Background
The son of James Tait, a builder in Edinburgh, he was born there on 11 May 1793.
The son of James Tait, a builder in Edinburgh, he was born there on 11 May 1793.
University of Edinburgh.
After a short time at Edinburgh University, he was articled to a writer to the signet. In 1833 Tait was elected to the first reformed town council of Edinburgh, and in the same year was sent to gaol for four days on 10 August for refusing to pay church rates, which were then a target in radical circles. His shop was a meeting-place, and it is told that Sir Walter Scott and Thomas Carlyle were present at the same time without managing to meet.
Tait retired from business in 1848, and bought the estate of Prior Bank, near Melrose, where he died on 4 October 1864.