12 March 1788 Sheriff Clerk’s Office – £200 Reward “Whereas William Brodie, a considerable House Carpenter and Burgess of the City of Edinburgh has been charged with being concerned in the breaking into the General Excise Office for Scotland and stealing from the Cashier’s Office a sum of money – and as the said William Brodie has either made his escape from Edinburgh or is still concealed about that place – a Reward of £150 is offered for his capture alone and a further £50 for his conviction.”
Well-to-do Edinburgh must have been shocked to read this notice in their morning papers. Deacon William Brodie was an eminent citizen, a member of the Town Council, a skilled cabinet maker and a man of considerable wealth. Surely there must be some terrible mistake? But no, the hunt was on for the fugitive Brodie, a hunt that was to lead to Amsterdam and ultimately to the gallows at the Tolbooth. Brodie's remarkable story of the upright citizen by day and the criminal by night was of course the inspiration for Stevenson’s classic tale of ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jeykll and Mister Hyde. Using contemporary sources this illustrated talk will tell Brodie’s remarkable story.
Eric Melvin is our speaker. Eric graduated with First Class Honours in History and Political Thought from Edinburgh University in 1967. He qualified as a secondary teacher of History and Modern Studies at the then Moray House College of Education gaining a Dip. Ed. in the process and the Staff Prize. Eric later gained an M.Ed. from the University of Edinburgh. He retired from teaching in 2005, working latterly for the City of Edinburgh Council as Headteacher at Currie Community High School. Eric has had several books published by John Murray for younger readers on aspects of Scottish History as well as ‘Discovering Scotland’ for Ladybird. Most recently Eric has had two books published on Amazon – ‘A Walk Down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile’, ‘A Walk Through Edinburgh’s New Town’ and ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’, self-published and written for younger readers and illustrated by Aileen Paterson. ‘The Edinburgh of John Kay’ was published in 2017 and Eric has just finished a book about Duncan Napier, (The Fresh Air of the Summer Morning) the founder of the famous Edinburgh Herbalist business in 1860.
The Edinburgh of Deacon Brodie