Dr Guthrie's "Ragged" Schools. Edinburgh. Scotland.
____________________________________________________________________
This website focuses on the dark history of Dr Guthrie's schools,
in particular the abuse and mistreatment of children who attended these institutions.
It reveals that these schools, often portrayed in a positive light as 'ragged schools',
were in fact places where vulnerable children were subjected to severe neglect,
torture and sexual abuse.
The website describes the lack of accountability for perpetrators,
the continuing struggle for justice by survivors and the efforts to expose
the truth about the horrific conditions and experiences in these schools.
It also highlights the need for recognition and support for the victims,
who have been largely ignored by the authorities and the media.
The statue in Princes St Gardens is a sarcastic mockery of the child abuse survivors who attended
Dr Guthrie's schools
Before survivors of horrific child abuse at Dr Guthrie's schools started a petition on Change. Org and created this website.
A web search for Dr Guthrie's Schools turned up page after page of glowing accounts of 'Ragged Schools'.
However, it's important to note that for 132 years, from at least 1854,
the institutions known as 'Dr. Guthrie's Ragged Schools' were in fact children's prisons.
The creators of these Dr. Guthrie 'Ragged School' websites consistently portray Dr. Guthrie's institutions
as exceptionally beneficial, while disregarding their historical classification
as Industrial/Reform Schools, Approved Schools, and List D Schools dating back to 1854.
Furthermore, the issue of child abuse that occurred within these institutions is not acknowledged.
The plight of the children who attended these schools, including instances of abuse, cruelty and profound suffering,
is deliberately obscured from public view. and is not mentioned on any of these 'Ragged School' websites.
This website aims to provide a truthful and authentic account of Dr Guthrie's schools.
____________________________________________________________________
'' The child abuse investigation into Dr Guthrie's schools began on 28th May 2024.
The investigation into Dr Guthrie's schools ended on Friday, 21st June 2024.
Not a single Scottish or UK news outlet reported on the abuse.''
We think it's a bit unfair that children who have been abused in Scotland and who went to the wrong school aren't given the same recognition as other child abuse survivors.
It is indisputable that survivors of Dr. Guthrie's schools have suffered abuse.
There is overwhelming evidence of sexual and physical abuse.
as well as instances of torture, including staff puncturing a child's spine with a key.
It is disgraceful that this abuse has not been reported in the Scottish or British media.
____________________________________________________________________
Dr Guthrie's Ragged Schools – Exclusively for sadists to abuse the Impoverished
In 1970, these schools not only gave children no education, but much less, including very little food, dormitories that mirrored the workhouses of the 1840s, swimming lessons in a now invisible pool where children were sexually abused, super treats like having their pockets sewn up in winter, and outings where children were filmed and photographed naked.
These schools were never Christian
They were evil
In memory of my friend Frank Docherty, a true fighter for abused children,
born in Glasgow on the 25th of May 1944, who passed away on the 30th of April 2017 at the age of 72
This website is dedicated
to the hundreds if not thousands,
of abused and sexually assaulted children
who attended
Dr Guthrie's schools in Edinburgh.
The boys' school was closed in 1985
and the girls' school in 1986.
____________________________________________________________________
Whoever the child abusers are, it doesn't really matter. Because no one has ever been arrested, and no one ever will be.
There has been no apology from the Dr Guthrie's Association and under Scottish law survivors can't sue Dr Guthrie's schools.
It's bad enough that those who survived horrific child abuse at Dr Guthrie's schools have no choice but to seek redress from the government. It is completely unacceptable to us survivors that the Dr Guthrie's Association continues to mock us with his statue.
the statue is an insult to all survivors
____________________________________________________________________
If you have been a victim of child abuse at one of Dr Guthrie's schools,
you should not keep it a secret any longer.
If you haven't already told the police, you should do so immediately.
You will be given a crime reference number and, if you feel you have been harmed,
you can make a criminal injuries claim or, if you wish,
apply for compensation through the Scottish Government's redress scheme.
No matter how serious the abuse you have suffered,
you will not be able to sue Dr Guthrie's Association SCIO in a Scottish court.
So don't waste your time trying to take them to court.
To apply to the Scottish Redress Scheme.
Visit the Scottish Redress Scheme website for more information.
https://www.mygov.scot/apply-for-scotlands-redress-scheme
____________________________________________________________________
And there's the Scottish abuse investigation
Find out more about the Scottish Abuse Inquiry at
https://www.childabuseinquiry.scot/.
Since the Scottish Abuse Inquiry began in 2015, the police have been the kindest and most accommodating authority I have dealt with.
____________________________________________________________________
Those responsible for the abuse remain unidentified and unpunished
The suffering endured by the pupils of Dr Guthrie's 'ragged schools' was of such a profound and harrowing nature that I can say with confidence that only a small proportion of the 450 Scottish child abuse witness statements that I have read come close to describing it.
"As of early 2023, this statement was accurate.
However, I have since come across distressing reports of abuse following the Abuse Inquiry's investigation into Approved and List D schools
that began on Tuesday 9 January 2024."
____________________________________________________________________
Edinburgh City Council
It was asserted that the council did not directly employ the workers at Dr. Guthrie Schools.
The council stated that it was not accountable for the manner in which the children were treated and that it was not responsible for the alleged mistreatment of the children.
Here's an article from The British Newspaper Archive, easy to find online
The Scotsman - Thursday 20 February 1969
When the administration of Scotland's approved schools changes into the hands of local authorities
under the new Social Work "Scotland Act"
In December 1970,
the same council classified the statue of Thomas Guthrie as B-list
In the same year,
children were sexually abused and tortured in Dr Guthrie's schools
____________________________________________________________________
Dr. Guthrie's Association
Following the closure of the schools,
Dr Guthrie's Schools Association changed its name to Dr Guthrie's Association and was officially incorporated as a new charity in 1986.
