Birth name | John Guthrie Tait | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 24 August 1861 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 4 October 1945 84) | (aged||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Edinburgh Academy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | Peterhouse, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable relative(s) | Peter Guthrie Tait, father Frederick Guthrie Tait, brother | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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John Guthrie Tait (24 August 1861 – 4 October 1945) [1] V.D. was a Scottish educator who became principal of the Central College of Bangalore prior to the First World War. In his early adulthood, Tait was a notable sportsman playing rugby union as a forward for Cambridge University and represented the Scotland international team twice between 1880 and 1885. As well as being a talented rugby player, Tait was, like his brother Frederick Guthrie Tait, a notable amateur golfer.
Tait was born in Edinburgh in 1861, the eldest son of Scottish mathematical physicist Peter Guthrie Tait and Margaret Archer Porter. [2]
He was educated at the Edinburgh Academy from 1871 to 1877 before studying Law at Peterhouse, Cambridge, from 1880. [3] He received his BA in 1884, and on 7 November the same year was admitted at Lincoln's Inn. [3] Tait was called to The Bar on 25 April 1888 and was awarded his MA in 1890.
In 1890 he travelled to India and took up a post in the Government Education Department at Mysore, Karnataka. He became Professor of Languages and vice-principal of Central College of Bangalore, and in 1908 he was made principal of the college. [3]
He was commissioned a Captain in the Bangalore Rifle Volunteers on 31 October 1893. [4] He resigned his commission as a Lieutenant-Colonel 12 July 1917. [5] He was awarded the Volunteer Decoration for his long service.
In 1937 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, William Peddie, Arthur Crichton Mitchell and Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker. [6]
In his later life, Tait became a keen student of the works of Sir Walter Scott, and assisted the editors of the centenary edition of the Letters of Sir Walter Scott, and brought out a revised text of The Journal of Sir Walter Scott [7] based on the original manuscript. [3]
He died in Edinburgh in 1945. [3] He is buried next to his parents in the churchyard of St John's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh. The grave lies on the second burial terrace, down from Princes Street on the east side of the church.
Tait first came to note as a rugby union player when he represented Edinburgh Academicals.
In 1880, now a freshman at Peterhouse, Tait was selected for the Cambridge University team. At the end of the year Tait was part of the Cambridge team to face Oxford University in the annual Varsity Match, now played at Blackheath. This was Tait's first sporting 'Blue', and the game ended in a respectful draw. Tait missed the 1881 game, but was back in the team for the 1882, led by fellow Peterhouse student Herbert Fuller. The game was won by Oxford, thanks to a clever try scored by Alan Rotherham.
He played for Edinburgh District in their inter-city match against Glasgow District on 20 December 1879.
He then played for East of Scotland District in their match against West of Scotland District on 31 January 1880.
In 1880 he was selected for the Scotland national team, in a Home Nations friendly against Ireland. Scotland were easy victors, winning by three goals to nil; but despite the victory Tait was not part of the Scotland team that faced England for the Calcutta Cup just two weeks later.
Tait played one final notable game, when in 1885 he was called back into the Scotland side, to once again face Ireland, this time as part of the 1885 Home Nations Championship. The game ended in another Scottish victory, but Tait would not represent his country in rugby again.
The earliest thing I remember about Freddie's golf is the difficulty I had in persuading him to hold a golf club right hand undermost. Some few years ago he told Mrs. Everard that he was deeply indebted to me for licking him till he held his hands the right way. [8]
– Tait writing from India, recalling time training his brother at golf
Tait was a keen golfer, and in his younger days he taught his younger brother, Frederick Guthrie Tait, the basic techniques of the sport. Before leaving for India, Tait entered several amateur golfing tournaments, and in 1887 reached the semi-final stage of the Amateur Championship at Hoylake; [9] being eventually knocked out by John Ball. [10] Although the tutor of his brothers, Frederick would surpass Tait in style and ability, and Frederick's style "...was neater, more finished, more polished, than Jack's (John)." [9]
Note: Tait played in only The Amateur Championship.
Tournament | 1886 | 1887 | 1888 | 1889 |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Amateur Championship | R32 [11] | SF [12] | DNP | DNP |
Tournament | 1890 | 1891 | 1892 | 1893 | 1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 |
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The Amateur Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
Tournament | 1900 | 1901 |
---|---|---|
The Amateur Championship | DNP | R16 [13] |
DNP = Did not play
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
Yellow background for top-10
On 7 January 1904 he married Annie Smith Cook, daughter of the Principal of the Central College, John Cook FRSE (d.1915). [14]
His younger brother was Lt Frederick Guthrie Tait.
Peter Guthrie Tait was a Scottish mathematical physicist and early pioneer in thermodynamics. He is best known for the mathematical physics textbook Treatise on Natural Philosophy, which he co-wrote with Lord Kelvin, and his early investigations into knot theory.
Bernard Richard Meirion Darwin CBE JP a grandson of the British naturalist Charles Darwin, was a golf writer and high-standard amateur golfer. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
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Sport plays a central role in Scottish culture. The temperate, oceanic climate has played a key part in the evolution of sport in Scotland, with all-weather sports like association football and golf dominating the national sporting consciousness. However, many other sports are played in the country, with popularity varying between sports and between regions.
Frederick Guthrie Tait was an amateur golfer and Scottish soldier. He won the Amateur Championship twice, in 1896 and again in 1898, by convincing margins. Over his short golf career, Tait recorded at least 28 tournament victories. He tied for third place in the Open Championship in both 1896 and 1897.
Leslie Balfour-Melville, born Leslie Balfour, was a Scottish amateur sportsman, serving as captain, opening batsman, and wicket-keeper for the Scotland national cricket team.
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James Douglas Hamilton Dickson FRSE MRI was a Scottish mathematician and expert in electricity. He was a Senior Fellow at Peterhouse, Cambridge. Glasgow University elected him an Eglinton Fellow. He was the elder brother of Charles Dickson, Lord Dickson.
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John Morton Dykes was a Scottish rugby union international who represented Scotland in the 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901 and 1902 Home Nations Championships.
James Porter was a British academic in the second half of the 19th century.
William Archer Porter Tait FRSE FRMS MICE (1866–1929) was a 19th/20th century Scottish civil engineer, and part of the Guthrie Tait dynasty. He was Vice President of the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1929.
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