Children from all the primary schools in the Carse of Gowrie were extremely well informed about the work and life of Matthew. We asked many questions of one another and shared some interesting answers.
One of the teachers discovered a number of long-forgotten letters from Matthew to his neighbour Lord Kinnard. The letters are held at Perth Public Library, along with a copy of Matthew's (1831) book, donated by his granddaughter. The children particularly liked two of the newly discovered Matthew letters: one asking that Lord Kinnard supply his own (Kinnard's) tenant with free manure each year and another asking for a school to be built for the children of the poor of the Carse of Gowrie.
Kinnard saw to it that the school was built and that it adopted the enlightened design principles recommended by Matthew for the teaching of sensitive children, Both of these Matthew & Kinnard stories are addressed by the children in their book: "The Life of Patrick Matthew".
At the end of our delightfully informative meeting, the children of Abernyte Primary School presented me with a small token of the suburb work undertaken by all the children present. The images of their interpretation, conveyed in words and pictures - of the life of Patrick Matthew:
