Person    | Male  Born 1715  Died 1806

Thomas Braidwood

Categories: Education

Countries: Scotland

Thomas Braidwood

Established an early school for the deaf. Born Scotland. Set up as a teacher in Edinburgh and then, following his successful tuition of a deaf boy, in 1760 he specialised in teaching deaf children, changing the name of his school to Braidwood's Academy for the Deaf and Dumb, the first of its kind in Britain.

In 1783 he moved with his family to Hackney and set up the Braidwood Academy for the Deaf and Dumb at the site of the plaque. His use of sign language lead on to British Sign Language - the British standard. Died Hackney. The school was carried on by his family until about 1810 but possibly moved in 1799.

2019: Via Facebook Linda Levitan informed us that the image we had on this page was of Thomas Braidwood Wilson (1792-1843), Australian surgeon and explorer, distant cousin of our TB. Apologies. We've found another image at Alchetron, which is, we hope correctly, identified as our man.

2022: Raymond Lee informed us that the image we had was actually of Thomas Watkins Ligon, which is confirmed by Wikipedia.  We're beginning to think that there are no images of Braidwood.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Thomas Braidwood

Commemorated ati

Braidwood Academy

Braidwood Academy for the Deaf and Dumb, first school in England for the educ...

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Other Subjects

St Paul's School

St Paul's School

Founded in 1509 by Dean Colet, dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, on the site in what is now New Change. The building was destroyed in the Fire of London, and was twice rebuilt. When the school outgrew i...

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3 memorials
William Cawthorne Unwin

William Cawthorne Unwin

Civil and mechanical engineer.  Born Essex.  1900 he became the first London University professor of engineering. Died unmarried, at his home, 7 Palace Gate Mansions, 29 Palace Gate.

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2 memorials
William Ward (benefactor)

William Ward (benefactor)

Merchant in the City of London. Founded City of London School for Girls. In his will, dated 3 June 1881, left £20,000 to the City of London towards a girls' high school, the residue 'to be applied...

Person, Education

1 memorial
Waltham Forest College

Waltham Forest College

Originally founded as the South West Essex Technical College. It offers a wide variety of courses for students.

Building, Education

1 memorial
William Johnson Cory

William Johnson Cory

Teacher, scholar and poet. Born Devon as William Johnson. As assistant master at Eton College, 1845 - 1872, he composed the words for the Eton Boating Song. In 1850 he published a collection of ...

Person, Education, Poetry

1 memorial