Farquhar Macintosh CBE MA DLitt Dr hc. 27 October 1923 to 18 November 2007

Farquhar Macintosh CBE MA DLitt Dr hc. 27 October 1923 to 18 November 2007


Dr Farquhar Macintosh was a crofter’s son from Elgol, in the Isle of Skye, who over the past 50 years, became one of the great public servants in Scotland. He had a wide range of interests and his contribution to various public causes was significant.

A former pupil of Portree High School, Farquhar was a graduate of both Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities. After completing his teacher training at Jordanhill College he began his professional life as a History Teacher and first taught in Greenfield Junior Secondary School, Hamilton, Glasgow Academy and became Head of the History Department at Inverness Royal Academy where he enjoyed, as he often admitted, the inspirational leadership of D J Macdonald.

It was in school education that Farquhar Macintosh first made an impression on Scottish public life. He was the Rector of three schools in Scotland – Portree High School, Oban High School and latterly the Royal High School of Edinburgh where he was Rector from 1972 to 1989. From early on it was apparent that Farquhar would not be the kind of Rector who would spend all of his life sitting behind his desk. He was very much involved in a wider educational world and many of us who worked with him gained much from his extensive knowledge of Scottish and international education.

Many public appointments in education followed; in particular he was appointed Chairman of the Scottish Examination Board (SEB) in 1977. It was not an easy time to be in that post given that the industrial problems in schools at that time threatened to disrupt the examination system. Farquhar skilfully chaired the Board through that period and was appointed to an unprecedented third term as Chairman.

In educational terms Farquhar Macintosh was a visionary and a man of ideas. In Portree and Oban he introduced the concept of Leisure Activities into the Curriculum and former pupils still talk today with great fondness of the effect that part of the Curriculum had on their lives. He was the first of a new kind of school leader in Scotland who wanted to change the experience of pupils and was not afraid of curricular reform. As the Rector of the Royal High School in Edinburgh he introduced the International Baccalaureate. He felt that this would go some way to/…


to solving the curricular challenges of the Scottish senior school. Despite all the curricular changes since then the challenge of the Scottish sixth year still remains and Farquhar’s concept of an international certificate is as worthy of serious discussion today as it was in 1980. As Chairman of the SEB he managed the introduction of Standard Grade Examinations throughout Secondary schools in Scotland.

His Honorary Doctorate from Heriot Watt University was, in part, a recognition of his attempt to revolutionise the Upper School Curriculum but it was also an acknowledgement of someone who had new ideas about Scottish education. It would be fair to say that when he retired as the Rector of the Royal High School in 1989 and as Chairman of the Scottish Examination Board in 1990 he was probably one of the best known educationalists in Scotland.

Farquhar was always aware of his roots in Skye, in the Gaelic language and in the culture and the life of the Highlands and Islands. For 17 years (1965 to 1982) he served on the Highlands and Islands Development Consultative Council and was Convener of its Education Sub-Committee.

In 1973 when Inverness lost to Stirling in respect of a new Scottish University it was Farquhar Macintosh who articulated the idea of a university based on a federal model founded on the existing further education colleges. It was that inspired idea that Sir Graham Hills adopted when he developed the idea into what is now known as the University of the Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute. It was fitting that Farquhar served that institution with distinction as Chair of its Forum from 1999 to 2003.

Farquhar’s interest in the whole area of higher education and the Gaelic language came together in his chairing of the Board of Trustees of Sàbhal Mòr Ostaig (SMO), the Gaelic College in Skye. SMO became his great interest over the last 16 years and he takes great credit for the educational revolution that has been effected from the south of Skye.

Over the last 20 years Farquhar has been regarded quite rightly as the “Elder Statesman of the Gaelic world” and he gave willingly of his time and energy to the Gaelic renaissance. His basic philosophy was that the survival of the language relied very heavily on the progress of Gaelic Medium Education. He was convinced that Gaelic schools would have to appear in the traditional heartlands and especially in the islands. When I visited him for the last time in hospital he was writing his own personal plan for securing the future of Gaelic and discussing it with me. His commitment to Gaelic was all consuming and his irrepressible enthusiasm for Gaelic was always evident. He gave a leadership and a vision to the Gaelic world which will be seriously and sorely missed.

Farquhar never entered the official political arena yet he was intimately involved in politics and in the political system. He knew how the system worked and he was a tough negotiator when it came to soliciting extra funds for his own areas of interest, especially SMO. Many civil servants and Ministers found themselves over the years agreeing to allocations of money which they simply had not expected to spend. Politically Farquhar was an avid European and a committed devolutionist. The advent of a Scottish Parliament was made all the sweeter for him by the fact that his son Kenneth became and remains an MSP in the Parliament. He took great pride in that.

Farquhar’s public service was recognised by the award of a CBE in 1982, Honorary Doctorates from Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh Universities and Fellowships from the Educational Institute of Scotland, SCOTVEC, SQA and the UHIMI. These awards simply reflected the commitment of a man of genuine public stature. His service included Chair of the Board of Governors of the Royal Blind School, member of the Board of Governors of St Margaret’s School in Edinburgh, Chairman of the Scottish European Movement and the Highlands and Islands Educational Trust. He also found time to serve the University of Edinburgh, he was an active Rotarian, an Elder of St Giles Cathedral and a faithful supporter of the Former Pupils’ Club of the Royal High School in Edinburgh.

Farquhar Macintosh was a man of immense personal charm and was hugely gregarious. He was full of fun with a mischievous sense of humour and a distinctive laugh. He was never more at ease than when he was surrounded by people. He simply energised and motivated them. For many of us he was a mentor, guide, counsellor and friend. He touched many lives. Scotland has lost a man who gave unsparingly to his country and his culture and who had a profound influence on Scottish Public life.

