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.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

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...

Read More

Other Subjects

George Lillie Craik

George Lillie Craik

Born Kennoway, Fife. Literary scholar and writer. Created professor of English literature and history at Queen’s College, Belfast in 1849. Buried at Holywood, near Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Person, Education, History, Literature, Ireland, Scotland

1 memorial
Bedford Charity

Bedford Charity

Created by a gift of land by Sir William Harpur to the corporation of Bedford. A merchant from Bedford he had come to London and done so well that he was Lord Mayor in 1561. The following year he p...

Group, Education

1 memorial
Inner London Education Authority

Inner London Education Authority

When LCC was replaced with the GLC the body responsible for education became ILEA.  Disliked by Thatcher, ILEA survived a number of attempts to abolish it but succumbed in 1990.  Thereafter the loc...

Group, Education, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Wagner School

Wagner School

Private day school for young boys at 90 Queen's Gate, run by Orlando Henry Wagner (1867-1956) and his wife Monica. Operating before WW1 but we can't find start and end dates. An old boy, Michael Ma...

Group, Education

1 memorial
John Runtz

John Runtz

Born at 3 William Street, Kingsland Road. He became a Tunbridge Ware manufacturer, then a music teacher. He broadened his interests to the general education of working-class children and became the...

Person, Education, Gardens / Agriculture, Politics & Administration

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Herbert Whitaker
War dead, WW1
1 memorial