The Club is in a fortunate position that since its foundation in 1829, meticulous records of every AGM and Annual River Competition have been retained. Today both anglers and non-anglers alike are provided with a fascinating insight into the history of the world’s oldest fishing Club.
In 2006, the Club’s then President Dr. Jimmy Mitchell, a member since 1953, wrote a book ‘The First 175 Years’ to document the history of the the Ellem Fishing Club to coincide with the opening in 2007 of the Club’s Exhibition at Paxton House.
The book is based on the Club’s records which give us a compelling overview of a Gentleman’s fishing club within the evolving social infrastructure from the early 19th century, through Victorian times, the passing of two World Wars, and on to the current day. On one hand, especially in the early days, the members at their Annual Dinner almost routinely drank a bottle of champagne each, and by no means did it stop there! Yet on the other hand, there is clear evidence of the members approach to good river management and sustainability from the mid-1800’s achieved by the planting of trees, the introduction of fish limits, the employment of watchers (for poachers) and the implementation of a trout close season.
If you are interested in purchasing a copy of ‘The First 175 Years’ (£7.99), then please contact us.
Click on any button below to view a timeline of our history.
The Club was founded by 11 members in Ellemford, Berwickshire at the Ellem Fishing Tavern which still exists today. Ellemford is where King James IV army camped overnight on the way to the Battle of Flodden. 1829 was the year of the first Oxford – Cambridge Boat Race.
In April 1830, three new members were invited to join the Club. The membership was now fourteen of whom five were members of the Scottish Legal system, 5 were Accountants, 1 was the owner of the Edinburgh Foundry, 1 was a jeweller from George St. Edinburgh, 1 was the owner of the Broomhouse Paper Mill in Duns, and 1 was a Medical Practitioner from Duns.
The Articles of Constitution & Regulations for the Club were agreed by the original members and ratified at the AGM. Notably – there would be a fine of Half a Guinea for the non-attendance of a member at an AGM, unless a certificate from a surgeon or physician is presented the day before!
At the inaugural AGM, Mr. Marshall (the Jeweller) was nominated Medallist to the Club in view of his presentation of a Gold Medal to be competed for annually by the Club members fishing for trout on the River Whiteadder and its tributaries.
Membership of the Ellem Fishing Club has always been, and still is, by invitation only.
Although not stipulated in the Rules and Regulations, it was agreed that no new member would be admitted to the Club unless his 'proficiency in the angling art' had been established. Otherwise he would have to undergo a 'trial of skill' to ascertain his proficiency.
At no time in the minutes of the Club is there any record of a proposed new member having to undergo a 'trial of skill'. His proposer and seconder always vouched for his 'proficiency in the angling art' and this guarantee was accepted by the members of Council and Club.
Prior to 1834 the Chairman inspected the various baskets of trout caught and he decided the winner of the Club Medal.
A set of scales and weights was then purchased by the Club for one pound and ten shillings. Thereafter the heaviest basket was the winner of the Gold Medal in accordance with the updated rules of competition.
At the Annual River Competition held on 25th April 1834 the recently purchased set of scales were used for the first time and the winner of the Club Medal was Mr. John Trotter with a basket of trout - eight dozen and seven in number, weighing nineteen pounds seven ounces.
In 1835 Mr. George Trotter, Broomhouse Mill presented a Medal, to be called the Trotter Medal, to the Club. The medal would be awarded to ' ... the unsuccessful competitor for the Club Medal, who, on the day of the Competition shall produce the heaviest dozen of trout'.
The Trotter Medal continues to be competed for on an annual basis at the Annual River Competition but is now awarded for the heaviest two trout. This amendment was introduced as part of the Club’s ongoing policy to conserving trout stocks.
In 1839 at the weigh-in following the Annual River Competition, a member caught several whitling which both he and other member considered should be allowed to count towards the Club Medal. This resulted in some controversy and resulted in a specific set of Competition Rules ‘by Order of the Council - No Salmon, Grilse, Bull-Trout, or Whitling, to be reckoned in the Competition'.
Article 16 of the Club's constitution was enforced for the first time when three members who were elected in 1836 were 'expunged' from the Club on account of non-payment of entry fee and annual subscription. The members concerned included both the Mayor and Sheriff of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
A founder member Mr. Andrew Girvan died, bequeathing a sum of £7 annually to the Club of which ‘40 shillings to be annually expended on the purchase of a fishing rod and pirn (reel)’. This became known initially as the ‘Girvan Bequest Rod and Reel’ and could not be awarded to the same person within a period of 5 years.
