Sir Mitchell Mitchell-Thomson, 1st Baronet (5 December 1846 – 15 November 1918) was a Lord Provost of Edinburgh.

Early life

He was born in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, the youngest son of Andrew and Janet Thomson. He was a grandson of William Mitchell (Scottish entrepreneur)

William Mitchell (Scottish entrepreneur)

William Mitchell was a Scottish entrepreneur. He was born in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, the second son of Alexander Mitchell and Janet Barrowman....

 (1781 - 1854).

Career

He entered local politics in 1882 standing unsuccessfully for a council seat in Edinburgh. He finally gained a seat 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 the George Heriot’s School 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

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

. 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

Tariff Reform League

The Tariff Reform League was a pressure group formed in 1903 to protest against 'unfair' foreign imports and to advocate Imperial Preference to protect British industry from foreign competition. It was well funded and included politicians, intellectuals and businessmen, and was popular with the...

 (1900s).

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 Bank of Scotland

Bank of Scotland

The Bank of Scotland plc is a commercial and clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland. With a history dating to the 17th century, it is the second oldest surviving bank in what is now the United Kingdom, and is the only commercial institution created by the Parliament of Scotland to...

, 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

Caledonian Railway

The Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...

 and the London Advisory Committee of the Canada Steamship Line Limited (1917). By 1916 he had acquired over 1900 acres (7.7 km²) of land including an estate in Peeblesshire

Peeblesshire

Peeblesshire , the County of Peebles or Tweeddale was a county of Scotland. Its main town was Peebles, and it bordered Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lanarkshire to the west.After the local government reorganisation of 1975 the use of the name...

 called Polmood

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 dated 1057 to Norman Hunter of Polmood. It was once a...

 which he sold in 1917. He also owned land in Kincardineshire

Kincardineshire

The County of Kincardine, also known as Kincardineshire or The Mearns was a local government county on the coast of northeast Scotland...

.

Marriage and children

He was married twice, firstly to Eliza Flowerdew Lowson in 1876 by whom he had one son William Mitchell-Thomson, 1st Baron Selsdon

William Mitchell-Thomson, 1st Baron Selsdon

William Lowson Mitchell-Thomson, 1st Baron Selsdon KBE PC , known as Sir William Mitchell-Thomson, 2nd Baronet, from 1918 to 1932, was a British politician....

, and secondly to Eliza Lamb Cook in 1880 by whom he had two daughters.

Death and afterward

He died at Edinburgh, Midlothian on 15 November 1918. His obituary appeared in The Scotsman newspaper.

Awards and honors

He was a Member of the Royal Company of Archers

Royal Company of Archers

The Royal Company of Archers is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's Bodyguard in Scotland, a role it has performed since 1822 and the reign of King George IV, when the company provided a personal bodyguard to the King on his visit to Scotland. It is currently known as the Queen's...

. He was elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Royal Society of Edinburgh

The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...

 in 1899. For political and other services he was created Baronet of Polmood 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.