Thomas Gladstones (3 June 1732 – 12 May 1809) was a Scottish flour merchant and philanthropist. He was the father of Sir John Gladstone and the grandfather of the British prime minister

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

Early life

Born at the farm of Mid Toftcombs in the parish of Biggar, Lanarkshire, Thomas Gladstones was the fourth son of John Gladstones (c.1696–1757), a

miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalent ...

and farmer at Mid Toftcombs. John Gladstones also served as an elder of Biggar Kirk. Thomas's elder brother, James, was a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

minister and rector of Leith Academy. In 1746, when he was aged 14, Thomas's father arranged for him to be apprenticed to Alexander Somerville, a wine merchant 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 ...

. When Thomas completed his apprenticeship he decided that the corn trade offered better prospects than did wine, and he established himself in Leith as a provision merchant and corn dealer, eventually trading at both wholesale and retail. He died in 1809 at his home on Coalhill in Leith.

Marriage and family

On 21 April 1762, Gladstones married Nelly Neilson (1738–1806), the daughter of Walter Neilson, a merchant from Springfield near Edinburgh. They had sixteen children together, the second-born, and eldest son, being Sir John Gladstones.

Career

Thomas Gladstones' corn business prospered during the 1760s. His business operated from a shop at the front of his house on Coalhill in Leith. Thomas became the lessee of the Dalry paper mill, where he appointed his brother-in-law, James Murray, as superintendent. He also bought and sold grain from the Baltic ports, was an investor in a Leith

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndicat ...

, owned a number of trading ships, and had an interest in the sulfuric acid plants at Barrowmuirhead, near Leith. His provisions business focused on provisioning ships with butter, oranges, wine, vinegar and other goods. Thomas Gladstones was a Whig and an elder in the

. He died at his home in Leith in May 1809, aged 86. He was buried in the churchyard of

North Leith Parish Church North Leith Parish Church is a congregation of the Church of Scotland, within the Presbytery of Edinburgh. It is serves part of Leith, formerly an independent burgh and since 1920 a part of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Building The current ...

References

* Checkland, S.G. ''The Gladstones: A Family Biography 1764–1851'' (1971) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gladstones, Thomas 1732 births 1809 deaths Thomas People from Biggar, South Lanarkshire People from Leith Scottish merchants 18th-century Scottish businesspeople 19th-century Scottish businesspeople Scottish philanthropists 18th-century philanthropists

Early life

Marriage and family

Career

See also

References