior, of the Tho ...

which had been built for the wealthy publisher, Thomas Nelson. In 1929, it had 122

day A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two so ...

children and 38 boarders – pupils who lived at the school. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, the school evacuated to

New Gala House Old Gala House is a museum and conference centre situated in the Old Town area of Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. The building was originally built as a tower house in 1457 by the Clan Pringle, Hoppringill (Pringle) family, who had been grante ...

– a mansion in Galashiels. Its pupils at that time included Jewish refugees of the '' Kindertransport''. After the war, the school closed when Miss Fraser Lee retired in 1946. The

school uniform A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution.They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries. An example of a uniform would be requiring button-down shir ...

was a pale blue tunic with fawn-coloured

stockings Stockings (also known as hose, especially in a historical context) are close-fitting, variously elastic garments covering the leg from the foot up to the knee or possibly part or all of the thigh. Stockings vary in color, design, and transparen ...

and coat of Harris Tweed. The school was named after Saint Ninian, who was also known as Trinnean. The pupils were divided into four houses, which were named after people and places associated with the saint – Clagrinnie, Kilninian, Monenn and Whithorn. Each pupil wore a

tie Tie has two principal meanings: * Tie (draw), a finish to a competition with identical results, particularly sports * Necktie, a long piece of cloth worn around the neck or shoulders Tie or TIE may also refer to: Engineering and technology * Ti ...

in the colour of their house – Kilninian was green, for example. Reunions of old pupils were held. When one was advertised in 1955, the name of the school was misprinted causing confusion with Ronald Searle's parody, ''

St Trinian's School ''St Trinian's'' is a British gag cartoon comic strip series, created and drawn by Ronald Searle from 1946 until 1952. The cartoons all centre on a boarding school for girls, where the teachers are sadists and the girls are juvenile delinquents. ...

'', which had been recently filmed as ''

The Belles of St. Trinian's ''The Belles of St Trinian's'' is a 1954 British comedy film, directed by Frank Launder, co-written by Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and starring Alastair Sim, Joyce Grenfell, George Cole, Hermione Baddeley. Inspired by British cartoonist Ronald ...

''. The headmistress issued a denial that her girls were anything like those depicted by Searle. She was not happy with his portrayal, which had first appeared in 1946, when she told the school that, "After 20 years at St Trinneans, I am broken-hearted."

Pupils

* Cecile McLachlan née Johnston, the artist who became friends with Ronald Searle as a girl and so inspired his creation of the fictional St Trinians * Helen Lillie – "It was always freezing cold and coldness seemed to be regarded as an aid to learning ... Miss Fraser Lee was as implacable a dictator as any in Europe in the 1930s." * Jean Innes, one of the first pupils – "School days at St Trinnean's really were the happiest of my life." * Joan Campbell – the doctor and former head girl who organised a reunion of nearly 100 pupils in 1998 * Mair Eleri Morgan Livingstone née Thomas, who would climb from the school dormitory to the roof and, later, became a doctor and bacteriologist * Margaret Hollister, daughter of American missionaries to China, who became a social worker in Washington, DC. *

Pauline Harrison Pauline May Harrison (née Cowan) (born 24 August 1926) is a British protein crystallographer and professor emeritus at the University of Sheffield. She gained her chemistry degree from Somerville College, Oxford in 1948, followed by a DPhil i ...

, crystallographer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Trinnean's School 1922 establishments in Scotland Educational institutions established in 1922 Girls' schools in Edinburgh Independent schools in Edinburgh