Thomas W. Howie

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Thomas Wyllie Howie, J.P., Esq. was born in Riccarton, Ayrshire, Scotland on 8 April 1856 to Robert and Bethia Howie. He and his wife settled in Falkirk where he became a partner in Campbell & Co Coal Mine and Brickworks, Roughcastle. He later became owner of the brickworks. Howie was a Justice of the Peace and a Stirling County Councillor, Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council, as well as Chairman of the Landward Committee and a member of Falkirk Bowling Club and Falkirk and County Club.

Howie married Barbara Picken and had six children: Margaret, Robert Wyllie, Bethia, Martha, Barbara and Jean. His sons attended the High School of Glasgow and his daughters St. George's School for Girls and his grandchildren either the High School of Glasgow, Glenalmond College or St. George's.

At a Water Board outing he took ill and never recovered, dying in 1927. The local newspaper at the time remembered him as a 'bright and cheery man', and notes that he 'took a deep interest in parochial affairs and was particularly sympathetic towards the deserving poor'. Thomas Howie is buried in Falkirk Cemetery.

On his death, the brickworks business was valued at £12,000, which is equivalent to over £2,300,000 in today's terms (relative GDP per capita).

A street, Howie Place, in Falkirk, is named after him. It is nearby the site of the brickworks he once owned.

• Thomas Howie was the grandson of writer John Howie
• Thomas Howie was the great-grandfather of actor Robbie Coltrane