Departures of note

By day, William Brodie was a respected Edinburgh cabinet-maker and Deacon of the Incorporation of Wrights, a position that also made him a town councillor. But at night, he led a secret life as a burglar, using his trade to copy customers' keys and learn their security systems. He reputedly began his criminal career around 1768 by stealing £800 from a bank, and by 1786 he had recruited a gang of three thieves. His double life funded a gambling habit and supported two mistresses, with whom he had five children.

Brodie's downfall came on 5 March 1788, when he organised an armed raid on the excise office in Chessels Court. The plan went wrong when an official returned unexpectedly, and the gang escaped with only £16. One of his accomplices, John Brown, then turned King's Evidence, revealing the gang's names and a cache of duplicate keys. Brodie fled to London and then to the Netherlands, but was pursued by a King's Messenger and returned to Edinburgh for trial.

At his trial in August 1788, the evidence against Brodie included the testimony of Brown and another accomplice, along with self-incriminating letters he had written while on the run. He was found guilty and hanged at the Old Tolbooth on 1 October 1788 before a crowd of 40,000, including his 10-year-old daughter. A tale claimed he wore a steel collar and silver tube to survive the hanging, but the plan failed, and he was buried in an unmarked grave.

Brodie's double life later inspired Robert Louis Stevenson, whose father owned furniture made by Brodie, to write the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He is commemorated by a pub on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, and his family residence and workshops gave their name to Brodie's Close.