William Fettes

His life covered a period of economic expansion in Scotland and, at the commencement of the Napoleonic Wars, he was ideally placed to establish connections with Durham, Leeds and Newcastle becoming an underwriter, a military contractor and, in 1800, a director of the British Linen Bank.

[2] He was by then living at Comely Bank in the Stockbridge district of Edinburgh and he had other estates which he had bought but he was to retire from trade in 1800 to look after these interests.

His bequest, of £166,000, in memory of his only son, was for the endowment of a school for orphaned or needy children, a tradition it still continues through the Fettes Foundation's scholarship and bursary programmes.

His will declares: "It is my intention that the residue of my whole estate should form an endowment for the maintenance, education and outfit of young people whose parents have either died without leaving sufficient funds for that purpose, or who from innocent misfortune during their lives, are unable to give suitable education to their children.

His Trustees allowed the investments to accumulate for more than 25 years before they decided that with £166,000, there was enough capital with which to acquire the land, to found the school, and to fund scholarships.