The names of the Whale sisters, Christian and Marion, were once synonymous
with textile production in Earlston.
with textile production in Earlston.
In the 18th century, Rhymer's Mill was a corn mill before being transformed by the Whale family into a textile mill where the manufacture of gingham was introduced by Thomas Whale.
A carved inscription on the old mill building,
with the names C & M Whale clearly visible today.
The 1891 publication "Two Centuries Of Border Church Life V2 - with Biographies Of Leading Men And Sketches Of The Social Condition Of The People On The Eastern Border", by James Tait, includes a paragraph on the Whale Family.
"Thomas Whale died on the 11th March 1814, aged 74 years; and his widow died two years afterward; but the business was carried on with great skill and success by their daughters, Christian was the elder, and was a very clever woman, but she modestly gave the first place to her younger sister Marion and the designation of the firm was "Marion Whale Co," The gingham was manufactured of cotton and the weaving was done in private houses; in some of which there was a factory containing twenty or thirty looms. The colours were woven into the cloth, not printed as is now generally done; and everything was of the best material One of the sisters travelled to Edinburgh, along the Northumberland coast and even to London, which was very inaccessible in those days."
Two surviving examples of the Earlston Gingham in the collection of Auld Earlston.
"The Paris Fashions for the Present Season .........[with] Marion Whale's real Earlston Ginghams". (23rd October 1843).
Queen Victoria's tour of Scotland led to a demand for all things Scottish, as the advertisement of 23rd September 1844 below highlights, with a reference to:
"Her Majesty's Tour of Scotland and approval of the different manufacturers. especially of Plaids, has caused them to be the fashionable article of dress for the approaching season".........Stock includes "the celebrated Marion Whale's Earlston Ginghams (this establishment being exclusive for the sale of that article). "
Rutherfurd’s 1866 Directory of the Southern Counties, published in Kelso, commented
“Earlston produces quantities of the Earlston ginghams. There is no other place in the country where the same class of gingham is made”.
Back in Earlston, the
1851 Census identified Christian Whale as a 64 year old "manufacturer
of gingham and cotton, employing 60 workers, mainly weavers and winders
of cotton". Also in the business was her sister Marion aged 56.
Ten
years on in 1861 Christian, age given as 74 and Marion 66, were both
described as Gingham Manufacturers, living at 125 Main Street, Earlston (a ten room property) with their older brother Andrew, a former clerk in a drapery warehouse, two domestic servants and a stable boy.
But nine months later, Christian Whale died 22nd January 1862. aged 75.
"The Kelso Chronicle" of 24th January 1862 noted that "Miss Whale, well known throughout the greater part of this country, departed this life after a tedious illness........Miss Whale was a person of most active habits and of a shrewd and vigorous understanding; qualities which account in great measure for her extraordinary success in life".
"The Southern Reporter" of 30th January giving a fulsome obituary, referred to her:
"stern but invariably kind disposition ....her business habits, her untiring perseverance, her successful career..... At one time the firm employed little short of 100 weavers, who in turn required no inconsiderable number of female winders. ......Miss Whale attending herself to the most minute particulars as well as transactions of greater magnitude; she allowed no object, however trifling, to pass without her inspection and approval; her presence was everywhere, now superintending the warping, now the finishing, now giving direction for the packing bales of goods for the London and American markets; behind the counter supplying a single dress to a customer; all her multitudinous duties being done with characteristic energy and promptitude. The funeral took place on Monday and a very large attendance of townspeople and a number from the surrounding district turned out to testify their respect for her memory."
Southern Reporter 30th January 1862
"The Berwickshire News" later commented on " Miss Christian Whale (Kirsty in the vernacular) was a woman of masculine understanding and highest business capacity... and had a life of great activity and usefulness.....she will be long remembered in these parts as a woman of ability and enterprise and one who deserved well of her native place".
On the middle right - the former home of the Whale Sisters,
sold to the Commercial Bank.
sold to the Commercial Bank.
The two Whale sisters were ahead of their time and made an enormous contribution to Earlston life. They were beacons in mid Victorian Britain when few women showed such enterprising spirit to head successful businesses.
Today a street name sign reminds us of the village's past.
Sources:
In Case You Missed - Read About Other Earlston Worthies:
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