Sir Mitchell Mitchell-Thomson, 1st Baronet, FRSE, FSA(Scot) (5 December 1846 – 15 November 1918) was a British merchant and businessman who served as the Lord Provost of Edinburgh 1897 to 1900. He was also a Director of the Bank of Scotland.
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 and Peeblesshire. His firm, Mitchell-Thomson & Co, operated from Granton Harbour north of Edinburgh.[1]
He entered local politics in 1882 standing unsuccessfully for a council seat in Edinburgh. 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 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. 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 (1900s).[citation needed]
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, 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 and the London Advisory Committee of the Canada Steamship Line Limited (1917). By 1916 he had acquired over 1,900 acres (7.7 km2) of land including an estate in Peeblesshire called Polmood which he sold in 1917. He also owned land in Kincardineshire.
In later life he was living at 6 Charlotte Square, a huge and prestigious townhouse in the centre of Edinburgh designed by Robert Adam.[4] His "country estate" was Polmood House in Tweedsmuir.
He died at home in Edinburgh on 15 November 1918. He is buried facing the north path of Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh, at the west end of the section closest to the main entrance.
For political and other services he was created Baronet of Polmood in the County of Peebles in 1900.[7] 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.[8]