William Little (or Littil) of Liberton (1525–1601) was a 16th-century Scottish merchant and landowner 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 ...

1586/87 and 1591/92. He was one of the founders of

Edinburgh University 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 1582 ...

Life

He was born in 1525 the son of an Edinburgh merchant and city burgess. He was descended from Edward Little who came to Edinburgh around 1500 as a cloth merchant. At the Reformation of 1560 the family converted to Protestantism. In 1582 Little was one of the founders of

on the site of

Kirk o'Field The Collegiate Church of St Mary in the Fields (commonly known as Kirk o' Field) was a pre-Reformation collegiate church in Edinburgh, Scotland. Likely founded in the 13th century and secularised at the Reformation, the church's site is now covered ...

Church. His benefaction included donation of 300 legal books previously owned by his older brother Clement Little, an advocate who died in 1580. These books created the foundation of the

Library. The site of the original university remains in university use but was redeveloped in the late 18th century as Old College. He was a city burgess in the 1580s and in 1586 succeeded

James Stewart, Earl of Arran Captain James Stewart, Earl of Arran (died 1595) was created Earl of Arran by the young King James VI, who wrested the title from James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran. He rose to become Lord Chancellor of Scotland and was eventually murdered in ...

as Provost. He was replaced in turn from 1587 to 1591 by John Arnot of Birswick, before serving a second term as Provost 1591 to 1592, thereafter being succeeded by

Nicol Uddert Nicholas (Nicol) Uddert or Udward or Udwart or Anglicised as Nicol Edward (c. 1550 – c. 1610) was a 16th century Scottish merchant who served as Provost of Edinburgh in 1592/93. Life He was a son of Thomas Uddert. Nicol Uddert worked for Re ...

. In 1587 he purchased

Liberton Tower Liberton Tower is a four-storey, square-plan tower house in the Edinburgh suburb of Liberton, on the east side of the Braid Hills. History Located in Over or Upper Liberton, it was originally owned by the Dalmahoy family, whose arms appear on a ...

from the

Forrester family The Forrester family is a family in the CBS Daytime soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful''. The Forresters own and run the Los Angeles-based fashion house Forrester Creations. This is a list of all known members of the Forrester family, both p ...

Corstorphine Corstorphine (Scottish Gaelic: ''Crois Thoirfinn'') ( ) is an area of the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh. Formerly a separate village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, it is now a suburb of the city, having been formally incorporate ...

, but found it unsuited to his needs and instead built Liberton House nearby around 1600. Liberton House contains a lintel inscribed "William Litil 1570" brought from an earlier house (probably in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

). On 26 October 1591 Little was appointed to a commission to try, examine, and if required torture people suspected of witchcraft. The others appointees were Sir John Cockburn of

Ormiston Ormiston is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, near Tranent, Humbie, Pencaitland and Cranston, located on the north bank of the River Tyne at an elevation of about . The village was the first planned village in Scotland, founded in 1735 ...

, David MacGill of Nesbit,

Robert Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...

, John Duncanson, and John Arnot. He died on 24 November 1601. He was buried in the then relatively new

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a num ...

in Edinburgh.

Greyfriars Kirk Greyfriars Kirk ( gd, Eaglais nam Manach Liath) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, located in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is surrounded by Greyfriars Kirkyard. Greyfriars traces its origin to the south-west parish of Edi ...

was at that time still unbuilt and the ground was for burial only. Little and others such as

George Buchanan George Buchanan ( gd, Seòras Bochanan; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth century Scotland produced." ...

were some of the graves removed in a purge of monuments in the early 17th century, and stones were thereafter banned in the main grass areas. The new rules only allowed monuments on the outer wall, and this is where Little's descendant, also William Little applied in 1680 to erect a monument, being obliged to create a monument on an outer wall, under the rules. Being also charged 3000 Scots pounds for this privilege, the monument is necessarily grand. The grave is a memorial only as, whilst Little is definitely in the graveyard, this is not the position. He is now mainly remembered for this elaborate stone tomb in

, which was completed in 1683 and is one of the most distinctive in the graveyard. The tomb shows Little lying recumbent, propped by his elbow, under a canopy supported on six Corinthian columns and topped by two female figures (representing Lady Justice and Prudence). Documents mention four figures on the tomb, representing moral virtues. The railings and pillars on the church side are not part of the original design and were added in 1770 to provide enclusue, being designed by

Thomas Sibbald Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

.Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh (section Greyfriars Churchyard), by Gifford, McWilliam and Walker

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little, William 1525 births 1601 deaths Businesspeople from Edinburgh Lord Provosts of Edinburgh Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard Scottish philanthropists