Blairlodge School, Polmont (Stirlingshire) opened about 1836, with a small number of pupils, as a private boarding academy for boys, run by Mr Johnstone of Meadowbank. Later in the 19th century the school was run by Mr Hyslop, assisted by his son-in-law, Dr Maurice Paterson, of Moray House Training College, Edinburgh, whose occupancy lasted for many years. At its peak shortly afterwards numbers reached at least 150 pupils. New buildings were constructed by a subsequent owner, Mr Cooke Gray, who catered for about 400 scholars, but his health declined and so did the school. There were many scholars from South Africa, and on the outbreak of the Boer War a number of the pupils left. After Mr Cooke Gray died the trustees tried to carry on the school under Mr Matthews' management, but the venture did not prove successful. The school closed in 1904, and by 1911 the property had become a borstal.