scholars) are from foreign climes, and from all parts of Britain." The 1871 Census and the school's registers 1848–1900 list, among others, pupils from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Paisley, Bridge of Weir, Stewarton, England and Australia. Becoming a Scottish selective day school in the 1900s, Hamilton Academy was to form, as the 'County School', the top-most layer of a four-layer public education system, drawing its pupils from the top stream on a competitive 'Eleven Plus' examination basis from across the whole County of Lanarkshire. The selective nature of the school meant that most children in Hamilton did not attend Hamilton Academy, on the other hand, Hamilton Academy students often had quite long journeys to get to and from school each day. Although bursaries to allay fees in attending Hamilton Academy's senior school could be won on a competitive basis and were much sought after, following the end of the Second World War fees were phased out. Thereafter the criteria for selection rested solely on academic ability, selection being made from potential pupils from across the whole County of Lanark - the old County of Lanark being, in terms of population and wealth, the most important county in Scotland and comprising a larger area, including most of the city of Glasgow, than the sum of the subsequent late twentieth century local authority areas. Given the size of the school's catchment area, places at Hamilton Academy were at a premium. Due to its unique academic position in Scotland as the 'County School' of the country's most populous and wealthiest county and the size of its student roll, the Bulletin newspaper reported in its issue of 23 November 1959 that "... there was only one school in Scotland – Hamilton Academy – that had sufficient pupils to qualify its headmaster for such a (special) responsibility salary," and this was noted again in a House of Commons debate on teachers' salaries, 24 February 1960, when Margaret Herbison MP advised that "in the whole of Scotland only the rector of Hamilton Academy (had) qualified for the top grade of teachers' salary." The Hamilton Academy 'prep' (junior) school continued to operate until 1952. Education Academic The county-wide selective intake and the academic bias of the teaching meant that Hamilton Academy achieved excellent results in competitions. In his obituary article on former Hamilton Academy pupil Sir John Inch, Sir Tam Dalyell, former Father of the House of Commons, described