The Ainslie family were natives of Gladsmuir, East Lothian, Scotland. [1]  The family was made up of Margaret (nee Brodie), her husband James, and if the passenger list is to be believed, five children, although only four have been identified: Archibald, James Brodie, Anne Brodie and Christina.  The family arrived in Melbourne aboard the Meteor on 2 November 1852 under the command of J Brodie (No relationship established).

In 1854 the Ainslies settled in East Melbourne, erecting an iron house in George Street, then numbered 68. [2]  It was on the south side, just west of Simpson Street.  The 1860 rate books described it as a brick and iron house of eight rooms.

Many years later, on 19 January 1861, an advertisement appeared in The Argus:
'LADIES' SCHOOL, 68 George-street, East Melbourne - Mrs and the Misses AINSLIE will RESUME their DUTIES on Monday, the 21st Inst.' [3]  Earlier advertisements have proved elusive so how long the school had been operating previously is unknown.

The following year the Ainslies moved their school around the corner to what was then known as 40 Powlett Street, but now is 101 or Magnolia Court.  They advertised that references could be obtained from the Rev Dr Cairns, and also from J D Pinnock and James Butchart, local residents whose children attended the school. [4] In 1866 the address of the school was given as Ormiston House. [5] From then on it was known as Ormiston.  The school went through three more address changes within East Melbourne before moving to Mont Albert in 1901.  In 1964 it merged with Camberwell Girls Grammar.

In 1868 the elder Miss Ainslie, Anne Brodie, married James Butchart.  His first wife, Jessie (nee Henderson) had died two years earlier.

Before marrying James Butchart Jessie Henderson and her sister, Ann, ran a small school for young ladies in the city.[6]  Henderson family legend has always considered this to be the precursor to Mrs Ainslie’s school.  But the Henderson school last advertised in 1851 while Mrs Ainslie’s school first advertised in 1861, a gap of ten years.  The only real links between the two schools are the marriage of James Butchart, first, to Miss Henderson and, second, to Miss Ainslie; and that the Butchart-Henderson children attended the Ainslies’ school.

After Anne Brodie’s marriage the Ainslies sold the school and the chain continued. 

Meanwhile James Ainslie’s life remains largely an unknown.  The Hendersons knew him to be a journalist with The Australasian but The Australasian did not start until 1864, which leaves 12 years unexplained. [7] It is possible he was the James Ainslie who with his cousin, John Ainslie, established a short lived brick and tile making business on what is now Toorak Road. In The Argus, 24 September 1853 an advertisement appeared:

NOTlCE is hereby given, that I have dissolved partnership with my cousin, John Ainslie, as a Brick and Tile Maker at Tintern, in the county of Bourke, and that a rule nisi is now pending In the Supreme Court of the Colony of Victoria, to wind up the affairs of the said co partnership. Dated the 22nd day of September 1853. JAMES AINSLIE. 

From 1868 to 1869 James was on the New Zealand gold diggings at Waikaka, near Otago. [8] He returned to live with Mrs Ainslie and their unmarried daughter, Christina, first in South Yarra and finally in Williams Road, Prahran.  He died there in 1881, Christina died in 1885 and Mrs Ainslie, Margaret, died in 1905 at the age of 91.  She should be remembered as the founder of Ormiston School now remembered as the name of Camberwell Grammar’s junior school.

[1] Ancestry, Hearn Family Tree, birth of Christina Ainslie
[2] Burchett Index, City of Melbourne Intents to Build: 16 Mar 1854, ref. no. 545
[3] Argus, 19 January 1861, p.3
[4] Argus, 25 April 1862, p.8
[5] Argus, 1 November 1866, p.8
[6] Port Phillip Gazette and Settlers’ Journal, 1 Jul 1848, p.3; Argus, 7 Jan 1850, p.3; Argus, 15 Jan 1851, p.1
[7] The History of Ormiston Girls’ School 1849-1964 (1964), p.15
[8] Marriage notice, Butchart-Ainslie, Argus, 29 Jul 1868, p.4