Robert Whinham

Robert Whinham (1814–1893) was a fiddler, composer and dancing master from Morpeth, Northumberland. Many tunes composed by him are still played, notably the Remember Me hornpipe, Whinham’s Reel, and The Cambo March. A 1995 book on his life and music, called Remember Me by Graham Dixon, summarises most of what is known about him. Early life Whinham was born in 1814, in Morpeth, Northumberland, the son of a market gardener, also named Robert. He was the fourth of five children. Robert Whinham senior is known as the developer of a variety of gooseberry, still cultivated, known as Whinham’s Industry. There are few facts known about his life, though his obituary recorded that he had started learning the violin at the age of eight, at first from one William Banks, later from ‘a German music master in Newcastle’. Career Whinham later organised the Morpeth Brass Band, for much of his life he worked as an itinerant musician and dancing teacher, though frequently returning to Morpeth. In 1854, the Morpeth Philharmonic Society, led by Whinham, gave a concert in Morpeth. There are advertisements for several other engagements around this period. In 1856 and 1857, he led the musicians playing at