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John Newland died in Jamaica in 1799, leaving the bulk of his estate in trust for the endowment of a free school in his native Bathgate 'for the education of the youth of such parish'. In 1816-17, after prolonged litigation, his trustees obtained possession of £14,500, the interest of which was used to support pupils at five schools in Bathgate and Armadale. Initially, only children from poor families were assisted but, on legal advice regarding the intention of the will, this was later extended to all children from the parish. By 1832 the trustees were able to apply accumulated interest to the erection of an academy for children over five years of age. In cases of hardship education was free of charge; otherwise a small fee was required. The school was to consist of five classrooms (each for up to 150 pupils), a library and a house for the rector. The contract was awarded to Robert Hardie, a local builder, who executed the design of Robert and Richard Dickson, architects. The Bathgate Academy opened to pupils late in 1833, although the building was only completed in 1835.
In 1871 the trustees obtained a provisional order under the Endowed Institutions (Scotland) Act (1869), enlarging their powers, regulating the conduct of the school, and permitting the charging of fees and establishment of bursaries. The trust continued to be administered in terms of this order until after World War I, when the trustees sold the academy to the local education authority under section 18 of the Education (Scotland) Act, 1918, and obtained the John Newland Endowment Order, which enabled the trust's capital (£8,000) and the proceeds of the sale (£12,750) to be applied to provide bursaries open to Bathgate pupils proceeding to degree courses (see NRS, ED23/75). In 1928, under the Education Endowments (Scotland) Act of that year, a body designated 'The Governors of the West Lothian Educational Trust' was constituted to take over the administration of the John Newland Trust along with ten other local educational bequests and endowments (see NRS, ED23/916). |