Thomas Coats (1809–1883) was a Scottish thread manufacturer.

Life

Ferguslie Thread Works, Paisley, Scotland

The grave of Thomas Coats, Woodside Cemetery, Paisley

Coats was born at Paisley 18 October 1809. He was the fourth of a family of ten sons. His father, James Coats, was one of the founders of the

Coats Group Coats Group plc is a British multi-national company. It is the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of sewing thread and supplies, and the second-largest manufacturer of zips and fasteners, after YKK. It is listed on the London Stock E ...

of Paisley. In the hands of Thomas and his surviving brother,

Sir Peter Coats Sir Peter Coats of Auchendrane (18 July 1808 – 9 March 1890) was a Scottish thread manufacturer and philanthropist. He was co-founder of the firm J & P Coats, which later evolved into Coats Group. Life He was born in Paisley, the third son ...

, the Ferguslie Thread Works became substantial. Coats in 1868 presented to the town of Paisley a public park, called the 'Fountains Gardens,' as a place of recreation. He took an interest in education, and in 1873 was elected chairman of the school board, an office he continued to hold until his death. He gave large sums to improve the school accommodation, and provided a playground. From 1862 to 1864 he was president of the Paisley Philosophical Institution, and in 1882 he presented to the society the

Coats Observatory Coats Observatory is Scotland's oldest public observatory. It is currently closed for refurbishment as part of a 4-year long £42m transformation of the observatory and museum buildings. Located in Oakshaw Street West, Paisley, Renfrewshire, the ...

; he furnished it with an

equatorial telescope An equatorial mount is a mount for instruments that compensates for Earth's rotation by having one rotational axis, the polar axis, parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation. This type of mount is used for astronomical telescopes and camera ...

and other instruments, and provided a residence and endowment for the curator. Coats was a collector of Scottish coins, and his collection became the largest and most valuable of its kind. He wanted a catalogue of the specimens, and entrusted the work to Edward Burns, a Scottish numismatist. But in Burns's hands the catalogue swelled into an elaborate ''Coinage of Scotland'' (1887). It was unfinished at the time of Coats's death. Burns himself died suddenly, and the task of completion was entrusted to George Sim. In November 1881 Coats and his brother Sir Peter were entertained at a banquet at Paisley, and presented with their portraits, painted by Sir

Daniel Macnee Sir Daniel Macnee FRSE PRSA LLD (4 June 1806, Fintry, Stirlingshire – 17 January 1882, Edinburgh), was a Scottish portrait painter who served as president of the Royal Scottish Academy (1876). Life He was born at Fintry in Stirlingshir ...

, P.R.S.A. Coats died of an affliction of the heart on 15 October 1883. He is buried in Woodside Cemetery in the West End of Paisley. The grave stands at the summit immediately west of the statue to

James Fillans James Fillans (27 March 1808 – 27 September 1852) was a Scottish sculptor, poet and artist with a short but influential career in the early 19th century. Life He was born in Wilsontown, Lanarkshire. In early life he worked as a handloom w ...

and paired with the grave of

Peter Coats Sir Peter Coats of Auchendrane (18 July 1808 – 9 March 1890) was a Scottish thread manufacturer and philanthropist. He was co-founder of the firm J & P Coats, which later evolved into Coats Group. Life He was born in Paisley, the third son ...

, east of the statue.

Memorials

A statue was erected at Paisley to his memory. In religion Coats was a Baptist, and in politics a Liberal. The

Thomas Coats Memorial Baptist Church Thomas Coats Memorial Baptist Church, colloquially known as the Baptist Cathedral of Europe, stands at the west end of the High Street in Paisley, Scotland. It has been a dominant feature of the Paisley skyline for over 100 years with its strik ...

in Paisley is named in his honour.

Family

He was married to Margaret Glen (1820-1898). His wife and him brought up his 11 children in Ferguslie House in 1845. His daughter Janet Coats, set up one of the first literary prizes in Scotland, the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Unit ...

, in memory of her late husband. Other children included James Coats (1841-1912), Peter Coats (1855-1872), and Thomas Glen Coats (1846-1922).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coats, Thomas 1809 births 1883 deaths Businesspeople from Paisley, Renfrewshire 19th-century Scottish people Scottish numismatists 19th-century Scottish businesspeople