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 produced page after page of glowing accounts of 'Ragged Schools'.
In reality, however, for 132 years, from at least 1854, the institutions known as 'Dr Guthrie's Ragged Schools' were actually children's prisons.
Hundreds of websites have promoted Dr Guthrie's schools as the best thing since sliced bread, completely ignoring the schools' classification as Industrial/Reform Schools, Approved Schools and List D Schools dating back to 1854.
Only "Ragged Schools" are mentioned.
The abuse, cruelty and suffering inflicted on the children who attended these schools is completely hidden from the public and is not mentioned on any of these 'Ragged School' websites.
This website will expose the true version of the history of the real Dr Guthrie's Schools
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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 assaulted, super treats like having their pockets sewn up in winter, and outings where children were photographed and filmed naked.
These schools were never Christian
They were evil
Isaiah 44:9
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
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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, please do so immediately.
Once you have been issued with a crime reference number, you will be able to make a claim for criminal injuries or 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.
You can also contact the Scottish Abuse Inquiry, although I wouldn't recommend it.
Of all the groups I have been involved with since the Scottish abuse inquiry began in 2015, only the police have treated me with respect and responded to my inquiries.
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No one is being held accountable
for the abuse
The suffering of the pupils of Dr Guthrie's 'ragged schools' was so horrific that only a tiny fraction of the 450 Scottish child abuse witness statements 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."
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According to Edinburgh City Council,
they claim they are not responsible for the abuse because they did not employ the workers
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
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The Dr Guthrie's Association
claims that because they registered as a charity in 1986, the schools have nothing to do with them and they are not accountable for any abuse
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.
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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.
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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 Church of Scotland's logo is dark blue and the sign had the burning bush against a sky blue background.
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 are currently under investigation 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.
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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.
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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 schools were institutions where vulnerable children suffered torture and sexual abuse.
The truth about these atrocities will be exposed.
The buildings hold a history of horror.
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).
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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.
How many victims of abuse have died over the years without ever receiving even the most minimal form of recognition or justice?
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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
Please sign the petition below
Do not let them get away with horrible child abuse.
You can find me at
Here is the best lawyer in Scotland
https://www.digbybrown.co.uk/offices-and-contacts/edinburgh-office
I complained to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry over eight years ago about horrific child abuse. Eight years on, there has been no apology to me or to any survivors of Dr Guthrie's schools.
Children's homes, private fee-paying boarding schools, children in foster care and child migrants have all been investigated. And a full apology has been made to all survivors.
The approved schools, also known as List D schools, are the places where you would expect the most horrific child abuse to have taken place. These institutions have received absolutely no attention. Survivors of Dr Guthrie's schools have to put up with being ignored and hearing about other institutions where children were abused.
"On Tuesday 9 January 2024, the Abuse Inquiry began its investigation into Approved and List D schools."
What is particularly disgusting is the way in which the 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. Survivors of Dr Guthrie's schools suffered the most appalling forms of child abuse and torture.
We deserve the same level of justice as other abused children.
We will not go unheard. We expect justice and closure, as any abused child would want
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Boys' School
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFFmhEmEVb8
Dr Guthrie's invisible swimming pool, apparently no one cares if you were sexually abused in it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFaLYxdL2C0
Girls' School
They can cover up as much as they want.
It won't stop us from speaking out.
