1860-1944

Frederick Matthews was a coal mine engineer then owner in Durham county who bought several lots of the Johnstone family’s Westerhall estate in November 1911, including Westerhall house. He also had business interests in Kenya.

He settled quickly into life in the Scottish borders, taking on various local roles:

• Vice-president, Eskdale and Liddesdale Agricultural Society.
• Vice-president, Langholm Cricket Club.
• Vice-president, Langholm Rugby Club.
• Member, Townhead Literary Society.

He and his wife Jessie provided for Belgian refugees who arrived in Westerkirk parish in February 1915.

His daughter Ann (1895-1970) married John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound in 1921, linking him to the 7th Duke of Buccleuch and the Duke’s representative and extended family member John Milne-Home.

In 1928, Frederick asked his son John (‘Jack’) to go to Kenya to investigate the profitability of some investments. Jack settled there but was killed in the Mau Mau uprising in 1954 aged 52 while in the clubhouse of the Sigona Golf Club which he had founded.

Frederick died in the Thomas Hope hospital in Langholm in 1944, aged 84.