Obituary: Robert Taylor Cannon, farmer

Robert Cannon was the cornerstone, and often the foundation stone, of many organisations throughout south-west Scotland. There was a huge turnout of mourners at his funeral in Kirkcowan Parish Church on a cold, blustery day just before the turn of the year – a reflection of the high esteem and affection in which he was held.

During the eulogy, the Rev Eric Boyle spoke of Robert Cannon’s full life and this is ably demonstrated by the fact he had served all of the following with distinction often for 50 years or more: the Machars Young Farmers’ Club; Machars Ploughing Society; Wigtown Agricultural Society; Wigtown Horticultural Society; Grange Football Club; Grange Carpet Bowling Club; Machars Carpet Bowling Association; Kirkcowan Bowling Club; Newton Stewart Indoor Bowling Club; the Wigtownshire Bowling Tour; Wigtownshire Bowling Association; Wigtown Curling Club; Galloway Province Curlers; Stranraer Ice Rink Curling Club; the Royal Caledonian Curling Club and Kirkcowan Parish Church.

Born at Littlepark in 1929, Robert Taylor Cannon was educated at Stronord School before moving briefly to Glasgow with his family as a young boy. But the lure of green fields and open spaces called the family back and, in the 1940s, they settled into a farming life at Redbrae Farm, nestled in the rolling hills between Wigtown and Kirkcowan.

But before he started work on the family farm, a young RT decided to hone his book-keeping and organisational skills by working in a solicitor’s office in Wigtown for three years.

Marriage in 1956 to Mona brought him abiding happiness and they enjoyed each other’s company each and every day for the past 56 years. His pride and joy were his children, daughter Sheila and sons Roy, Jim and Stuart, and his nine grandchildren Sean, Calum, Graham, Emma, Rachel, Gregor, Jenni, Andrew and Kirsty.

RT farmed at Little Torhouse before moving to Redbrae in 1968 and to the cottage there in 1993 before he retired in 1996.

Although his family was his greatest love and his proudest achievement, it is only part of his legacy. The voluntary contribution he made to his community through local agriculture, sport and the church marks him out from the crowd as a man of commitment, dedication and loyalty.

As a young man, RT Cannon filled all the committee posts in the local Young Farmers’ Club before moving on to serve the Agricultural Society, where he remained active until 2008 as commentator at the annual Wigtown Show Day.

The local Ploughing Society was flagging in the mid-1950s until RT took on the role of secretary. He rejuvenated the annual ploughing match and was made honorary president of the society in 2006 and continued to write the reports of the match for the local papers until his death.

He also maintained an active role in his local horticultural society and was a regular exhibitor at the Wigtown Flower Show.

RT loved sport so much that he set up his own football team. Grange FC played in the local league for seven years, with all games organised by Robert. Restricted from playing football because of a gammy leg, he then decided to form the Grange Carpet Bowling Club, so that he could take part as well as organise. He used his ingenuity to find the premises in a hay shed and set about converting it into a bowling alley.

He also served Kirkcowan Bowling Club from 1962 to his death, he was the first president of Newton Stewart Indoor Bowling Club and served that organisation from 1982 until 1998. He was the captain of the Wigtownshire Bowling Tour from 1982 to 1995 and was involved with the Wigtownshire Bowling Association from 1995 to 2001.

Of all sports, his greatest love was curling. Learning the art of the 迭game from his father on outside ice, he became a very successful curler in his own right, winning some of the top prizes at Stranraer Ice Rink. But it was his legendary organisational skills that were his forte.

For more than 40 years, he organised every competition in his area as well as attending meetings all over Scotland as a council member of the Royal Caledonian Curling club from 1980 to 1985.

He acted as press secretary for all major events, including filing daily reports for a national newspaper in 1981 from the French Alps when he watched his son Jim become a world curling champion.

He was secretary of Wigtown Curling Club for 40 years and of the Galloway Province for nearly 50 years. In recognition of this outstanding service, he was made an honorary president of both clubs. He was president of Stranraer Ice Rink in 1976-77 and made an honorary president in 1995.

Always looking to the future, RT knew his favourite game could only survive through encouraging the young, so he set up a young curlers’ club to teach and promote the game to the next generation.

His love of serving his community extended to the church. He was an active member of the congregation at Kirkcowan Parish Church for more than half a century and was its senior elder, faithfully attending on a weekly basis, where his experience was invaluable to newcomers to the parish.

He was also an accomplished speech-maker and raconteur who liked nothing better than telling his audience a story.

To the many clubs and organisations he was involved with, RT will be irreplaceable. During his life he put all available time and effort into carrying out his duties to the very best of his ability, never seeking reward or praise.

He always said it was a pleasure to serve his community and he was understandably proud of the immaculate records he kept for all the organisations he was involved with.

He had a perfectionist attention to detail and any problems encountered along the way were always dealt with by the cool combination of tact and humour.

Robert Cannon will be greatly missed by both his family and friends. He was a selfless, dedicated and conscientious man who operated quietly in the background of a host of organisations in Wigtownshire for well over 50 years – organisations that continue to thrive because they are well organised: the hallmark of RT Cannon.