THE WEATHERLY SISTERS - ELLEN & MAGGIE

 The fourth part of our Weatherly Story profiles the lives of Ellen (Cissie)  and Maggie, the sisters of  Edward Weatherly profiles the life of  Edward Weatherly, son of John P. Weatherly  and grandson of  Thomas Weatherly   who founded the family business in Earlston.  

Ellen Sarah Patterson Weatherly (later known as Cissie)  was born in Earlston  in 1889, the elder daughter of John Patterson Weatherly  and Margaret Thomson Winter  – her middle names in honour of her paternal grandmother.  

The young Ellen made her name in the  local newspapers when she received a music award from the Royal  Academy of Music  in 1906. 

                                          Berwickshire News: 14th August 1906 

Ellen's musical interests later  led to her involvement with the  Earlston Orchestral Party.  

On her father's death in 1907, her mother took over the Post Office, and following her death, Ellen at the age of 25 became Postmistress,  as reported in "The Berwickshire News"  of 8th December 1914. 

 

A photograph of the  Weatherly post office, dated 1910. Could the figure in the doorway be Ellen, aged 21?

Also in December 1914  the newspaper revealed  Ellen's ambitions with a report:

"Miss Ellen Weatherly has obtained one of 50 scholarships offered by a London Correspondence College, whereby she is entitled to a journalistic training under Mr. T. Sharper-Knowlson, a training in free-lance journalism, and in the art of story writing.   Miss Weatherly has, it is understood, already done some highly creditable work in the art of story writing.   We hope she may make further advances in an art which appeals to her, and in which she promises to become a proficient. "

Ellen was clearly not reluctant to  voice her opinions, writing a letter to "The Berwickshire News" on 23rd October 1923   on the issue of church sales of work damaging local businesses:

"Berwickshire Shopkeeper on the Church and Trade

In a Letter to the Press, Miss Ellen S. P. Weatherly, Merchant, Earlston, - (whose father and grandfather were natives of Berwick, and well-known in Berwickshire, in Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in North Northumberland) – says –

I desire to bring to notice, in the hope that Shopkeepers in Earlston and similar places be benefited.

For some years past Earlston Parish Church has elected to hold a sale of work in aid of some church fund or other; invariably it is held the week before Christmas.   This year, no other excuse being forthcoming, a sale is being instituted “in aid of the renovation of the organ.”

There is no doubt that these sales do incalculable harm to shopkeepers – at this season of the year.   Why should they take place at this particular time?   It is practically taking the bread out of the mouths of these who are dependent upon trade, and who, in turn, are expected to contribute their share to church fund.

In all the Border Churches it would, I think, be difficult to find such a spirit of selfishness as obtains in Earlston, and surely this spirit is not in keeping with the Christian life".

One wonders what reaction this provoked?  The Weatherly family attended the United Free Church which was often at odds  with the Parish  Church. 

The only later mention of Ellen in the local press was in April 1937 when she was listed as a stall holder  in a sale of work to raise funds for a new motor mower for  Carolside Cricket Club.  

 

Younger sister, Margaret  Thompson Weatherly (Maggie)   was  born in 1891.  She   worked behind the scenes, keeping house and helping at the Post Office when required. 

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s,  Margaret was  mentioned regularly in the local papers because of her musical ability.  She "rendered a musical selection at the pianoforte" at a Women's Guild Social;  "Indebtedness was expressed for officiating at the organ" for a Bible Class Social;  and she was a performer at a Children's Christmas Treat  event. 

Memories

Many local residents today have memories of the two sisters,  who both died in 1970.  They were regarded as  typical spinsters, Victorian in attitude and sober in dress. They came across as rather forbidding characters, in their appearance and voice,  striking fear in many  a recalcitrant child.  With Ellen "you had to watch your Ps and Qs", whilst Maggie "did not suffer fools gladly".

Deaths

Ellen died 21st January 1970 aged 80,  and Margaret 10th December the same year aged 79.  An obituary on Ellen appeared in "The Berwickshire News": 3rd February 1970.   No obituary nor death announcement was traced on her sister Margaret.

                                           Berwickshire News:  3rd February 1970

Both sisters were buried beside their parents in Earlston Churchyard. 

