Portobello HS Crest

Portobello
High School

Portobello HS Crest

Portobello
High School

Snippets Update 28.09.2026

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— MR HENRY DOW (Headmaster 1876-1881) —

The school’s first headmaster was Mr Henry Dow (no picture).

He came from Musselburgh Grammar, where he was Rector, having previously been at Loretto.

There was friction between Mr Dow and the School Board which had appointed him. In 1880, only 4 years after the school opened, he had written to the Board advising that he had insufficient staff. Although a temporary assistant was appointed, this was less than Dow had wanted. Whilst the reasons are not explicitly documented, this likely contributed to his decision to resign in 1881.

He continued in education as headmaster of Ramsay Lodge School in Portobello.

— MR JOHN STEVENSON (Headmaster 1881-1905) —

Mr Stevenson came from Glasgow and took up post in 1881. He became a well-known character in Portobello where he was nicknamed “Cockie Stevie.”

He was usually dressed in a tail coat and wore a smoking cap. He carried a tawse (belt) in his back pocket.

During Mr Stevenson’s tenure the school roll rose from 528 to 1000 – this despite the opening of two other public schools: Towerbank and St John’s RC (the original near the top of Bath Street).

He retired owing to ill-health in February 1905 and sadly passed away only a few months later.

— MR WILLIAM MACKAY (Headmaster 1906-1921) —

Mr MacKay was third to hold the position (almost capping off the first 50 years). He came from St Bernard’s School in Stockbridge, where he had been head for 12 years.

An inducement to take the post seems to have been a ‘suggestion’ that Portobello would obtain Higher Grade status, allowing pupils passing the necessary qualifying exam to continue their education past the age of 14. HG status was duly attained in time for the start of the school year in 1907.

Mr MacKay had the task of guiding the school through the difficult years of the First World War – except for himself, all male teachers were called up some not to return; many pupils lost parents and siblings and numerous former pupils made the ultimate sacrifice.

On his retiral in 1921 he went to Victoria, British Columbia. He returned to Britain just before the war and died in Bath in February 1946, aged 90.

Images: Mr Stevenson from his obituary in the Midlothian Journal, 19th May 1905; Mr MacKay from The Tower, the school magazine, 1921 edition. Both are AI enhanced.

With credit to Ian Small

A selection of photos that appeared in The Tower, the school magazine for which we have the original 8 x 10s.

The Edinburgh Schools’ Rowing Club had been started in spring 1961 by Mr Mackay, Headmaster of Firhill Secondary. Membership was open to boys from Leith and Portobello. The membership of 20 was mostly made up from our school. They regularly took to the Forth in a “four-oared jolly-boat”.

The Golf Section flourished under the twice-weekly tuition of Duddingston professional John Shade, father of Ronnie Shade who was a former pupil. Ronnie won five Scottish Amateur championships from 1963 to 1967. He is pictured here in 1956.

The Tennis Club had a mixed season, affected in part by the introduction of the new Scottish Certificate of Examination ‘O Grades’ which took place in May, thus affecting the length of the tennis season for senior pupils.

The 1st XI hockey team had a successful year, including beating Gillespie’s on the way to winning the Meggetland Trophy. Also shown is the 2nd year team.

The Rugby 1st XV was considered to have the best record in the previous 6 years. An Under-15 team (pictured) won the Junior Rugby section of the Meggetland Trophy. Mr Cuthbertson recorded that “enthusiasm is very high in the first year” (their picture is also shown).

Janice Anderson and Wilson Robertson continued to dominate at the swimming gala. Janice won the Girls’ Individual Championship for the third occasion, whilst Wilson was Boys’ champion for a fourth time. Portobello teams won both the Girls’ and Boys’ Inter-Schools Team Races.

Miss Hazel Christman was an “exchange teacher” who joined the school at the start of the session whilst our own Miss Marshall took up a similar post at Miss Christman’s school in Abingdon, Pennsylvania.

With credit to Ian Small

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Our Porty 150 Celebration Lunch on 11 August was a great event, bringing together former pupils, former staff, colleagues, partners and friends of the school to celebrate 150 years of Portobello High School.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make the event such a success. In particular, our facilities staff, catering team, cleaners, administrative team, teaching and support staff, and pupils for the enormous amount of work that went into preparing the school, welcoming our guests and ensuring the day ran so smoothly.

It was a real team effort and a fantastic example of our school community achieving together. We will continue to share photographs, memories and archive material through our Porty 150 webpage, with further anniversary events planned over the coming months.

A selection of photos from the lunch are attached.

With thanks to Colin Hattersley Photography

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The original school was vacated in 1964 with the move to Duddingston Road, but it had to be reopened in 1968 to accommodate the first year intake. It was finally closed in 1989. A whole generation would know it as “The Annexe”.

R15/16 – Science classroom. The layout had not changed from the time of the ‘Higher Grade School’ around 1909.

R20 – Science.

R17 – Art. Though probably not the same room as the image from ~1909, it was in the same area of the building.

Park Avenue – a few images of classrooms in the block facing Park Avenue which was opened in 1901.

The large and small gyms.

It looks like white shirt/blouse images are S5.

Blazers on for S6 (show off that gold braid!)

Staff – come as you are.

1963-64 Third Year.

Seven classes from the last year at Park Avenue.

As posted previously, the images uploaded are the complete collection that we have for each year, and we have to rely on the annotations on the reverse of the photographs for class/ registration teacher identification.

WWII Memorial. In 1949 a committee of staff and former pupils was set up to compile a list of names of FPs who lost their lives in the Second World War in the services or as civilians as a result of enemy action.

The initial intention was a wall plaque similar to the First World War Memorial, but the final commemoration took the form of an oak lectern.

It was manufactured by R L Rae Ltd of Stead’s Place, Leith, whose winning tender was the somewhat precise £97:7:10d (about £3000 in 2026).

An unveiling and dedication ceremony was held in the Town Hall on Tuesday, 7th November 1950.

The initial Roll of Honour listed 36 former pupils but by the time of the ceremony this had expanded to 46. They are listed in the 1951 edition of the school magazine, The Tower, together with a short record of their service. All are on the lectern (and listed in an attached image).

Portobello
High School

Portobello High School
1 Milton Road
Edinburgh
EH15 3BY

Tel: 0131 669 2324
Email: admin@portobello.edin.sch.uk

Pupil absence reporting line:
0131 657 9057

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