Heriot

Heriot, GEORGE, founder of a magnificent school at Edinburgh, was a descendant of the Heriots of Trabroun, East Lothian, and was born at Edinburgh in June 1563. Commencing business as a goldsmith in that city in 1586, he was, after being eleven years in business, appointed goldsmith to Anne of Denmark, consort of James VI. of Scotland, and soon after to the king. On James's accession, in 1603, to the English throne, Heriot went to London, where, as court-jeweller and banker, he amassed considerable riches. He died at London, February 12, 1624, without issue, and bequeathed the residue of his property, amounting to £23,625, to found and endow a hospital (or school) in Edinburgh for the maintenance and education of the sons of poor deceased or decayed burghesses. Heriot's Hospital was completed from a design, it is believed, by Inigo Jones, in 1659. In 1837 an act of parliament was procured for expending surplus funds which had accumulated in the hands of the trustees in the erection of free schools for poor children (ultimately sixteen in all). The Act of 1885, at which time the annual revenue of the trust amounted to £26,502, reconstituted the hospital as a middle-class, and technical school, and closed the free schools in the city. The Heriot-Watt College was also subsidised from the Heriot funds, to provide for older students thorough scientific and technical instruction at moderate fees. Besides, there are valuable bursaries awarded for the promotion of secondary and higher education, tenable at George Heriot's Hospital School, the High School, the Heriot-Watt College, and the university. And a sum is expended in providing free education, books, &c. for poor children attending public or state-aided schools. The revenue is now about £35,000, and it is estimated that it will ultimately increase to little short of £50,000. 'Jingling Geordie' figures in Scott's Fortunes of Nigel. See History of Heriot's Hospital, by W. Steven (new ed. 1859).