Sir Thomas Barnby Whitson

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 letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

DL EZS

LLD Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation#Plural forms, abbrev ...

(10 March 1869 – 1 October 1948) was a Scottish chartered accountant who served as

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by City_of_Edinburgh_Council, the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the e ...

1929 to 1932.

Life

He was born on 10 March 1869 to Isobel Lowe and Thomas Whitson (b. 1834) in Blairgowrie), an Edinburgh chartered accountant. The family lived at 30a Minto Street in the Newington area of Edinburgh. He was educated at George Watsons College and Loretto College and then studied accountancy at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. He practiced as a chartered accountant continually from 1893. He was interested in

Antarctic exploration The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe. The term ''Antarctic'', referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle, was coined by Ma ...

, and although not undertaking the journey himself he underwrote part of the costs of William Spiers Bruce's explorations in the early 20th century. He also co-founded the Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate. He was knighted by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

in 1931 during his period as Lord Provost. He received an honorary doctorate (LLD) from the

in the same year. He was also in that year elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 established i ...

. His proposers were James Watt,

Ralph Allan Sampson Ralph Allan (or Allen) Sampson FRS FRSE LLD (25 June 1866 – 7 November 1939) was a British astronomer. Life Sampson was born in Schull, County Cork in Ireland, then part of the UK. He was the fourth of five children to James Sampson, a Corn ...

, Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer and

James Hartley Ashworth James Hartley Ashworth FRS FRSE DSc SZS (2 May 1874 – 4 February 1936) was a British marine zoologist. Life See He was born on 2, May 1874, in Accrington in Lancashire, the only son of James Ashworth. He spent most of his early life in Bu ...

. He was succeeded as Lord Provost in 1932 by the automobile engineer William Johnston Thomson. He retired in 1943 and died on 1 October 1948 at his home at 27 Eglinton Crescent in Edinburgh's West End. He is buried with his first wife in the 20th century extension to

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

in west Edinburgh. The hard to read granite monument stands beside a mature silver birch.

Recognition

The Whitson estate in the Saughtonhall area of south-west Edinburgh is named after him, as is

Cape Whitson Cape Whitson, is a headland on the south coast of Laurie Island, the easternmost and second largest of the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. It lies about 9 km south-east of Argentina’s Orcadas Base. It is named after Sir Thomas Barn ...

in the South Orkneys and Whitson Bay in

Spitzbergen Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

Family

He married twice: firstly in 1902 to Wilhelmina (“Winnie”) Jamieson Adie (1872-1921) of

Delting Delting is a civil parish and List of community council areas in Scotland#Shetland, community council area on Mainland, Shetland, Mainland, Shetland, Scotland. It includes the Sullom Voe oil terminal and its main settlements are Brae, Mossbank, Sh ...

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

; secondly in 1922, following the death of Winnie, to Mabel Christian Forbes (d.1971), daughter of

George Edward Forbes George Edward Forbes (1828 – 1881) was a Scots-born politician who served in Queensland, Australia. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Biography George Forbes was born on 8 August 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He settl ...

. He had three children by his first marriage.

References

1869 births 1948 deaths People from Blairgowrie and Rattray Lord Provosts of Edinburgh Businesspeople from Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Burials at the Dean Cemetery People educated at George Watson's College People educated at Loretto School, Musselburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish accountants Deputy Lieutenants of Edinburgh {{Scotland-bio-stub