Jim Cochrane shared this excellent photo adding, “This is my Great Grannie Janet Edmiston Baird, 3rd from right Back Row. Date will be the 1890’s but what would the school be then in High Blantyre or maybe its Auchintibber ?”
Knowing Janet was born in 1886, I would say this photo is around 1895. It most certainly is High Blantyre Primary, rather than Auchentibber School, for the bike sheds in the background are clearly visible. The teacher is also known and appears in many other High Blantyre Primary photos.
I’ve zoomed in on the faces and clothes to give a good indication of fashions (and the misery of school!) at the time.
This was a busy time for High Blantyre Primary School. To relieve congestion the large halls of the nearby Parish Church Hall was adopted as a spillover area for pupils, the School Board arranging this from 5th June 1896, which continued up until October 1900.
The turn of the 20th Century continued to provide logistical problems to accommodate so many children in High Blantyre. By August 1904, the Masonic Hall in Main Street was being used for classroom spillover, whilst a further reconstruction of the School took place. The Church Hall was again used when term started in August 1905 until the reconstruction of the school to include 2 brand new classrooms, was completed and ready for use on 4th December 1905.
Partly from “Blantyre Explained” by Paul Veverka (c) 2016