The grave of Thomas Jamieson Boyd, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh

Sir Thomas Jamieson Boyd, (22 February 1818–22 August 1902) publisher and philanthropist, was Lord Provost of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

from 1877 to 1882. He was the catalyst behind the building of the

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, or RIE, often (but incorrectly) known as the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, or ERI, was established in 1729 and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest v ...

on Lauriston Place.

Life

Thomas was born on 22 February 1818 at 16 Charlotte Street in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

, then an independent burgh, north of

. He was the eldest of three sons of John Boyd, corn merchant, and Anne Jamieson, daughter of Thomas Jamieson. At an early age he entered the renowned Edinburgh printing/publishing company of

Oliver and Boyd Oliver and Boyd was a British publishing and printing firm that traded from 1807 or 1808 until 1990.

, at that point run by his uncle, George Boyd. Thomas became the managing partner in 1843. In 1852 he was living at 11

Regent Terrace Regent Terrace is a residential street of 34 classical 3-bay townhouses built on the upper south side of Calton Hill in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Regent Terrace is within the Edinburgh New and Old Town UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed ...

Calton Hill Calton Hill () is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the cit ...

. He was senior partner from 1869 to 1894 (his retiral). His brothers, John Boyd and Thomson Boyd were junior partners in the firm. The great profitability of this company freed Thomas, enabling him to undertake many public-minded projects. In the 1870s, he transformed the Merchant School system in Edinburgh, combining many functions with the Industrial Schools, and transferring the upper-level education of merchants to

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

through creation of a new Professorship. In the same time period he undertook the raising of funds for, and planning of, a new Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, a nine-year project. In 1871, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (proposed by

Robert Christison Sir Robert Christison, 1st Baronet, (18 July 1797 – 27 January 1882) was a Scottish toxicologist and physician who served as president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1838–40 and 1846-8) and as president of the British ...

). In 1875, he was elected a city councillor (serving the St Leonards district) and in 1877 was made

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 the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the ...

. During this period he instructed major rebuilding of

Docks, including a new deep water wet dock, the Edinburgh Dock, opened in July 1881. He was knighted on 25 August 1881, by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

, during her visit for a large Volunteer review. The knighthood came largely as a result of these several major public works. In 1896, on his retiral, Oliver & Boyd was bought over by

James Thin James Thin was a Scottish bookseller, stationer and publishing company. It was, until 2002, the principal academic bookshop in Edinburgh, with its main premises opposite Old College, University of Edinburgh on South Bridge. It also had branch ...

, but the name continued to live on. Boyd died at home, 41 Moray Place in the west end of

on 22 August 1902. He is buried in Dean Cemetery. The grave lies in the first northern extension to the main cemetery facing its southern path, set in the second row.

Family

Thomas married Mary Ann Ferguson on 6 June 1844. Lady Boyd died on 21 February 1900 at their home in Edinburgh. They had two sons and six daughters. His granddaughter Mary Ferguson Macnaghten Boyd married

Edmund Taylor Whittaker Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker (24 October 1873 – 24 March 1956) was a British mathematician, physicist, and historian of science. Whittaker was a leading mathematical scholar of the early 20th-century who contributed widely to applied mathema ...

and were parents to John Macnaghten Whittaker. His nephew, the son of his brother John Boyd, was Francis Darby Boyd.

Artistic recognition

Boyd was sculpted by

William Brodie William Brodie (28 September 1741 – 1 October 1788), often known by his title of Deacon Brodie, was a Scottish cabinet-maker, deacon of a trades guild, and Edinburgh city councillor, who maintained a secret life as a housebreaker, partly fo ...

in 1871. A second bust by Brodie, carved in 1880, stood in the entrance hall of the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Around the same time a portrait, by Otto Leyde RSA was hung in the Merchant Hall in Edinburgh. A full-length portrait, also by Leyde, is in the possession of

Edinburgh City Council The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland. In its current form, the counci ...

Other positions held

*Master of the Merchant Company of Edinburgh (1869-1871) * Deputy Lieutenant of Edinburgh *Chairman of the Scottish Fisheries Board *Commissioner of the Northern Lights (Scottish Lighthouse Board) (1877-1882) *Commissioner for Scottish Educational Endowments (1882-1889) *Honorary Colonel of the Queens Regiment in Scotland *Curator of

(1879-1885) *Director of the Union Bank of Scotland *Director of the Scottish Provident Institution *

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

*Elder of the United Free Church

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Thomas Jamieson 1818 births 1902 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Lord Provosts of Edinburgh Scottish philanthropists Deputy Lieutenants of Edinburgh Businesspeople from Edinburgh 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century Scottish businesspeople