George Mather, Teacher and Registrar

Children from Kirk Yetholm lower the tone of the school - click to expand.

   The log books of Yetholm School make fascinating reading. YHS has copies starting in around 1900. Most of the entries relate to the progress - or otherwise - of reading, writing and 'rithmatic in the village. Inspectors regularly visited and their reports are carefully transcribed. Attendance is noted. It is striking how often pupils numbers dropped because the children decided to take time off to watch the fox hounds, or attend a ploughing match at Cherrytrees or a farm displenishing. There are also frequent references to the school being closed because of infections - chickenpox, impetigo, whooping cough and so on; on occasion the school was closed for months. Even though there was no National Health Service, medical officers frequently visited and it is clear that the school was the main contact point between health authorities and the local population.
   Most of the entries are fairly business-like, but the entry shown above, from 1902, is unusually irritable. The teacher must have been having a bad day. It is interesting that 'Royal' Kirk Yetholm is perceived as the scruffy end of the village. One suspects this may have been an accurate observation (at the time) - ? A few years later parents complained that their children were having to sit next to pupils with lice ('pediculi corporis'):

   Admittedly, in this case, no aspersions are cast against Kirk Yetholm and, who knows, the dirty children may well have come from Town Yetholm - ?
    Anyone who has done family history research into ancestors from Yetholm in the late 19th and early 20th century will recognise the unusually angular handwriting of these entries, as George Mather, the head-teacher, who wrote the log books, was also the inspector of the poor and registrar of the village - all death certificates, for example, were transcribed by him. Some of the log book entries will be looked at in subsequent blogposts, but the rest of this one will be devoted to 'Geordie' Mather - who exactly was he?
    George Mather was baptised in Morebattle in May 1865. His father, John, was a coachman, and subsequent censuses show the family living in Kelso. It was presumably there that George received his education. The 1871 census decsribes him, aged 16, as a 'pupil teacher'. Where he subsequently trained is unclear, but in August 1887 he was appointed head teacher of Yetholm School. He is probably to be seen below, in a school photo taken soon after his arrival:

   George married Susan Dick in Ednam in 1889 - and at some point grew a dapper mustache, which features in all subsequent photographs. Like Andrew Richardson Blythe he was obviously a lad from a relatively humble background who, through good fortune and native ability, was able to rise through the social and financial ranks of Border's society. His income must have been supplemented by his role as registrar and newspaper reports show him frequently being appointed to greet visiting dignitaries to the village with a few well-chosed words of welcome.
   He played in very prominent role in organising the 1898 gipsy coronation, which brought Yetholm world-wide fame. The speech, in Romani, which the new king read from his throne was written by him -  though one suspects King Charles II was never a very good school pupil and the speech was probably delivered rather badly. In the large photograph which was taken of the participants of the coronation he (left, below) and Dr Rodgers (right) are shown lounging on the grass in front of the other participants. It is interesting that these two prominent middle-class figures are dressed in their best suits, while everyone else is standing in their fancy dress costumes.

   George and Susan's marriage was childless, though financially they did well - by the end of his life they were living in Elmbank, the large house on the Morebattle Road, next to the even grander Romany House, which is where Dr Rodgers lived. Clearly this was the posh end of the village - about as far removed from down-at-heels Kirk Yetholm a it was possible to be!
   The school log books give the impression of a very diligent and devoted teacher, who did his best for his pupils. He seems to have been respected and well-liked. Tragically, though, he seems to have had heart problems and in June 1921 he was forced to resign. He cannot have been able to enjoy life in Elmbank for long. His last entries in the log book are shown below, after which the angular handwriting disappears (click to expand the image):

    George Mather died in an Edinburgh nursing home on the 28th May 1922, aged 56. Despite having worked in Yetholm for over thirty years he was not buried in the village, but was buried in Kelso on 31st May. His wife died, in Jedburgh district, in 1959 aged 88.
    YHS has several school photographs in which he features. The one below was taken in 1921, for inclusion in a remarkable book which was prepared as a gift for Mr Mather after he had resigned - for more information about this beautiful text which is now in our archive, click HERE.
   Douglas Turnbull, who died recently, has identified some of the children and his notes can also be seen. Interestingly, the child on the left of the middle-row is John Gray, the very eminent scholar and subject of last month's blog, who lived in Kirk Yetholm. His daughter says that he was sent home for bad behaviour on his first day at School! However, as noted, he went on to achieve academic excellence - proof that even ramshackle Kirk Yetholm wasn't as hopeless as it may have appeared, on occasion, to the village headmaster.

The man on the left is not a 'school inspector', as Doug Turnbull suggests, but the Rev Walter Davidson, who was interim headmaster for a few months after Mr Mather was forced to resign - see the 'Oor Ain Maister' page in the Archive section of this website - HERE.