Sir Thomas Tod was a 15th-century Scottish leather merchant who served four times as

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 ...

. Very little is known of his life but he was probably born around 1450 in

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 ...

. He was a merchant on the upper section of the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

. He served as Provost firstly from 1488 to 1490, succeeding

Patrick Hepburn, 1st Lord Hailes Sir Patrick Hepburn of Dunsyre, 1st Lord Hailes (died 1483) was the feudal lord of Hailes and its castle in East Lothian and a Lord of Parliament. Family Sir Patrick Hepburn was the son of Sir Adam Hepburn of Hailes, Knt. (d. 1446), by his spo ...

. He was knighted at the end of this service and reappears three times on the list of Provosts as "Sir Thomas Tod": 1491 to 1492; 1496 to 1498; and 1499 and 1500. In 1497 his duties included overseeing an epidemic of the "grandgore" (

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

) during which victims were confined on the isle of

Inchcolm Inchcolm (from the Scottish Gaelic "Innis Choluim", meaning Columba's Island) is an island in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. It was repeatedly attacked by English raiders during the Wars of Scottish Independence, and was fortified during both Wo ...

in the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

. His large house gave name to Tod's Close on Castlehill. Following his death, and reflecting its size and grandeur, the buildings were acquired by

Mary of Guise Mary of Guise (french: Marie de Guise; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was a French noblewoman of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine and one of the most powerful families in France. She ...

as her main Edinburgh quarters, conveniently close to

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...

. It extended down the Mound where he had tanneries linked to his leatherworks. He is presumed to have died in Edinburgh around 1510. Persons dying at that time would be buried in the graveyard of

St Giles Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended ...

on the

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

. The graveyard was obliterated to create the High Courts. His neighbour, the lawyer James Jollie, gives his name to Jollie's Close, adjacent to Tod's Close. The final remnants of his house were lost on the construction of New College for the Free Church of Scotland. His descendants included the future Provost of Edinburgh Archibald Tod.

References

Lord Provosts of Edinburgh Businesspeople from Edinburgh 15th-century Scottish businesspeople 15th-century births 16th-century deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{Scotland-business-bio-stub