****************

Contributed by Auld Earlston Members -  Susan Donaldson and Sheila McKay

Edward Weatherly (1892-1946) - Earlston Soldier, Baker & Confectioner

 The third part of our Weatherly Story profiles the life of  Edward Weatherly, the  son of John P. Weatherly  and grandson of  Thomas Weatherly   who founded the family business in Earlston.   

Edward William Sprott Weatherly was born in 1892 to John Patterson Weatherly and Margaret Thomson Winter.  Two sisters followed  - Ellen Sarah Patterson Weatherly, born in 1889 and Margaret Thomson Weatherly,  born in 1891 - both are remembered still today by  many local residents.

Edward did not follow in his parents’ footsteps into the family business, but became a baker and confectioner.  He was active in the community life of the village as a church elder, President of the Bowling Club and a member of the Rifle Club.  As with most men of his generation, the First World War proved a searing experience. 

Wartime Service 

Edward's  Service Record showed that he joined up, ahead of conscription  at the age of 22 on the 12th May 1915.  His medical record noted his height as 5 feet 8 inches, and  his address the Post Office,  Earlston.

                                          Edward's signature on his recruitment record.

Edward was badly wounded and was awarded the Military Medal  - as revealed in this report in   “The Berwickshire News”: 2 November 1918:

“The 2 gallant youths who in last week’s “News” were reported to have been awarded Military Medal are well known Earlston ‘callants’.

(1)  Corporal James Burns……… [who will be remembered today by many older residents]

(2)  The other distinguished soldier is Gnr. Edward W. S. Weatherly, Postmaster, Earlston, only son of Mr. J. P. Weatherly, Postmaster, Earlston  and brother of Misses Weatherly of the Post Office, and Agent for the ‘Berwickshire News’.    The gallant Earlstonian comes from of an old Berwick Family.

Gnr. Weatherly volunteered for Active service in Motor Machine Gun Corps, but was afterwards transferred to the Royal Tank Corps. 

 He has seen active service in France and had many hair-breadth escapes in the imminent deadly tank.     As an example of the hardship he endured, he was nearly frozen to death when on sentry-go and after doing his allotted time at his post it was several hours before he could be thawed out of his refrigerated condition and his temperature raised to normal.

A few months ago the tank in which he was serving was struck by an explosive shell and many of its occupants killed.   He himself received several severe wounds, the result of one being the loss of his left eye.   He has no fewer than 14 wounds in his pelvis.

The doughty deeds of these gallant soldiers thrills everyone who hears it and their fellow townsmen offer them their heartiest congratulations on their display of such fearless bravery and contempt of danger in their defence of King and Country.”

Serving in the Royal Tank Corps - motto "Through mud and blood to the green fields beyond” - was by all accounts an appalling  experience.  Tanks, known initially as "land battleships" were first in action on the Somme in 1916.  Men inside them had to contend with intense heat, noise and exhaust from the engine, violent movement as the tank crossed the ground and molten metal splash as bullets struck the plating. Men would often be violently sick or badly incapacitated.    (https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/tank-corps-in-the-first-world-war/)

Edward’s name was recorded in the Roll of Honour printed in “The Berwickshire News:   7th January 1919.

 Postwar Family Life  

In 1924, Edward married Mary Webb at Holy Trinity Church, Melrose.  Three children were born to the marriage  -  John Patterson Weatherly in 1923, named after his grandfather; Margaret Campbell Weatherly  in 1926; and in  1928 Frederick Edward Weatherly.

Edward had worked initially for William Shaw, baker at Lauder, before opening his own business in Earlston in the late 1920s.   

 Near tragedy hit the family when their young son was involved in  a road accident. "The Southern Reporter":  27^th October 1927 noted:    

“The four year old son of Mr Edward Weatherly, who has lately opened a cafe in the High Street Earlston,  was playing about his father’s premises, when he darted between two heavy wagons attached to a heavy traction engine belonging to Mr James Cochrane, contractor, Earlston.  The child was knocked down but extricated by a passer-by. After  medical assistance had been procured, it was found that the child’s foot had been badly crushed.  He was conveyed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary." 

