Sir Mitchell Mitchell-Thomson, 1st Baronet,

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

, FSA(Scot) (5 December 1846 – 15 November 1918) was a British merchant and businessman who served as the

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is elected by and is the convener of the City of Edinburgh Council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of ...

1897 to 1900. He was also a Director of the

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial bank, commercial and clearing (finance), clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The bank was established by the Par ...

Life

He was born in

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; , possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where some say it ceases to ...

Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; ; ), or the County of Clackmannan, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, Council areas of Scotland, council area, registration counties, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland ...

, Scotland, the youngest son of Andrew Thomson, a timber merchant, and his wife, Janet Mitchell. He was a maternal grandson of William Mitchell (1781–1854). He was educated at the Edinburgh Institution. He followed in his father's trade as a timber merchant and monies (mainly from his mother's side) allowed him to purchase major tracts of land in

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire or the County of Kincardine, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the stewartry"), is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area on the ...

and

Peeblesshire Peeblesshire (), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a Counties of Scotland, historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lanarkshire ...

. His firm, Mitchell-Thomson & Co, operated from Granton Harbour north of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. He entered local politics in 1882 standing unsuccessfully for a council seat in

. He finally was elected as a councillor in 1890. He served on the city’s Gas, Education and Water Commissions. He was the chairman on the Northhill Soup Kitchen committee in Edinburgh. He was a trustee and chairman for

George Heriot’s School George Heriot's School is a private primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Lauriston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. It was ...

in Edinburgh. He was Provost of Edinburgh (1897–1900) and a JP for Peebleshire. He was also a representative for Edinburgh to the General Council of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

. He served on the committee of the Edinburgh branch of the Navy league in the 1900s. He was not a free trader in that he was chairman of the Scottish Trade Protection Society (1890s) and later the

Tariff Reform League The Tariff Reform League (TRL) was a protectionist British pressure group formed in 1903 to protest against what they considered to be unfair foreign imports and to advocate Imperial Preference to protect British industry from foreign competiti ...

(1900s). He served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1897 to 1900, succeeding Sir Andrew McDonald. As was customary for retiring Lord Provost's, he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

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 Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

in 1900. During this period (1899) he was also elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

. His proposers were Sir John Murray,

Alexander Crum Brown Alexander Crum Brown Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (26 March 1838 – 28 October 1922) was a Scottish Organic chemistry, organic chemist. Alexander Crum Brown Road in Edinburgh's King's Buildi ...

, Robert Flint and Alexander Buchan. During this period he also served as Honorary President of George Heriots Former Pupils Golf Club. He started out a partner in the family timber business and later held directorships at various times in a range of Scottish-based companies (the

, the Scottish Widow’s Fund Life Assurance Society, the British Investment Trust Company Arizona Trusts and Mortgage Company, the Scottish Reversionary Company Ltd.; the

Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was formed in 1845 with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively ex ...

and the London Advisory Committee of the Canada Steamship Line Limited (1917). By 1916 he had acquired over of land including an estate in

called

Polmood Polmood is a small settlement in southern Scotland near Tweedsmuir in the Scottish Borders, in the valley of the River Tweed. Polmood was for many centuries the centre of the Hunter family in the lowlands and the earliest record was a charter ...

which he sold in 1917. He also owned land in

. In later life he was living at 6

Charlotte Square file:Charlotte Square - geograph.org.uk - 105918.jpg, 300px, Robert Adam's palace-fronted north side Charlotte Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site ...

, a huge and prestigious townhouse in the centre of Edinburgh designed by

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

. His "country estate" was

House in

Tweedsmuir Tweedsmuir () is a village and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in Tweeddale, the Scottish Borders Council district, southeastern Scotland. Geography The village is set in a valley, with the rolling hills and burns on both sides, cover ...

. He died at home in Edinburgh on 15 November 1918. He is buried facing the north path of

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in Edinburgh, at the west end of the section closest to the main entrance.

Family

He was married twice: firstly to Eliza Flowerdew Lowson in 1876 by whom he had one son

William Mitchell-Thomson, 1st Baron Selsdon William Lowson Mitchell-Thomson, 1st Baron Selsdon (15 April 1877 – 24 December 1938), known as Sir William Mitchell-Thomson, 2nd Baronet, from 1918 to 1932, was a Scottish politician who served as British Postmaster-General from 1924 till 1 ...

; and secondly, to Eliza Lamb Cook in 1880 by whom he had two daughters. At the time of his first marriage, he lived with his family at 7 Carlton Terrace on

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 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and f ...

Awards and honours

He was a Member of the

Royal Company of Archers The Royal Company of Archers, The King's Bodyguard for Scotland, is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland—a role it has performed since 1822 during the reign of King George IV when the company provided a pers ...

. He was elected to the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 1899. His proposers were Sir John Murray,

, Robert Flint and Alexander Buchan. For political and other services he was created

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in the County of Peebles in 1900. He was a Knight of Grace of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. He changed his surname to Mitchell-Thomson on acquiring the title.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell-Thomson, Mitchell 1846 births 1918 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Knights of Grace of the Order of St John Lord provosts of Edinburgh Directors of the Caledonian Railway Deputy lieutenants of Edinburgh Businesspeople from Edinburgh Members of the Royal Company of Archers Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom 19th-century Scottish businesspeople Scottish justices of the peace Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_Scotland