A legal firm requested repayment of the sums paid to the Club for the Girvan Bequest. Apparently a creditor had appeared compelling the Trustees to repay all amounts paid. The Club’s council reluctantly agreed but also agreed to continue to award a rod and reel at the annual River Competition as before, but to be renamed ‘The Club Rod Prize’.
This prize continues to be awarded today under similar regulations but is now known as the ‘Club Prize’ and has been replaced by a cheque to the value of £50.
A letter was received from Harelaw Farm, Chirnside indicating ‘there had been some conversation in the district as to the propriety of gentlemen being accompanied , while fishing, by a professional angler’. The letter went on to propose that any such attendant should be under 15 years of age.
In response, the Council stated ‘Such a motion proposed acts as an imputation upon the character of the Club & its members. The present rule on an attendant is sufficient and that the only way that a competitor could receive assistance in the number of fish caught, is by the attendant catching them on the previous day and putting them into the competitors basket without his knowledge. It is believed a boy would be more likely to do this than a man’.
The Council comments indicate that the Club was undoubtedly a Gentleman's club of the highest order and the integrity of the individual member should not be questioned and indeed, is not expected to be questioned!
At the AGM it was agreed that future members of the Club would be elected by ballot & also that ‘one black ball in 10 shall be sufficient to exclude the applicant’. A ‘Ballot Committee’ was duly appointed. In 1855 when new members were proposed, two were black-balled and named ! There is no further record of any prospective member being black-balled and the system ceased to operate almost a century later in 1952.
The catches were poor in comparison with previous years which was due to river conditions and sheep washing performed by farmers in the river on the day of the competition. The ‘poor’ results recorded 1856 resulted in a catch of 97 trout caught by 8 rods with a total weight of 27lbs!
At the dinner following the Annual River Competition, the chaplain in the Club was not present when called upon to say grace and had not offered an apology to the Secretary beforehand.
At a subsequent meeting of the Council, in addition to the regulatory fine of half a crown, he also received a letter of censure for his forgetfulness. It was his first offence and the Council decided not to report this 'dereliction of duty' to the Church of Scotland Headquarters in Edinburgh.
Such a stance could be considered autocratic and unsympathetic, doubly so, because the Reverend was also an enthusiastic member of the Club and had been a prize winner on at least two occasions in the Annual River Competition.
The Club joined the Scottish Anglers National Association Competition Clubs (SANACC) and decided that the winner of the Club Medal would represent the Club at the annual ‘National’ competition at Loch Leven. Today the Club Champion and runner-up are now invited to represent the Club.
Mr. George Dundas, Sheriff Substitute of Berwickshire, was elected the membership and he presented the Dundas Medal to the club. This medal could only be competed for on the day of the Annual River Competition by a Club member aged over 40 and the actual fishing time to be limited to three hours. The medal continues to be competed for today.
On the first occasion when the Dundas Medal was awarded, no member of the Club competed for it, and such is recorded in the minutes ‘greatly to the surprise of everybody no one competed for the medal, whether from a shyness in regard to admitting their age, worthy of one of the fair sex, or from a praiseworthy desire to struggle for the other honours of the Club. No one could say, but the feeling was in the heart of each qualified member at the thought that he might have carried it off, if he had chosen to compete for it’.
The Club Medal winner in 1887 was unwilling to represent the Club at the Loch Leven National on the grounds that he had no experience of loch fishing. The Council refused to accept his refusal and instructed the Secretary to write to him a letter expressing the Council’s sentiments ‘ …. the members have declined to accept your refusal seriously …. bear in mind membership of a club has its duties as well as its privileges, and, that as you are our chosen representative you should not allow personal inclinations or differences to stand in the way of your carrying out the unanimous wishes of the members’.
24 members were present at the dinner following the AGM, the price of which remained at 7/6d (37p) per head. 24 bottles of champagne, 8 bottles of claret, 7 bottles of sherry and 6 bottles of port were consumed.
It was unanimously agreed by members to present a rod and reel to the Duns Workmen’s Angling Club every year as a token for the enthusiastic efforts of their members to prevent and minimise poaching on the River Whiteadder and its tributaries.
This presentation took place annually until the First Great War 1914-1918 when all Club activities ceased, and resumed afterwards in 1921 when the cost to the Club was £2 5s (it was previously £1 6s)
Concern about the diminishing trout stocks in many rivers towards the end of the 20th century was obvious by the fact that in the summer of 1910, a conference of Angling Clubs throughout Scotland, was held in Edinburgh to discuss the problem under the chairmanship of Lord Low of 'The Laws' Duns who was a member of the Ellem Fishing Club.
As a result of this conference the Scottish Anglers Association was formed with the remit to be concerned with angling legislation. Its concentrated efforts in this direction later culminated in the 1933 Trout Scotland Act.
