596 Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinburgh. [sess. 
The firm became widely known as publishers of the famous 
Oliver & Boyd’s Almanac. 
In 1869 Sir Thomas was elected to the Mastership of the 
Merchant Company, and it was while acting in that capacity 
that a scheme, drafted by him, was approved by Government, 
whereby the old hospitals of the Merchant Company were turned 
into day schools. Included in this reform was the establish- 
ment, in 1870, of the Chair of Political Economy in Edinburgh 
University. 
In 1875 Sir Thomas entered the Town Council of Edinburgh, 
and two years later he was elected Lord Provost of the city, an 
honour which was repeated in 1880. It was during his Lord 
Provostship that Sir Thomas especially exerted himself in connec- 
tion with the erection of the Royal Infirmary. He acted as 
chairman of the committee which raised the money, amounting to 
<£320,000, for the construction of the new buildings. In recog- 
nition of his efforts a bust of Sir Thomas, subscribed for by the 
public, was presented to the Infirmary ; while for his services to 
the Merchant Company his portrait, subscribed for by the 
Members of the Company, was hung in their hall. 
Shortly after his retirement from the Town Council, Sir Thomas 
was appointed Chairman of the Fishery Board, a post which he 
held for two terms of five years. In 1881 the honour of knight- 
hood was conferred upon him by Her Majesty Queen Victoria. He 
became a Fellow of this Society in 1871. His death took place on 
22nd August 1902, in his eighty-fifth year. 
Richard Vary Campbell, LL.B., Advocate, was born in 1840, 
and died suddenly on the 10th November 1901, aged sixty-one. 
Educated at the High School of Glasgow, and at the University, 
where he had a distinguished career, he afterwards proceeded 
abroad to complete his legal studies at Heidelberg and elsewhere. 
He was called to the Bar in 1864, soon gaining considerable 
practice, more especially in mercantile business from Glasgow and 
the West. Through his intimacy with questions of commercial 
law, he was led to deliver, before the Institute of Bankers, a series 
of lectures upon the “Principles of Mercantile Law.” These were 
published, and a second edition was recently issued. In 1880 he 
became an Advocate-Depute, and in 1890 Sheriff of Dumfries and 