Given that the little boy was not named in the press report, it is assumed this must have been Edward's elder son John, born in 1923. Edward's  cafe and bakery on the High Street   was next to  the Post Office on the east side of Post Office Close.

                 

Edward's cafe and bakery premises in a photograph taken much later around 1987 - the occasion a procession marking the Guild centenary, 

During the 1930s several articles in the local press  showed  that Edward Weatherly   of The Café, Earlston, gave demonstrations of Cake Icing at various venues around the area; such a one at Earlston Women’s Rural Institute, as reported in "The Southern Reporter”: 17^th June 1937: 

“A meeting  of Earlston WRI was held  in the Good Templars Hall – Miss Vera Davidson presiding over a large attendance.  The demonstration was cake icing and decorating by Mr Edward Weatherly, the Café, Earlston  who kindly presented two cakes.”

Edward died in the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh  23 April 1946, with an announcement in “The Scotsman”  newspaper  -  “beloved husband of Mary Webb and son of the late John P. Weatherly, post-master, Earlston."   

”The Berwickshire News” of 7^th May 1946 printed an obituary  giving us a picture of Edward’s life.                                                                                                   

 "EARLSTON MAN’S DEATH

The death took place at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary after a brief illness, of Mr. Edward Weatherly, The Gables, Earlston, who was in the bakers and confectionery business.

Mr. Weatherly served his apprenticeship at Earlston Co-operative Society and thereafter went to Edinburgh. He returned to his mother’s business at the Earlston Post Office.  

At the outbreak of the 1914-18 war,  he joined the Tank Corps and was wounded.   He was awarded the Military Medal. 

He worked in Wm. Muir, Baker, Lauder and in 1927 he opened the business of The Café in Earlston.

Mr. Weatherly was an elder of Ercildoune Church, now the United Parish Church, and was an ardent worker for his Church.  Recently he was elected president of the Earlston Bowling Club for the second year in succession. Mr. Weatherly was also a member of the Earlston Rifle Club and a very grand marksman on either the indoor or the outdoor ranges.

Mr. Weatherly is survived by Mrs. Weatherly and two sons and a daughter.  The funeral to Earlston was attended by a large company of mourners."

 **************  

Postscript:

• Edward's widow, Mary survived him by more than forty yeas, until her death  in Melrose in 1989, aged 97.
  
  
  Mrs. Weatherly seated on the  right - in possibly a Guild event 
   
   
  

  Mrs Weatherly, third from the left, on a Guild trip. 
  
  
• Edward's  two sisters, Ellen  and Margaret took over the running of Earlston Post Office, following their mother's  death in 1914. They never married and are remembered today as two rather  austere spinsters.  Both died in 1970.
  
  
  
• 

  Edward's elder son  John Patterson Weatherly (1923-2006) became a well known figure in Earlston,  taking over from his aunts Ellen and Margaret at the Post Office  He qualified as a pilot during the Second World War  and was heavily involved in many community organisations.  He also served as Cornet in his birthplace of Lauder. 
  
  
  
• Edward's daughter Margaret, born in 1926,  did not marry and died in Earlston in 1993 aged 66.
     
• Edward's son Frederick, known as Fred, was born in Earlston in  1928.  He carried on his father's cafe and bakery business for several decades, with Weatherly's Scotch pies and morning rolls special favourites of the local community.  Fred   died in Melrose in 1994 aged 65.
  
   
• The two brothers took to the stage in this Earlston Dramatic Club performance.
  
  
  
  Fred fourth from left - John third from right. 
   
   Sources

• British Newspaper Archive
  
• Find My Past - British Newspapers 
• Scotland's People
• Ancestry UK

Contributed by Susan Donaldson and Sheila McKay  

 

*******************

John P. Weatherly (1851- 1907 ) - Earlston Postmaster and Photographer

Part One of the Weatherly Story featured Thomas Weatherly  who came to Earlston from Berwick upon Tweed  in the 1870’s and set up the stationers/newsagent’s High Street business that survived over
one hundred years.

Following Thomas’s death, his eldest son John P. Weatherly took over the business. Born in 1851 in Berwick, John’s middle initial was for Patterson – his mother’s maiden name.

