Background
Born at the farm of Mid Toftcombs in the parish of Biggar, Lanarkshire, Thomas Gladstones was the fourth son of John Gladstones (c1696-1757), a miller and farmer at Mid Toftcombs.
Born at the farm of Mid Toftcombs in the parish of Biggar, Lanarkshire, Thomas Gladstones was the fourth son of John Gladstones (c1696-1757), a miller and farmer at Mid Toftcombs.
In 1746, when he was aged 14, Thomas"s father arranged for him to be apprenticed to Alexander Somerville, a wine merchant in Leith. When Thomas completed his apprenticeship he decided that the corn trade offered better prospects than did wine, and he established himself in Leith as a provision merchant and corn dealer, eventually trading at both wholesale and retail.
John Gladstones also served as an elder of Biggar Kirk. Thomas Gladstones" corn business prospered during the 1760s. His business operated from a shop at the front of his house on Coalhill in Leith.
He also bought and sold grain from the Baltic ports, was an investor in a Leith whaling syndacite, owned a number of trading ships, and had an interest in the sulfuric acid plants at Barrowmuirhead, near Leith.
His provisions business focused on provisioning ships with butter, oranges, wine, vinegar and other goods. He died at his home in Leith in May 1809, aged 86.
He was buried in the churchyard of North Leith Parish Church.