Life in Earlston in the 1790's?

We have one of the earliest descriptions of the village  in "The First Statistical Account of Scotland, 1791-1799," edited by Sir John Sinclair, whereby  each parish minister was asked to write a chapter on his parish.   

Contributing the Earlston chapter was Rev. Mr Lawrence Johnston,   whose children  were at one stage  tutored by a young Sir Walter Scott. 

The population of Earlston was given as 1,351 - 670 males and 681 females, with the commen: 

 "The people are in general healthy;  many of them arrive at old age.  The most common diseases are ague, rheumatism and scroph - the frequency of the last  is probably owing to intermarriage.......consumptive complaints are more common."

A generally positive picture was given of the local economy.

"The principal manufacture is linen cloth.  There are between 40 and 50 weaver looms mostly employed weaving linen........ We have only one woollen manufacturer,  though no place could be better  situated for carrying out that branch of trade.   The Leader Water runs along the west and there is plenty of wool to supply 20 manufacturers.

There are four mills which manufacture a considerable quantity  of all kinds of grain...it is carried to Dalkeith and Edinburgh markets.  Coal and lime are brought back in return.

Nor can any part of the country be better accommodated with roads.  The turnpike between Edinburgh and Jedburgh  goes close by..

The farmers rear a considerable number of black cattle...which they fatten on turnips.

Horses are absolutely necessary in this part of the country, for it is by them the farmers labour their farms and drive their corn to market.  They never work with oxen now as they did formerly.  

The most common crops in this parish are  oats, barley and peas.  There is also some wheat.  The oats that grow on the grounds at Fans are much esteemed. There is now a greet quantity of clover and of  rye grass sown.  

The account noted that two fairs were held in Earlstoun  - on the 28th June  for sheep, black cattle and horses, reckoned to be "the second best fair in the south of Scotland".  The other fair was held on the third  Thursday of October.

In terms of the local society, we learn that the manse  was built in 1734 and the church in 1736, with Sunday Schools in Earlston and Mellerstain, sponsored by the Hon.Mrs Baillie of Mellerstain House.  

An illustration of the Parish Church, demolished in 1891.- 
From the collection of Auld Earlston.

However there were "many poor in the parish at least 30 are enrolled  who receive a weekly allowance according to their necessities.  For this purpose a sum is raised twice a year".

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What was happening in the world outside Earlston?  
 

George III was King, and it was some fifty years,  since Bonnie Prince Charlie had led the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745  south  through the Borders in his bid for the throne.  Income tax was first introduced by William Pitt  in 1799 to help finance the Napoleonic Wars. 

1795 saw the first regular coach run through the Borders from Kelso to Edinburgh - a 10 hour journey.  It was to be another seventy  years before the railway reached  Earlston in 1863.

This was the age of the Scottish Enlightenment with an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. led by such figures as philosopher David Hume, scientist David Brewster, economist  Adam Smith, engineer James Watt, geologist Jame Hutton.  and poet Robert Burns, who dined in Earlston in 1787 whilst on his tour of the Borders. In Edinburgh the New Town was being created.

The Industrial Revolution saw Scotland changing from a predominantly rural, agricultural economy into a modern capitalist economy as developments in textiles, coal and ship building industries attracted more people to urban centres.  In 1800 social reformer Robert Owen took over the running of the cotton mills at New Lanark,  which became a model for progressive and socially responsible industrial management  

Abroad the American colonies secured their independence from Britain in 1793, and France was in turmoil following the outbreak of revolution in 1789.   Radicalism was also growing in Scotland, with political reformers, led by Thomas Muir,   convicted of  sedition in trials in 1793-4,  and and sentenced to penal transportation in  Australia. 

In Africa, Selkirkshire born explorer Mungo Park reached the source of the River Niger .in 1796.   

But what was the main preoccupation  in Earlston?

This was identified in "The Statistical Account" as: 

"The want of fuel.  The common people burn turf and peat.  Coal is usually from the neighbourhood of Dalkeith, a carriage of about 25 miles, which necessarily makes the price so high that the poor cannot purchase it".

 Craigsford Bridge, built 1737  over the Leader Water

This was the main road linking Earlston tnorth and south, 

until the building of the turnpike that was to become the A68. 

 Copyright - N.F. Donaldson.  All Rights Reserved, 2015

For more information on the Statistical Accounts of Scotland, click  HERE

Also Take A  Look At:

Life in Earlston in the 1830's  

Life in Earlston in the Late 19th Century 

 

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Advertisements in "The Earlston Comet", 1891

Among the items donated to the Auld Earlston Group is a photocopy of the first edition of  "The Earlston Comet", published Saturday October 10th, 1891.  