John married Margaret Thomson Winter  and the birth of four children followed in Earlston - sadly eldest son, also named John, born in 1894  died  at the age of only nine months; Ellen Sarah Patterson Weatherly was born in 1889, Margaret Thomson Weatherly in 1891, and Edward William Sprott Weatherly in 1893. 

A Man of Many Parts:
John was soon involved in the family business, described in census returns as Bookseller’s Assistant, and Postmaster/Stationer

Advert in Berwickshire News:  31t December 1889 

But John. along with his postmaster role,   also gained renown as a  local photographer  and proved  to be an owner of four properties in the village.

As Photographer 

The official opening of the rebuilt church in Earlston in 1892  featured in a lengthy article in “The Berwickshire News” of 12^th July  and ended with the paragraph:

“Through the great kindness of Mr J. P. Weatherly, photographer, Earlston, we are enabled to give a portrait above of the church, from a photograph specially taken by Mr Weatherly for the purpose.”

 John also  produced a series of local postcards entitled the “Weatherly Leadervale Series”  - with three examples shown below.

The postcards are all labelled on the reverse as “Weatherly’s Leadervale Series”

             

                                       

This charming photograph was gifted to Auld Earlston by a reader who had bought it off Ebay.  The only information was the fact it was produced by John P. Weatherly of Earlston – no name of the little girl, no date, but thought to be printed around 1900. 

The photograph is in the format of a “carte de visite”  - a small photograph mounted on thick  card, which originated in France but some became popular elsewhere, as people exchanged them to foster friendship and family bonds. 

Following his death in 1907, “The Berwickshire News” paid tribute to John P. Weatherly in  this role:

“For some years he gave a good deal of his spare time to photography in which he acquired considerable skill – his views of Earlston and district being well known and appreciated by the public”.

As a Property Owner

John appears to have developed a portfolio of property. The 1905 Valuation Roll for Earlston shows John owning:

As proprietor & occupier:  A house and shop on the High Street, and a washhouse.

As proprietor & landlord:   A smithy with the tenant Robert Waldie, blacksmith, and a house & stable, with the tenant Thomas Wilson,  labourer.

**********

John P. Weatherly continued to hold the position of Post Master until his death in 1907,  with obituaries appearing in a number of newspapers.

Southern Reporter:  14^th November 1907

John was buried in Earlston Churchyard, with “Earlston Monumental Inscriptions”, published by the Border Family History Society, recording the details of his gravestone:

“In loving memory of John Patterson Weatherly, beloved husband of Margaret T. Weatherly who died 11.11.1907 aged 46 years; also the above Margaret Thomas Weatherly 23.10.1914, aged 53; also their son John Patterson who died 24.9.1895 aged 9 months.  also their daughter Ellen Sarah Patterson Weatherly 21.1.1970 and Margaret Thomson Weatherly who died 10.12.1970.” 

Postscript:

Following John P. Weatherly’s death in 1907, his wife Margaret took on the role of Postmistress, until her death in 1914, with an obituary appearing in “The Berwickshire News” of 27^th October 1914.

“The death of Mrs Weatherly, Post Mistress, which took place on Friday morning, caused surprise and regret in the town and district, where she was well known and much respected. Mrs Weatherly succeeded her husband, Mr John P. Weatherly, who died in 1907, in the management the Post Office, the duties of which she performed the great satisfaction of the community, who appreciated her business competence, her obliging disposition and courtesy. Mrs. Weatherly for very many years has been Agent for “The Berwickshire News,” a position held for a long time by her late husband; and both Mr and Mrs Weatherly were highly esteemed and valued representatives of  the County Newspaper Earlston. Mrs Weatherly’s illness was not generally regarded as of a serious nature, and her death naturally came as a shock to the general public. Much sympathy is felt under their severe bereavement for her family consisting a son and two daughters, all grown up.”  

Sources of Information:

• ·       Ancestry.co.uk – records of births, marriages &  deaths, and census returns
• ·       ScotlandsPeople -  valuation rolls
• ·       British Newspaper Archive
• ·       FindMyPast – Newspapers
• ·       Earlston Monumental Inscriptions, published by the Borders Family History Society

 

                                      Contributed by Susan Donaldson and Sheila McKay.
 

 ****************