John Guthrie Tait (24 August 1861 – 4 October 1945) V.D. was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

educator who became principal of the

Central College of Bangalore Central College Bengaluru (1858) is one of the oldest colleges in India. This college was originally affiliated to University of Mysore in Mysore State. Rev. John Garrett (linguist), John Garrett was the founder and first principal of the Centra ...

prior to the First World War. In his early adulthood, Tait was a notable sportsman playing

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

as a forward for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

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 Frederick Guthrie Tait (11 January 1870 – 7 February 1900) 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 lea ...

, a notable amateur golfer.

Early life

Tait was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1861, the eldest son of Scottish mathematical physicist

Peter Guthrie Tait Peter Guthrie Tait (28 April 18314 July 1901) was a Scottish Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and early pioneer in thermodynamics. He is best known for the mathematical physics textbook ''Treatise on Natural Philosophy'', which he ...

and Margaret Archer Porter.

Education

He was educated at the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

from 1871 to 1877 before studying Law at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

, from 1880. He received his BA in 1884, and on 7 November the same year was admitted at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

. Tait was called to The Bar on 25 April 1888 and was awarded his MA in 1890.

Career

Rugby career

One of his first matches was 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. Later in 1880, he was selected for the Scotland national team, in a Home Nations friendly against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. 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 The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between teams of England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy con ...

just two weeks later. In late 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 The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in the annual

Varsity Match A varsity match in Britain and Ireland is a fixture, especially of a sporting event or team, between university teams, usually the highest-level team, or varsity team, in that sport. The University Match in cricket between Oxford University an ...

, 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 Herbert George Fuller (4 October 1856 – 2 January 1896) was an English born rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cambridge University and won four international caps for the England national rugby union team between 1882 and 1884. E ...

. The game was won by Oxford, thanks to a clever try scored by

Alan Rotherham Alan Rotherham (31 July 1862 – 30 August 1898) was a rugby union international who represented England from 1882 to 1887. He also captained his country. Rotherham is best known for his part in revolutionising half-back play in rugby union, b ...

. 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 1885 Home Nations Championship was the third series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, but the tournament was not completed. The 1885 Championship was notable for the dis ...

. The game ended in another Scottish victory, but Tait would not represent his country in rugby again.

Golfing career

Tait was a keen golfer, and in his younger days he taught his younger brother,

, 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 Hoylake () is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. At the 2021 United K ...

;Low (1900), pg 170. being eventually knocked out by John Ball. 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)."

Later career

In 1890, Tait travelled to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and took up a post in the Government Education Department at

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. He became Professor of Languages and vice-principal of

, and in 1908 he was made principal of the college. He was commissioned a Captain in the Bangalore Rifle Volunteers on 31 October 1893. He resigned his commission as a Lieutenant-Colonel 12 July 1917. He was awarded the Volunteer Decoration for his long service. In his later life, Tait became a keen student of the works of

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

, 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 ''The Journal of Sir Walter Scott'' is a diary which the novelist and poet Walter Scott kept between 1825 and 1832. It records the financial disaster which overtook him at the beginning of 1826, and the efforts he made over the next seven years t ...

'' based on the original manuscript.

Awards and honors

* In 1937, Tait was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson CB FRS FRSE (2 May 1860 – 21 June 1948) was a Scottish biologist, mathematician and classics scholar. He was a pioneer of mathematical and theoretical biology, travelled on expeditions to the Bering Strait ...

William Peddie 250px, William Peddie (ca 1910) William Peddie FRSE LLD (31 May 1861 – 2 June 1946) was a Scottish physicist and applied mathematician, known for his research on colour vision and molecular magnetism. Life He was born in Papa Westray in Orkney ...

Arthur Crichton Mitchell Alexander Crichton Mitchell FRSE (1 July 1864 – 15 April 1952), named in some sources as Arthur Crichton Mitchell, was a Scottish physicist with a special interest in geomagnetics who worked for many years in India as a professor and head of a ...

and Sir

Edmund Taylor Whittaker Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker (24 October 1873 – 24 March 1956) was a British mathematician, physicist, and historian of science. Whittaker was a leading mathematical scholar of the early 20th century who contributed widely to applied mathemat ...

Results in major championships

Note: Tait played in only

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

. DNP = Did not play
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
Yellow background for top-10

Personal life

On 7 January 1904 he married Annie Smith Cook, daughter of the Principal of the Central College, John Cook

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(d.1915). His younger brother was Lt

Death

Tait died in Edinburgh in 1945. He is buried next to his parents in the churchyard of

St John's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh The Church of St John the Evangelist is a Scottish Episcopal church in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is sited at the west end of Princes Street at its junction with Lothian Road, and is protected as a category A listed building. Backg ...

. The grave lies on the second burial terrace, down from

Princes Street Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...

on the east side of the church.

Bibliography

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tait, John Guthrie 1861 births 1945 deaths Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Edinburgh Edinburgh Academicals rugby union players Scottish male golfers Amateur golfers Scottish educators Scottish Episcopalians Indian Army personnel of World War I Indian Defence Force officers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Golfers from Edinburgh Edinburgh District (rugby union) players East of Scotland District players