‘88 

Old newspapers are  fascinating documents. They enable us to "experience" events as they were recorded in the press of the time, featuring  "Local, District, London and Foreign Intelligence" .   The advertisements can often be as interesting as the news.

As was the custom  advertisements were given space on the front page for maximum impact.  Taking a look at them here  links  in so well with an  earlier blog post on Earlston's Shops.  

So what were Earlston people being encouraged to buy  in 1891?   

Taking centre stage were promotions by the drapers and  clothiers in the village, and we get a good description of what the well dressed man or woman would be wearing in the late 19th century. 

Thomas Clendinnen & Sons, Drapers, Milliners and Clothiers announced their:

ANNUAL AUTUMN SALE,

For the whole of  their stock, replete with all the latest novelties in Plain and Diagonal Serges, Homsepun, Twist, Knicker Checked and Striped, Dress Tweeds,

Ladies Jackets, Braemar and Russian Cloaks,
Trimmed Hat and Bonnets in Newest Style

White, Scarlet and Shetland Flannels

 Gentleman's Tweed Suits - Made to Measure- From 37s.6p 

New Melton and Diagonal Overcoats from 30s. 

All garments carefully made and finished -  Perfect Fit Guaranteed. 

In the 1891 census, 32 year old draper  Thomas Clendinnen lived on the High Street with his 72 year old mother Jane  named as head of the household.  The drapers was very much a family business that included  Thomas, his  mother, his sister Marion, and brothers Henry and  Charles.   

Miller's Drapers Establishment, offered competition with the claim:  

"The largest and cheapest collection  of Autumn and Winter drapery  goods to be seen in any warehouse in the South of Scotland. 

The constant desire is to supply goods of Reliable Quality
 suitable for all classes of the parish."  
  
[Note that phrase "All classes of the parish" - you could not use that now!]

Also in the field of fashion was David Wallace,  with:

"An Immense and Magnificent Collection of every New and Fashionable  Dress Material....which for Variety, Superior Quality, Good Taste and Moderate Prices is unequalled in Earlston.

Tweeds in Cheviot, Homespun, Harris and Grampian makes, latest styles and newest mixtures, Black materials in great variety.

The latest novelties in Millinery, Flowers, Feathers etc.  Bonnets composed of Velvet and Jet, from 10s.6d to 25s.  The latest novelty in hats is Gladys in French Beaver, trimmed with Feathers.  All orders for this Department made up in the most Fashionable and Tasteful Manner." 

Note the reference to "black materials" - at a time when formal mourning wear was still the custom.  Somehow the name "Gladys" does not quite conjure up an image of a French beaver hat with feathers!

Draper David Wallace was listed in the 1891 census as at the High Street with his wife Ruth, two young children Robert and Ruth, and  eldest son Henry described as a  Draper's Apprentice.   

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Money Values  (see National Archives Currency Converter)

• 37s.6d for a gentleman's suit is equivalent to  £112 in today's money. 
• 30s for a gentleman's overcoat is equivalent to £90 today.
• Ladies hat prices ranged from 10s.6d (£32 today) to 25s (£74 today)

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  Other advertisements on the front page of the newspaper promoted:

• Old Lamps and Stoves from Robert Lee & Sons, Family Grocers and Ironmongers

• Bootmakers, James Ballantyne, Thomas Nichol and Archibald Young all promised a large selection of boots, shoes and slippers with "Jobbing neatly and promptly executed"

• Horse Clothing, Whips, Spurs and all Stable Requisites were all available from John McDonald, Saddler & Harness Maker of Station Road (below).
  

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Background Information
Finding  more information on "The Earlston Comet" proved a challenge, with the National Library of Scotland providing some answers, although it did not hold any copies of the title. But there was mention in "The Waterloo Directory of Scottish Newspapers and Periodicals, 1800-1900" , and "Mitchell's Annual Newspaper Press  Directory".

The Earlston Comet" was published by William Norrie, with "frequency irregular" between 1891 and 1894.     The Mitchell entry comments "The local and district intelligence is carefully given with notes and comments upon it.  [The paper] advocates measures that are for the moral, social and industrial benefits of the community.  The Earlston Comet is the only newspaper printed and published in Berwickshire" .

William Norrie adopted the name of "Waverley Press" for his  business, and wrote and published in 1891 a book "Edinburgh Newspapers, Past and Present".