No River Competitions or AGMs were held during the Great War of 1914-1918. The Club’s business was conducted by the Council and the Secretary.
On December 16th 1914 following the outbreak of war, the Council made donations to the National Relief Fund (£100), the Belgian Relief Fund (£50), the Soldiers and Sailors Families Association (£20) and the Red Cross Society Berwickshire Branch (£20).
In 1914 the Club's funds amounted to £400, so these donations of almost half the total were very praiseworthy. By today’s standards the donation may appear small but in 1914 a soldier serving on the front line in France was paid one shilling per day.
At a council meeting in March 1922, great concern was expressed at the poor attendance at the Annual River Competition and the Annual Dinner since resumption of the Club activities following the end of the war in 1918. The number of members expressing a desire to attend the dinner had been so low, that the dinner was cancelled in the years 1920, 1921 and 1922.
The lack of interest in Club activities was such that in 1922 Council seriously considered the possibility of the Ellem Fishing Club being dissolved. Financially the Club was very solvent, total assets amounting to over £400.
Members were informed by letter of the grave situation and legal advice was sought regarding the possible dissolution of the Club.
The letter circulated in 1922 to all members had the desired effect in that 9 baskets were weighed in at the Annual River competition. Furthermore 14 members attended the dinner afterwards.
This as well as the election of new Club members finally banished the threat of dissolution. From 1923 until 1939, the membership of Club increased steadily with a consequent increase in attendance at both the Annual Dinner and the Annual River Competition.
At the AGM the Secretary expressed his concern that the Club’s Gold, Trotter and Dundas medals which he considered not only to be of sentimental value, but also were financially valuable. After some discussion it was agreed that the medals be insured. The then valuations were £100, £50 and £50 respectively. Today, the valuation of the Gold Medal is £35,000!
Prior to the medals being insured, the medals were retained by the winner for a period of one year. Previously in 1834 a ruling was introduced that the winner of the Club Medal had to sign a statement 'Received the Medal of the Ellem Fishing Club awarded to me this day, which I hereby oblige myself to return to the secretary, on or before the day of the next competition in terms of Article Fifth of the Constitution and Regulations dated 29th April 1830, under a penalty of Twenty Five Guineas'.
There is no record of when such an undertaking ceased but today at the directive of the insurance company, when the medals are presented to the winners at the Annual Dinner, they are immediately returned to the Club for safe keeping under lock and key at a secure location.
A replica of the Gold Medal is on display in our Exhibition at Paxton House.
The Berwick and District Angling Association, formed in 1927, had been granted permission by every riparian owner from Allanton Bridge to Canty’s Bridge, to control and manage the fishing in the River Whiteadder. Funds were short and the Association applied to the Ellem Fishing Club for some financial assistance. In response, the Club donated twenty pounds annually for the next four years to assist the Association's efforts in improving trout angling in the lower reaches of the river.
After 1931 the contribution to the Association was reduced to five pounds per year until 1956 when no further donations were given.
On Saturday May 1st 1948 an extraordinary meeting of the Ellem Fishing Club was held in Berwick with a view to a revival of the Club.
Twelve members of whom six resided in Berwick attended this meeting and the other six were Berwickshire farmers. Petrol rationing still existed and farmers could legitimately use their cars to attend markets. The now defunct Berwick Farmers’ Market was held in the Corn Exchange every Saturday. Hence the reason for this meeting to be held on a Saturday, and in Berwick.
The enthusiasm of those members present ensured the future of the Club.
It is interesting to note that in the early years of the Club there was a preponderance of members associated with the Legal profession but by 1948 farmer members were the majority and this continued for many years.
The Club received an invitation from the Landward Public Health Committee, Berwickshire County Council to enter into negotiations for the leasing of fishing rights on the Watch Reservoir, construction of which was almost completed. Stocking of reservoirs and lochs with rainbow trout was virtually unknown at this time.
The Club consulted the Zoology Department at Edinburgh University for an expert opinion on the feasibility and viability of such a project. Their response was enthusiastic and optimistic about the fishing potential and advised immediate stocking with 7,000 yearling brown trout from Loch Leven with the proviso that no angling should commence for at least one year.
In the light of such advice a fishing rights lease for the Watch Reservoir was finalised between the Club and Berwickshire County Council in 1955 at an annual rent of five shillings! The lease continued until 1965.
Trout fishing was made available to members of the Club at the Swinhoe Lakes near Belford by permission from Messrs. Bell who had leased the sporting rights on Middleton Estates of which the Swinhoe Lakes were a part.
