Stewart’s Melville College Archives

FP News 2021 25 Following the amalgamation of the schools in 1973 the Ferryfield ground was sold by the Merchant Company for housing for a price which at the time was the highest price ever paid for land anywhere in Edinburgh. However, the Ferryfield Gates were re-erected close to the entrance at Inverleith as a reminder of the importance of Ferryfield to the history of the schools.

Inverleith development plan in 1966 after Mary Erskine School had relocated to Ravelston

David McLeish gives an insight into the work of the SMC Archives.

In August 2018 Ian McKerrow passed on the baton of SMC Archives to me after sterling work in the Archives and dealing with countless inquiries. For those who do not know, I retired as Assistant Head in the Junior School after 37 years. This had included some “three school” responsibilities as well as involvement in organising events such as the Robert Cunningham 200 Anniversary Service in 1999 and the Daniel Stewart 200 celebrations. Hopefully before too much longer the Archives will once again be able to welcome visitors, but in the mean time I thought it might be useful to give an overview of who we are, where we are and what we do.

Who?

In addition to myself we are extremely fortunate to have Mr Dave Clarke as part of the Archives Team. Mr Clarke is an inspirational teacher of History at SMC and has a particular interest in and knowledge of World War 1 and the role of our Former Pupils in it. His knowledge is encyclopaedic, and he is currently involved in researching every former pupil from Daniel Stewart’s College and The Edinburgh Institution who took part in the War in any way. Once the current restrictions ease, we will be extremely excited to welcome two knowledgeable volunteers to help us on a regular basis: • Miss Lydia Lawson who was formerly Mr Gray’s P.A. • Mrs Barbara Wood who was formerly P.A. to the JS Headmaster and JS Admission Secretary

Location?

We are situated in the West Attics of Old College. We have an attics Archives Store which was refurbished during 2019 as well as an Archives office / reading room which we moved into in May 2020. We hold memorabilia, records and photographs from Daniel Stewart’s College and the Edinburgh Institution / Melville College, and Stewart’s Melville College. We also hold materials from Dean Parish Church and John Watson’s School Former Pupils. Included in the store are Collegian School Magazines 1910 – present, Melville Chronicles 1919-1974, some Merchant Company information, along with Committee minutes and some trophies no longer awarded. The office has space for the Archivist and Assistant Archivist to work as well as to host visitors and those Senior boys wishing to research the archives.

Online and Digital Presence

Perhaps the most important recent innovation is the presence of SMC Archives on the internet. Anyone who wishes to, can access our digital archives at:

https://archives.esms.org.uk

The Digital archives are searchable so if you are looking for a particular name just type it in, and all mentions will be listed. We are adding to the Digital Archives as the budget allows. SDS Heritage - Specialists in digitisation of rare, precious and priceless archives (sds-heritage. co.uk) have just completed scanning and digitalising Collegian Magazines 1945-73 to add to the already available 1910 -1945 editions. We aim to have all Collegians available within the next three years. Once complete we will then aim to start the same process with Melville College Chronicles Follow the Archives on social media; Facebook: We have an SMC Archives Facebook page: @SMCArchives Twitter: We have an SMC Archives Twitter page: @smcarchives In addition to the above: An email is sent to all SMC and JS staff once a week including a photograph from archives and covering an aspect of the history of the schools so that we increase knowledge amongst staff. Each S1 class has a tour of archives and Old College and we give a resume of the history of the schools. Please do take the time to investigate the Digital Archives and we do hope to be able to welcome visitors to the Archives again before too much longer.