The Cottage, as it is today, and now known as West Mains Farm House
Further research has revealed more about Henry Francis and his family. The Lyte family originated from Somerset where Lytes Cary Manor was the family ancestral home from 13th to the 18th century. Henry Francis' father Thomas lyte, was the youngest of a large family of which only five children survived. Lytes Cary Manor had to be sold because of debts and Thomas Lyte bought a commission in the army but because he was not receiving promotion quickly he sold his commission and, at this point 1790, decided to go to Scotland. Before sailing he met, at a party in London, the young Anna Maria Oliver, whom he had met once before. He persuaded her to sail with him and a servant to Scotland They made their home in Berwick-upon tweed and it was there that their first son, Thomas, was born in 1792. They then lived in Tilmouth until the owner of that property required it and it was then that they rented "The Cottage" belonging to the Ednam brewer, Mr Robertson in Ednam. Henry Francis was born there on 1st June 1793. His Baptism took place in Ednam Church on June 13th of the same year and is recorded in the Parish records. The third child, George, was also born in Edman in March 1795 and baptised in the village church. In the late 1790s Captain Lyte was working again and posted to Ireland. His family ended the lease of the house in Ednam around 1800 and joined him in Ireland. Henry Francis was educated in Enniskillen and Trinity College
All Saints Church Founded 1815
Henry Francis Lyte became the vicar of this church in 1823 and left a deep personal impression on the town. He lived at Berry Head House, now a hotel, and it was there, from his house overlooking Torbay, when he was very ill that he wrote that very beautiful hymn "Abide with me...." The church is now a memorial to him.
Among the many works he had published are;
1826 Tales in Verse
1833 Poems Chiefly Religious
1834 The Spirit of the Psalms
1847 "Abide with me...."
The last of these was published in September 1847 and because of failing health Henry went abroad to Nice in France where he died on 20th November that same year. He was buried in Nice.
GRAVE IN NICE
After his death his daughter Anna Maria Maxwell Lyte (then Mrs Hogg) had some works published and which she called "The Remains of the Reverend H. F. Lyte". Ednam honoured him with a plaque on the parapet of the bridge from Kelso into the village. However folllowing a road accident on the bridge in 2005 the old plaque which was very worn was removed. A new plaque, as part of the celebrations for 900th anniversary (October 2005) of the parish has been erected inside the Church grounds, just opposite the Garden of Remembrance
Plaque on parapet of Ednam Bridge
The new plaque inside the Ednam Church grounds
His poems can be read on the website below:
http://www.poemhunter.com/henry-francis-lyte
Read more about the life of Henry Francis Lyte on the site below
http://homepage.eircom.net/~taghmon/histsoc/vol1/3lyte/3lyte.htm
An excellent biography of Henry Francis Lyte gives more details of his remarkable life. The Title is:
Henry Francis Lyte Brixham's Priest and Poet
by Basil G. Skinner and publised in 1974
John Gibson Smith was born in Innerleithen and came as a teacher to Kelso Friendly School. When a vacancy occurred in Ednam School he transferred there in 1834. He was a good teacher and as his predecessor had been a failure he was very much appreciated by all.He was a tall man with a repuation for strictness but the children liked him and this is evident by the fact that between 20 and 30 children chose to come to Ednam School daily - a distance of at least two miles - rather than attend any school in Kelso. His two great hobbies were gardening and poetry and he was very knowledgeable about both. In 1862 he had a 240 page volume of his poems published under the title of "The Old Graveyard". He is portrayed as a cheery, happy man yet his poems are rather sombre. His spare time was spent in his garden. John Smith was a widower but the census of 1851 shows that his household consisted of him as the head with his sister. a nephew, a niece and a servant. He died in Kelso in 1891.
Old School is the building on the left
Andrew Brotherton was born in 1834 in Eccles Shiel and moved to Ednam very shortly after his birth. He always considered himself an Ednam man. He started school in the village while John Gibson Smith was the schoolmaster. Andrew Brotherton was highly intelligent with great potential but was not ambitious. His father was not a skilled man and did not recognise the opportunities which lay ahead for his son. Andrew was a gifted pupil and loved nature. Although he did not write verse his love of nature was in a way a form of poetry. He worked in the village as a gardener so that he would have time for his hobbies of nature study and bird stuffing. He was an expert botanist and his extensive knowledge was recognised by other experts in science. Friends also recognised his talents and helped him to obtain a shop in Kelso where he could carry on his bird stuffing. Professor Williams offered him a post lecturing to students on botany as related to Veteninary Science. Professor Dickson offered him a post as Keeper of the Herbarium in Edinburgh. Both posts he declined. He did, howevr, became Curator of Museums at Berwick. Kelso and Floors and corresponded with many leading scientists. He wrote many articles with one of particular significance in overcoming the disease destroying salmon in the area at that time. Another of his publications is "Notes on Rare and Uncommon Wild plants found near Kelso"
Another famous person with paternal links to Ednam is Captain James Cook the famous explorer.Ednam records show that a John Cooke paid a Hearth Tax in Ednam in 1691 and that 2 years later a John Cook married a Jean Duncan in Ednam Church. 70 years later their grandson James Cook, who was born in 1728 in Cleveland, Yorkshire, landed in what was to become New South Wales, Australia.
The 20th century has produced a famous banker. Sir William Purves was born in 1931, educated in Ednam where his mother Mrs Ida Purves was schoolmistress of Ednam Primary School form 1040 - 1963. Sir William Purves has retired and now lives in London.
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