Matthew Henry McKerrow

A sepia toned monochrome photographic print on a cabinet card by James White of Dumfries and Moniaive from a McKerrow family album.   Matthew McKerrow, a solicitor, was a leading member of the Burns movement in the early years of the twentieth century.  He served as president of Dumfries Burns Club and President of the Burns Federation. He was instrumental in the appeal for funds to refurbish Burns Mausoleum.   By the early 1900s it had begun to show signs of deterioration and there was a movement to replace the statuary and to restore the fabric of  the mausoleum. The sculptor, Hermon Cawthra was selected and the new statuary group was unveiled on the 19th September 1936.   Cabinet cards were almost always made from studio portraits. They were produced to be sold or exchanged and were collected in elaborate albums, specially made for the purpose, often with window mounts to display the cards. This cabinet card dates from the 1890s when they were already being replaced in popularity by enlarged studio portraits and photographic postcards.