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

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

, 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, but ...

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 (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

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

Strathclyde Regional Council Strathclyde ( in Welsh; in Gaelic, meaning 'strath alleyof 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 Govern ...

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

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 Council is the local authority for Renfrewshire, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It consists of 43 councillors who elect from among their number a provost to serve as the council's convener and ceremonial head and a leader o ...

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 – medical officer * Michael Barratt – television presenter and announcer. * Colin Campbell – former

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...

( 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 differe ...

(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 incl ...

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

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(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 pr ...

– former CEO of

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

. *

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

Omer Hussain Omer Hussain (born 3 December 1984 in Paisley, Scotland) is a Scottish cricket player of Pakistani descent. He made his debut for the Scottish cricket team on 18 September 2005 in a C&G Trophy match against Warwickshire. He has played seven t ...

–

Scottish cricket Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

internationalist. *

Kenny Ireland George Ian Kenneth 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 Stewart ...

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

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''. * John Jackson (1887–1958) –

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

. *

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 ...

(née Harkness) – former member of parliament (

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

) and first ever female Conservative Party

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. *

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 w ...

–

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Ass ...

in 1858. * Alexander Munro MacRobert (1873–1930) – former

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...

and member of parliament (

). * Kyle Magennis – professional footballer. *

Jim Mather James Stuart 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 a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) from 2003 to 2011. Mather was th ...

– former

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

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and

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. *

Ann McKechin Ann McKechin (born 22 April 1961) is a former British Labour Party politician and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Maryhill from 2001 until 2005 and Glasgow North from 2005 to 2015. She was a junior minister under Gordon Brown before ...

– Member of Parliament ( Labour) for Glasgow North (2001–2015). * Archibald McLardie (1889–1915) – lawyer and footballer. *

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(1919–2007) – sometime Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity,

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, and Canon Residentiary,

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. *

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– journalist and broadcaster. *

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– Chief Executive of

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

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– former president of the

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

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. *

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 1811 ...

(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.) *

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

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– Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Strathclyde University. *

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

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– former chairman of the

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. * Lord Wylie (1923–2005) – former

and former member of parliament ( 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

Notable former pupils

Old Grammarians

See also

References

External links