William Brodie was born in 1741 and was one of the most respectable men on this street. A well-regarded cabinetmaker, he was a 'deacon' – head of the guild of wrights – which gave him a seat on the town council. His family had their home and workshops in the close that still bears his name, Brodie's Close.

1The other life

But Brodie had mistresses, several children and gambling debts. His trade gave him a dangerous advantage: he fitted and repaired locks in houses and shops, and took the chance to copy the keys with a wax mould. For years a wave of burglaries baffled the city.

His last job was the raid on the Excise Office in Chessel's Court on 5 March 1788. It went wrong, one of his accomplices informed on him and Brodie fled to Amsterdam, where he was arrested. He was tried and hanged on 1 October 1788 outside the Tolbooth, in front of a huge crowd.

It's said that Brodie had designed the very gallows he died on, and that he tried to survive with a steel collar under his clothes. Neither story is proven.

2Jekyll and Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson's childhood home had a piece of furniture made by Brodie. Stevenson wrote a play about him with W. E. Henley and, in 1886, published 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', the great novel of the man with two faces.

3What to look out for

  • The pub's two-sided sign: the gentleman on one side, the burglar on the other.
  • The entrance to Brodie's Close, across the Lawnmarket.
1788 engraving of William Brodie standing beside a table
Brodie as engraved by John Kay in 1788, the year of his trial.

Documented

William Brodie (1741–1788) was deacon of the wrights and a town councillor; he robbed the Excise Office in March 1788 and was hanged on 1 October that year.

Oral tradition

That he designed the gallows he died on, or tried to survive them with a steel collar, are popular tales without proof.

Sources and credits

William Roughead, 'Trial of Deacon Brodie' (Notable Scottish Trials, 1906); John Gibson, 'Deacon Brodie: Father to Jekyll and Hyde' (1977); The Writers' Museum, Edinburgh, Robert Louis Stevenson collection.

Photos:

  • Black and gold front of Deacon Brodie's Tavern on the Lawnmarket: Andraszy, CC BY-SA 4.0.
  • 1788 engraving of William Brodie standing beside a table: John Kay (ed. William Creech), Dominio público.

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