The original buildings and surrounding land were sold, and the charity then used legal precedent to support its claim that it wasn't connected with the schools and therefore wasn't responsible for any illegal activity.
However, before we can obtain any records that a survivor might need about their time at a Dr Guthrie school, the Dr Guthrie's Association must give their permission.
This blatantly corrupt set-up that doesn't take survivors into account is another example of the disregard with which survivors are treated.
Under Scottish law.
The only thing Dr Guthrie's Association is being held responsible for is our records, not the abuse.
____________________________________________________________________
National Records of Scotland Catalogue Repository Code 234.
Records of Dr Guthrie's Schools, Edinburgh.
Many of the schools' records are closed for 100 years:
individual closure dates are given in the catalogue.
Access to closed records cannot be granted except with written authority from:
Azets, Secretaries and Treasurers,
Dr. Guthrie's Association SCIO
Exchange Place 3, Semple Street, Edinburgh, EH3 8BL.
____________________________________________________________________
In 1970 you drove through the front gate of Dr Guthrie's Boys' School in Liberton, Edinburgh.
There was a sign saying 'Dr Guthrie's School for Boys'.
I thought that the symbol on the sign resembled the emblem of the Free Church of Scotland.
The sign, with a burning bush on a sky blue background, read Dr Guthrie's Boys' School.
The background logo of the Free Church of Scotland is sky blue, while the background logo of the Church of Scotland is dark blue.
Although I'm not sure if the Free Church of Scotland had anything to do with Dr Guthrie's schools
- as it would be easier to find a needle in a haystack than information about Dr Guthrie's schools -
Thomas Guthrie was a founding member and moderator of the Free Church of Scotland.
Dr Guthrie's schools have been investigated for child abuse.
The schools have been listed as a non-religious voluntary organisation.
During my time at Dr Guthrie's Boys' School, it was exclusively for Protestant boys,
and attendance at church every Sunday was mandatory.
Job advertisements in the 1960s newspapers often specified that only Protestant applicants would be considered for school jobs.
____________________________________________________________________
So many people have been denied a decent future by these Dr Guthrie's schools.
Children who were abused within the walls of the institutions have cried so much that the buildings are saturated with horror.
They were simply children's prisons and torture centres masquerading as schools.
____________________________________________________________________
There is a 100 year D notice
on Dr Guthrie's schools.
No matter where I look on the internet,
I can't find many photographs.
There was a swimming pool at the Boys' School which was also used by the local schools.
I can't find any photographs
of the swimming pool.
NON OBLITUS
The boys' school in Liberton was an institution where vulnerable children
were subjected to torture and sexual abuse.
The truth about these atrocities will be exposed.
Horror has always been in this building.
In 1970, I was sent to Dr Guthrie's Boys' School. I was eleven years old. I was sentenced to three years care and protection. I was falsely accused of stealing three empty ginger bottles.
My father struggled with alcoholism and mental illness.
He suffered from PTSD and was on a war pension.
He ended up as a patient at Erskine Military Hospital.
Instead of receiving care and protection I was tortured and abused for 29 months and given virtually no education.
I first complained about the abuse in 1988. My complaints were then dismissed and I was told I needed witnesses. I have made no progress since my first complaint in 1988.
I contacted the Child Abuse Inquiry in December 2015.
No one has been arrested. I haven't received an apology and the Abuse Inquiry
has still not investigated Dr Guthrie's schools at the time of writing (28.10.23).
____________________________________________________________________
In Scotland, the average life expectancy for people who were in care as children is only 63.
These statistics would suggest that more than half of the children
who attended Dr Guthrie's schools before 1972 have died.
Dr Guthrie Association is very fortunate to have benefited from Scotland's delayed investigation into child abuse - there are countless victims out there who are no longer alive to voice their complaints.
How many victims of abuse have died over the years
without ever receiving even the most minimal form of recognition or justice?
____________________________________________________________________
Anyone who attended a Dr Guthrie's Boys' or Girls' School is welcome to post a comment on this website,
as are family members.
To contact me, please click on one of the options below
Survivors have our own Facebook group controlled and operated by us
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1581096342197510/
Please sign the petition
Do not let them get away
with horrible child abuse
https://www.change.org/p/remove-the-thomas-guthrie-st
You can find me at
https://x.com/ search for GuthriesSu24583
The best lawyer in Scotland
https://www.digbybrown.co.uk/offices-and-contacts/edinburgh-office
I submitted a complaint to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry over eight years ago regarding some truly horrific child abuse. I was hopeful that it would lead to some form of justice and closure.
It is unfortunate that almost nine years later, there has been no apology extended to me or to any survivors of Dr Guthrie's schools.
What is particularly disgusting is the way in which Dr Guthrie's Association is still being portrayed online and in the Scottish media as a Christian "ragged school" charity.
These people have refused to apologise to survivors of Dr Guthrie's schools
and have denied any responsibility for the abuse that took place there.
Even if Dr Guthrie's schools were approved or List D, we were abused there as children.
Those who survived Dr. Guthrie's schools
endured some of the most distressing forms of child abuse and torture.
We believe that we, too, deserve the same level of justice as other abused children.
We hope our voices will be heard.
We expect justice and closure like any abused child would want.
____________________________________________________________________
Check out our Dr Guthrie Statue video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFFmhEmEVb8
Please watch our Dr Guthrie's invisible swimming pool, statue protest video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFaLYxdL2C0
Our Dr Guthrie's Girls' School statue protest video
They can cover up as much as they want.
It won't stop us from speaking out.
