John Newland was born in Bathgate in 1737 and moved to Jamaica in the 1750's to make his fortune. He owned many slaves, some of whose names are recorded as Lucy (or Lucky), Thomas, Caesar, Sampson, Will, Nera, Cufee, James and Bob. He owned land near Kingston and probably was involved in the lime industry.
He amassed a sizeable fortune and bequeathed the sale of his estate in his will for the purposes of building a school in his hometown of Bathgate. John did not return to his hometown and died in 1799. It would take 14 years of legal dispute with his family before the courts finally ruled that just one fifth of his fortune would be set aside for the school. A further 15 years would pass until sufficient interest was accrued to allow building to commence. The school opened in 1833.
Since 1843 Bathgate has held an annual Procession n the first Saturday of June recognising this gift (as well as separately recognising the historic marriage of Princess Marjory, daughter of King Robert the Bruce, to Walter Lord High Steward). The Procession, affectionately known as Bathgate Galaday, maintains an uneasy relationship to John Newland, the slave owner. As recently as 2020, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, there have been moves to distance the Procession and town from John Newland.