As a consequence, many wealthy individuals left legacies for educational purposes. Some, such as George Heriot in Edinburgh, left money to establish educational institutions for poor children, often referred to slightly confusingly as Hospitals. Others endowed funds to pay school fees for children in a district. One such fund was the Milne Bequest in the parish of Ellon, Aberdeenshire. The Parliamentary Educational Endowments (Scotland) Commission described it thus:
The Milne Bequest, which is said to be dated in 1797, but did not come into operation till 1808, its precise date not being ascertainable, but a record of it appearing in the kirk session minutes under date July 21, 1808, was left by the Rev James Milne, minister of Ellon, ‘for the purpose of educating poor children’. Its amount is nearly £20 of capital, and it is paid to the School Board for the education of poor children.
p. 483, Fourth Report of the Educational Endowments (Scotland) Commission with Evidence and Appendix, Edinburgh, HMSO 1887
Name | Age | Parents or guardian | No of whole family | No under 14 at home | Causes of absence |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Allan, Alexander | 11 | Francis Allan, beadle; Jane Low | five | five | measles |
Allan, William | 8 | measles | |||
Angus, James | 11 | Elspet Angus or Hay, dom servt | |||
Bowman, Mary | 7 | Robert Bowman, f s; Jessie Low | seven | six | |
Bowman, Robert | 12 | engagement at farm work | |||
Donaldson, George | 9 | Jean Low, guardian | unwell | ||
Edwards, Isabella | 12 | Jean Low, guardian | |||
Elrick, Anne | 7 | James Mackie, guardian | |||
Ewen, Isabella | 11 | Peter Ewen, ag lab; Jane Taylor | seven | two | |
Ewen, Peter | 13 | ||||
Gibson, Charles | 9 | Charles Gibson, f servt; Anne Taylor | six | five | measles |
Gibson, Jane | 7 | measles | |||
Gray, George | 8 | Alexr Gray, f servt; Margt Kelly | six | five | |
Gray, Peter | 10 | ||||
Johnston, James | 7 | Elspet Webster, mother | |||
Kennedy, Mary | 9 | John James, guardian | |||
Low, Christian | 8 | George Low, ag lab; Ch Gill | six | four | measles |
Low, Margaret | 8 | Forbes Robertson, step father; Helen Findlay | 4 | 4 | diphtheria |
Milne, James | 8 | John Milne, guardian | measles | ||
Mitchell, Francis | 7 | John Mitchell, ag lab; Jane Lyon | five | five | parental negligence |
Mitchell, Margaret | 9 | parental negligence | |||
Reid, Anne | 11 | John Reid, ag lab; Anne Coupland | six | six | |
Reid, Bathia | 9 | ||||
Sheriffs, Elizabeth | 13 | James Sheriffs, lab; Anne Elrick | four | one | dishealth |
Stewart, Charlotte | 9 | Mary Connon, mother | diphtheria | ||
Sutherland, Catherine | 9 | George Taylor, guardian | measles | ||
Thom, Anne | 8 | Alexr Thom, grieve; Mary Wood | ten | four | |
Thom, Christian | 10 | ||||
Wilson, William | 8 | John James, guardian | |||
Rae, John | 7 | Alexr Cruickshank, guardian | fever |