1840 schools

[Jhill8992]

I am writing about my ggg-grandfather, James Peter McPherson, b 1815.  Things that I have pieced together.
1) He was pretty well educated --- kept a journal from at least the age of 24 , was a voracious reader later in life, a justice of the peace, an arbiter, wrote legislation
2) worked as a flax dresser (per 1841 census), which was not a well paid job
3) it appears that his father died before he was born
4) his mother's maiden name was Spink  and she was married in Arbroath (or nearby)
5) emigrated to American in 1842

So I am wondering about schools in Dundee and Arbroath from the 1820s to 1830s  ---  what kind of schools were in this area?  parochial?  endowed? unendowed? what exactly did endowed and unendowed mean regarding edition?  who went to school?  all children?  only children of the "well to do"?  what constituted "well to do"?
Joan

Looking forward to some great conversations  ---
p.s.  I live on the west coast of the U.S.