Family for Life - News

On Monday 30^th November, St Andrew’s Day, we hosted three entertaining virtual events. Our aim for the day was to give everyone in the Fettes community the opportunity to join us for at least one of these events, so they were programmed to span different time zones across the globe  We were thrilled therefore to be joined by Fettes folk from all over the world,

OF Alastair Shepherd (Mo 1973-1977) has been appointed as the new custodian of the Scottish Barony Register, effective 1^st December 2020.

As a current partner of Coulters Legal LLP, Alastair is due to retire from private practice in April 2021 after 40 years as a solicitor with Brodies, Henderson and Jackson WS and Coulters. Since qualifying in 1981,

We were treated to an exceptional virtual panel event on Thursday 12^th November in honour of our 50 years of girls at Fettes.  Dame Stella Manzie DBE (Ar 1976-1978), Dr Alison Brown, PhD (Ca 1973-1975) and Dr Jo Twist OBE (Ar 1986-1991) provided a meeting of great minds, giving us their view on the next five years… from Leicester, Colorado and London.

We are delighted to hear that OF Georgina McKenzie Smith (Ar 2011-2016) has been shortlisted for Young Journalist of the Year at the PPA Scottish Magazine Awards 2020. This is a wonderful achievement so early in her journalism career. During her time at Fettes, Georgina won many prizes including the Governor’s Prize for English in her final year. We spoke to Georgina shortly after her nomination was announced:

On 11th September 1970 Amanda-Mackenzie-Stuart (Gl-Ca 1970-1972) arrived at Fettes as an ‘experiment’. Her father, Lord Mackenzie-Stuart (Ca 1938-1942), was an Old Fettesian and a Governor and had asked the then Headmaster, Ian MacIntosh (Staff 1958-1971), whether she could join the Sixth Form as she was unhappy at her day school.

Old Fettesian Jake Wightman (Gl 2008-2012) finished 3^rd in the 1500m men’s race at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco on Friday 14^th August, completing the race with a time of 3:29.47.

On Saturday 23^rd May, Old Fettesians based in the USA gathered online for our first ever virtual event, ‘Coffee & Catch-up with the Head’.

The Dedication Service of the 1939-45 Tablets were unveiled and the Memorial rededicated, at an open-air service held on Sunday, May 8, 1949 the anniversary of ‘ V.E. Day.’ Seats for relatives, Old Fettesians and other visitors had been set out on the terrace facing the Memorial.

We are thrilled that, with support from Old Fettesian Ryan Li (Gl 2010-2015) and his family, we are now able to offer greater digital connectivity to the Fettes community, via our new Fettes Community portal, which launched to Old Fettesians and former staff recently. 

Colin Gilchrist (Ki 1980-1984) has adapted one of his entrepreneurial businesses to support the control of COVID-19 in society by critically supporting the ability to test, control, understand and help to support the return of social and economic stability.

Fettes: Our Place, the sumptuous, highly visual, coffee table book, that sits at the heart of our 150th anniversary plans, will be hitting the printing presses this summer before being published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Fettes College this coming October. 

We recently announced plans to celebrate our 150th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of girls joining the College. These include a wonderful array of opportunities for Old Fettesians, parents, past and present, and former staff to join in during the academic year 2020-21. 

Over the last few months we have been working hard behind the scenes to develop a new online portal, exclusively for members of the Fettes community.