Apart from those points,  William Norrie has proved very elusive with no information traced on him either in Edinburgh, Midlothian or the Border counties - surprising given that the 1891 census had taken place a few months before "The Earlston Comet" first appeared on the scene. 
 

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Look out for future articles on the "Earlston Comet" 

with reports on local events,  church activities, council meetings, School Bursury Awards,  a coming General Election - plus a  letter asking 

"Is Public Spirit in Earlston Declining?    How much changes! 

Comments Welcome - It is Easy when You Know How

Auld Earlston has been delighted with the verbal interest shown in its blog, launched March 2015, and is encouraged by the number of page views. 

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Shopping in Earlston in an Earlier Era

Take a nostalgic look at Shops in Earlston in the early 20th century.  

The 1901 census for Earlston lists a William Donaldson, aged 37, a butcher at 43 High Street. with his wife Isabella and sons,  John, William and Walter, and daughters Isabella and Helen.   Two years later "Slater's Directory for Berwickshire, 1903" lists  Walter Donaldson as the butcher. 

 

You can just make out the sign in the stone above the frontage, with the staff in their striped  aprons - and is that a carcase hanging  in the window? 

A similar image.  with the delivery boy and his bicycle. 

Times have moved on to four wheels,

Staff outside the local Co-op Store 

 The~Co-op Travelling Shop that went around farms and more isolated communities.   

In the 1901 census, John P. Weatherly was described as a 40 years old Postmaster of 73 High Street, living with his wife, mother-in-law and  children. Edward, Ellen and Margaret.  The Trade Directory two years later adds to his role that of bookseller, stationer, and printer. 

John Paterson Weatherly (1924-2006)  also ran the village  post office and earned a reputation as local historian,   gathering a wealth of archive  material, which forms  the basis of the collection of the Auld Earlston Group.   

But take a closer look at that newspaper placard outside the shop, which announces that "Crippin Removed to Hospital".

Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, was an American doctor  He was hanged  23rd November 1910 in Pentonville Prison, London  for the murder of his wife Cora Henrietta Crippen, and was the first criminal to be captured with the aid of wireless telegraphy.   

Here is Miller, Drapers, (where the Vets now have their surgery).   Take a close look at the  notice on the wall on the left, and you can make out  the advertisement for "Agent for Pullar's Dye Works, Perth", (presumably a predecessor of Pullar's of Perth, Drycleaners).  In 1881 34 year old John Miller of Thistle House, High Street was a  draper in the village, employing two boys and one woman. 

Occupying the same premises in 1901 was 25 year old draper George McDonald.   Unmarried he was living at 15 Station Road with his father John, a saddler, mother Jane and two brothers David and James who were also saddlers.  George must have been an enterprising lad,  as at the age of 15 in the previous census of 1891,  he was also listed as a draper.   

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Slater's Directory of Berwickshire for 1903 notes that the population of Earlston was 1677 (as per 1901 census).  Shops  in the village included:

6 grocers/spirit dealers/ironmongers,  3 butchers, 2 bakers, 5 tailor/drapers/ clothiers, 3 watchmakers/clockmakers/'jewellers, 1 confectioner, 1 chemist,  3 dressmakers/ milliners,  and 1 fishman & earthenware dealer. 

What was striking was  the number of women in business - Miss Jane Douglas, confectioner;  Mrs Margaret Kerr & Mrs Jane Readman grocers;  Miss Margaret Mcdonald, Miss Jane Wood &  Miss Isa Tennant. dressmakers & milliners;  Mrs Agnes Smith,  baby linen,  Mrs Isabella Winchester, draper,  and "in charge of the telephone call office" Miss Isabella Aitchison. 

Thirty years later in 1931 saw listed:  3 grocers/ironmonger, 1 butcher, 1 baker, 3 tailor/clothier/drapers,  1 watchmaker,  3 confectioner, 1 chemist, 3 milliners/dressmaker,  and 2 newsagents.  

Now we are left with 2 convenience stores, a butcher' (Donaldson's), a baker, chemist, flower shop, sweet shop, 3 pubs/hotel, 2 hairdressers, a beauty salon,  a craft shop, an electrical shop, a cafe and a tearoom  a fish & chip shop and a Chinese take-away - how times have changed!  

                                          Earlston High Street at the West End 

 Earlston High Street 

Thank you to everyone
who has  donated or loaned old photographs for scanning.

Auld Earlston welcomes all contributions on the village's past  -
 contact us on  auldearlston@aol.com or via the comments box below. 

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The Crippen story aroused enormous public interest at the time - See more at: http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/execution-dr-crippen#sthash.Rvy7ZSbM.dpu