Farquhar was a learned man with great intellectual depth. He had a meticulous attention to detail and argued that the key to success was always to do your homework. Perhaps that gives some insight into why he was such a successful Head Teacher, Chairman and Public Servant.

Farquhar was a man who had time for everyone. He was a great family man. He was tremendously proud of the achievements of his wife Margaret, a former Head Teacher of Drummond Community High School in Edinburgh, and of the achievements of his four children.

He is survived by Margaret, his four children, John, Kenneth, Ann and Ailsa and by his twelve grandchildren.

Matthew M MacIver
Chief Executive/Registrar, GTCS
Chairman of Bòrd na Gàidhlig

Farquhar Macintosh - Rector from 1972-1989.

The Royal High School Club in London was very sorry to hear of the death of Farquhar Macintosh CBE, in Edinburgh, on 18th November 2007 at the age of 84. Farquhar was Rector from 1972 to 1989, a period during which the school was transformed from a selective boys school into the co-educational comprehensive school that we know today. One of Farquhar's many achievements was to introduce the International Baccalaureate into the Royal High, making the school the first in Scotland to offer it. Farquhar was also heavily involved in the educational world outside the school and, among other things, was chair of the trustees of the Gaelic College on the Isle of Skye. Farquhar was a distinguished servant of the Royal High School who also influenced the shape of Scottish education.

Annual RHSCL Drinks Party

Dear Friends,

You are most cordially invited to the Annual RHSCL Drinks Party to be held on Monday November 5th from 6.30. pm to 8.30. pm.

Once again we are returning to the prestigious Fleming Collection at 13, Berkeley Street, London W1. This autumn's highlight at the gallery is a major exhibition of the work of the celebrated nineteenth century artist William McTaggart, who is often dubbed The Scottish Impressionist and is recognised as a forerunner of the French Impressionist School. Among the paintings, watercolours and drawings assembled for the Fleming Collection, McTaggart's mastery of the landscape and the seascape will be particularly evident. This is an invaluable opportunity to see the first comprehensive gathering of McTaggart's work since a major exhibition in Edinburgh in 1989.

As ever there will be a brief but highly entertaining and informative talk on McTaggart given by Selina Skipworth, the Keeper of The Fleming Collection. Don't miss this chance of catching up with Royal High friends, old and new, over a delicious selection of sandwiches and canapes and a choice array of the finest wines.

Tickets are once more priced at £20 per head and you are most welcome to bring friends or family to the event. An order form will be sent out with a letter which you will shortly be receiving from us.

I'm looking forward enormously to catching up with you all on November 5th. It promises to be a great evening.

Please let me know if there are any other details you need.

With many thanks and all good wishes

Al Senter

RHSCL President

Annual Dinner in 2008

The Club's 2008 Annual Dinner will be held at the Alto Room at the Cavendish Hotel on Friday 7th of March 2008. President of the Edinburgh Club, Val Tudball, has indicated he will be able to attend. Further details to follow.

The next Annual Dinner of the RHS Club in Edinburgh will be held the following week on Friday 14th March 2008.

Annual Drinks Party

This year's Annual Drinks Party is proposed for Monday November 5th at the Fleming Collection. Confirmation and further details to follow.

President’s Annual Report

Royal High School Club in London
President’s Annual Report
AGM 1st May 2007
Royal Scottish Corporation

This is now available as a download from the main website at http://www.royalhigh.org.uk/menu.html

Notice of AGM Tuesday 1st May 2007

Dear members of the Royal High School Club in London and other former pupils of the School,

This is to inform you that the Club will be holding its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday the 1st of May 2007 at 6:00 pm and you are very welcome to attend. The AGM will be held in the Board Room at ScotsCare, 37 King Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8JS. For those of you who have not been to King Street before it leads off from the north-west corner of the Covent Garden Piazza and the ScotsCare premises are clearly signed about 100 metres from the Piazza itself (Scotscare was formerly known as the Royal Scottish Corporation). Our President, Simon Card OBE, is retiring from the post after three-years of service and one of the main objectives of the AGM is to elect his successor. The agenda for the AGM and the subsequent committee meeting is as follows:

AGM:

1. Secretary welcomes attendees and opens the AGM.

2. Retiring President’s Annual Report.

3. Treasurer’s Report.

4. Election of the new President of the Club.

5. Election of committee members.

6. AOB.

Committee Meeting (to be chaired by the new President):

1. Feedback from the Annual Dinner on 02.02.07.

2. Calendar of forthcoming Club events.

3. Recruitment of new members.

4. How best should the Club support the Royal High School at Barnton ?

5. AOB.

We plan to conclude the business of the AGM and the committee meeting by 8:00 pm and Members and FPs who attend the AGM are welcome to stay for the committee meeting and join us for a drink afterwards in a nearby pub. If you are planning to attend the AGM please reply to this email and let me know you are coming. If you have any items that you believe should be added to the agenda please let me know in advance. Lastly, we plan to discuss how to recruit new members into the Club and, if you know of any former pupils of the Royal High School who are living in the South of England, please pass me their contact details and I will get in touch with them.

Best Regards,

Alex Prentice

Honorary Secretary

Where you in Primary 5b in 1960?

Do you remember Miss Morrison? Stan Young has sent a photo of primary 5b with Miss Morrison, to complement Miss Roy's 5a in the Where Are They Now section of the website.
For good measure he has also sent a photo of the 2nd XV and the school Pipe Band 1966 to 1967.