Garth Bursaries
The Garth Bursaries were founded by a bequest from Dr Alexander Stewart (d. 1828). He gave the University £3,000 in 3% consols, or ‘war bonds’, to fund ‘as many bursaries as possible’. Five bursaries were funded from the income, with two candidates selected by the University, two by the ‘head of the family of Garth’ and a fifth alternating between these patrons. Preference was given to candidates ‘of the name of Stewart, being descendants of the family of Garth, or being related to that family through their common ancestor James Stewart, third son of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan and Badenoch, commonly called the Wolf of Badenoch’; or failing that, candidates ‘connected with the family of Garth’; or failing that, other qualified candidates. Some of the Garth funds were later reinvested in the purchase of land at the Grange farm. By the 1890s, there were six Garth bursaries, each worth about £10 each. They could be held for the full four years of an Arts degree and extended for another four years for those students who wished to study divinity at St Mary’s. The Garth funds are now part of the merged Lapsed Bursary fund.
Sources: University Special Collections, UYUC400:19.11.1828; List of Deeds (1891), p.71-2; University Calendar (1896), p.185.