A syndicate of Club members was formed and the lakes were stocked with rainbow trout every year until 1987 when due to a change in estate management the facility ceased.
The Club investigated the practicability of leasing several ponds at Ancroft with a view to creating a fishery for the members. Considerable remedial work was necessary, water analysis was excellent and each pond held a large freshwater shrimp population. An extraordinary meeting of the Club was arranged at which it was unanimously agreed that funds would be used to establish the fishery after which it would be self-supporting. The ponds were stocked with rainbow trout and this continued on an annual basis with some excellent fishing provided to the Club members.
The Ancroft Fishery continued to flourish and provided the members with excellent, perhaps somewhat restricted rainbow trout fishing on readily accessible and very peaceful 'stanks'. Unfortunately due to a decline in membership, the Club withdrew from the lease in 2018.
After the Second World War, the Club membership increased significantly. As a result, the long recognised fellowship among members which has always been an integral component of the Club, was at risk of diminishing.
To prevent this possibility, the Council decided to increase the number of fishing outings and also to hold an annual dinner to which members and their ladies would be invited. Over the course of the following years, successful and sociable dinners were held at various hotels. Fishing outings at various still-water fisheries were also arranged and were well supported. Unfortunately support for the Annual Ladies Dinner initiated in 1956 tended to diminish and eventually ceased to continue.
The Council’s objectives were achieved in that the Club spirit of camaraderie was not only maintained but also enhanced. Such fellowship is still very evident in the Club today.
The Annual Dinner originally held after the Annual River Competition has always been a distinguishing feature of the Club particularly so in the years prior to the First World War. The dinner is open to all members of the club and is not exclusive to those participating in the competition.
The minute recording the initial dinner of the Club states ‘The members afterwards sat down to dinner and it may be unnecessary to add, that the evening passed by them was with the kindness and hilarity, which is ever likely to distinguish the meeting of the Club. The usual toasts were drunk and songs sung and pleased with themselves, and all the world, the members dispersed before eleven o’clock’.
Due to a combination of circumstances, the Club was compelled to change its dinner venue from Ellemford to the White Swan at Duns.
With the advent of a railway system it was likely that within a relatively short period of time, travel would become easier and this would benefit the Edinburgh members who then formed the majority of membership.
The change of venue was undoubtedly successful as evidenced by the minute reporting the Club’s first dinner there – ‘Mr. Jamieson’s arrangements as regards the dinner gave universal satisfaction and Mr. Grimlay’s band being in attendance, the remainder of the evening was spent in that happy harmonious manner which has ever been characteristic of these meetings of the Club’.
The Club decided to lay down its own wine store, the wine to be purchased from Mr. Alexander Aitken, Wine Merchant, St. Andrews Square, Edinburgh who had been elected a member in 1939. This was obviously at a cheaper rate than any other available source. 36 bottles of port and 36 bottles of sherry were purchased at a cost of four shillings and two pence per bottle (21p)!
Mr. Ramsay, Wine Merchant, Alva Street, Edinburgh was elected a member of the Club and thereafter port and sherry was purchased from him at a cost of three shillings and nine pence a bottle (19p) - a considerable saving on the price previously paid to Mr. Aitken.
48 members were present at the Annual Dinner in Duns. The total membership was 91. This was an excellent attendance especially given that a number of members resided abroad due to business commitments or were members of the armed forces and stationed abroad, particularly in India. Furthermore, 60 resided outside a 40 mile radius of Duns.
Alcohol consumption at the 1844 dinner was 25 bottles of sherry and ten bottles of port!
The Club finances were in a healthy state and it was unanimously agreed that £10 should be donated annually to a Dinner Fund which had also accrued as a result of the fines imposed upon and paid by those who failed to attend the AGM/ Dinner without notifying the Secretary beforehand – in contravention of the Rules and Regulations of the Club.
Thereafter thanks to a degree of subsidising from the Dinner Fund, the cost of the Annual Dinner was seven shillings and six pence (38p), including wine. This charge remained unchanged until the onset of the First World War.
At the end of his period of presidency, Professor Campbell Swinton of Kimmergham, presented an elegant snuff box which was set into a ram’s horn, mounted with silver and inscribed ‘Presented to the Ellem Fishing Club by Archibald Campbell Swinton 11th May 1860’.
Since 1860 the Ram’s Horn Snuff Box has been very much a part of the Club dinner and is now an established ritual that every member present can partake of a pinch of snuff.
The wine stock held by the Club was 70 bottles of port and 18 bottles of sherry. It was suggested that the Club should also hold a stock of champagne. Mr. Ramsay, Wine Merchant and a member from whom the Club had purchased the wines for the Annual Dinner since 1943, offered favourable terms. The Club purchased 48 bottles of champagne at a cost of thirty-eight shillings per dozen (£1.90).
