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

Lord Provost A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...

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 ...

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

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) was established in 1729, and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest voluntary hospital in the United Kingdom, and later on, the Empire."In Comi ...

on Lauriston Place.

Life

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

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

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

. 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 (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

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 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 ...

(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 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 ...

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

, 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 Ltd was a British bookshop chain, founded by James Thin (Bookseller), James Thin in 1848. It operated for 154 years, during which time it was run by five generations of the Thin family. Starting from a single shop in Edinburgh, it gr ...

, 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 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 ...

. 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 mathemat ...

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

Francis Darby Boyd Francis Darby Boyd Order of the Bath, CB Order of St Michael and St George, CMG Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, FRCPEd (19 October 1866–1922) was a Scottish physician, and Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Edin ...

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 burglar in order to supp ...

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 (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Dhùn Èideann'') is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up area of Edinburgh, capital of Sco ...

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 *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 Deputy lieutenants of Edinburgh Businesspeople from Edinburgh 19th-century Scottish philanthropists 19th-century Scottish businesspeople