ACADEMY RECTORS

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The first Academy Rector James Cumming was appointed in January 1846 by Dr Robert Buchanan of the Tron Church in Glasgow and the school committee with an initial salary of £500 being guaranteed for a three-year period. Following his departure five years later, the Academy was run on a collegiate basis with no Rector in post for a period of ten years. But thankfully things changed in 1861 with the appointment of Donald Morrison who steered the Academy into pastures new with a move from Elmbank Street to a new building at Kelvinbridge. Morrison is the longest serving Rector and remained in post for 38 years until 1899, and his name is remembered as one of the school house names.

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Next was Edwin Temple who served for 33 years and is the only other Rector to have a school house named in his memory. Following hm was Frank Roydon Richards, who served between 1932 until 1959. He is responsible for the school song and introducing music into the curriculum. The fifth Recor was Basil Holden, who served for sixteen years between 1959 until 1975. His successor was Roy Chapman who was in post for 8 years. Colin Turner took over the post in 1983 and steered the school for 11 years until 1994. His name will always be associated with the school as the Turner music building is named after him.

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As time progressed towards the end of the twentieth century, David Comins was in post for 11 years and brought the school into the twenty-first century, serving until 2005. Peter Brodie was the next Rector who was at the helm for fourteen years. The tenth, and incumbent Rector is Matthew Pearce, who has held this responsibility of guiding the school since 2019. During his tenure, he has introduced many new initiatives, including a development strategy known as the 5 Academies.