The Annual Dinner was attended by 32 members who consumed 7 bottles of port, 12 bottles of sherry and 31 bottles of champagne!
The minute records the event as follows. ‘After the usual convivial enjoyments of the evening, enlivened by Mr. Grinlay’s unequalled band, the company, before dispersing about eleven o’clock, emitted with such feeling, the ditty Auld Lang Syne. Thereafter, the national dance was executed with great vigour by the company, in relays - the open space serviceable for such evolutions being of a somewhat contracted nature’.
The Council considered that the members were drinking in excess at the Annual Dinner and such concern resulted in the Secretary being instructed that ‘each member was to be allowed one bottle of champagne each and one bottle of port, sherry and claret to every six members’. Further supplies of wine could only be dispersed after the Secretary had given specific permission to the hotelier who held the Club’s wine stock.
At the AGM it was noted in recent years there had been a progressive reduction in the number attending the Annual Dinner and it was considered that the dress code required at the dinner contributed to this reduction. It was therefore proposed that in future the formal dress worn at the dinner be abandoned and that members should wear a green waistcoat with the buttons of the Club and this garment would be a distinguishing mark of the Ellem Fishing Club. This resulted in increased attendance at the dinner for several years.
During the First World War (1914-18) no meetings, river competitions or Annual Dinners took place. When Club activities did eventually resume in 1923 the dinner attendance response was so poor that no further dinners were held until 1930 when 25 members attended and the evening was recorded as being very successful.
The cost per head including wine was one guinea and the Dinner Fund subsidised each member. This is the last occasion there is any mention of the Dinner Fund in the Club’s records. The wine provided at this dinner was from the Club’s own wine cellar. The last occasion on which wine was bought for the Club was in 1911 but in 1930 stocks were sufficient for subsequent Annual Dinners until the outbreak of World War Two in 1939.
The alcohol consumed in 1930 was 24 bottles of champagne, 4 bottles of port, 5 bottles of sherry and 1 bottle of claret.
The Club possesses a record of all wines purchased and consumed between 1844 and 1939. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the wine belonging to the Club was recorded as being 22 bottles of port and 5 bottles of claret. This wine was held by the White Swan Hotel, Duns, where the Club Annual Dinner had been held since 1836. During the war the ownership of the hotel changed three times and as a result, not surprisingly so, the Club’s wine store was found to be non-existent at the end of the war.
After the war, Club activities resumed as did the Dinner after the Annual River Competition but unfortunately the Club no longer provided wine.
In December 2004, in commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Club, a dinner was held in the magnificent surroundings of the Picture Gallery at Paxton House and on this very special occasion, the Club funded the champagne and wine.
We look forward to the 200th anniversary Annual Dinner in 2029!
When the Ellem Club was founded in 1829, one of its main aims was to improve angling throughout the River Whiteadder and its tributaries. On reading the Club’s minutes there is no doubt that such a project has always been a matter of considerable concern to the Club.
At the AGM in 1833 it is recorded ‘members of the Ellem Club are concerned regarding the destructive practice of fishing on the Whiteadder and its tributaries, which tradesmen and others from Duns and the neighbourhood had had of late years‘.
The Club had never owned or leased fishing on the Whiteadder and its tributaries. Yet from its beginnings there are many examples of the Club’s initiatives to conserve, preserve and improve angling on the river system. In 1864 trees were planted on the banks of the upper reaches of the river to provide more fly and creeper food. In 1878, a ‘close season’ was introduced for trout fishing for the period mid-October to mid-March. Following a significant pollution incident in 1934, the Club’s assistance was enlisted to a seek a long-term resolution to a problem created by waste discharge from nearby paper mills.
Continuing the Club’s established policy of conservation and angling improvement, in 1844 the Club initiated a minimum limit of size of trout to be retained, namely five inches, which then increased to seven inches in 1900. The limit is now controlled by the Rules and Regulations of both the Whiteadder Angling Association and the Berwick and District Angling Association who manage trout fishing throughout most of the Whiteadder system. At present all trout measuring less than nine inches in length must be returned to the river.
The Club’s AGM minutes also detail significant financial donations made especially during the 20th century to local trout angling clubs, angling associations and charitable Trusts to contribute towards their own initiatives and projects.
In appreciation of the Club for its efforts to improve angling throughout the Whiteadder over the years, both the Berwick and Whiteadder angling associations granted free access to the Ellem Fishing Club members to fish the respective association waters on the day of the Annual River Competition.