William Chambers

[close] William Chambers of Glenormiston or William Chambers FRSE (1800 - 1883) was a Scottish publisher and politician, the brother and business partner of Robert Chambers. The brothers were influential in the mid-19th century, in both scientific and political circles.

William opened his own bookshop in 1819 on Broughton Street, a historical street absorbed by Edinburgh's New Town and founded the publishing firm of W. & R. Chambers Publishers in 1832. He was a keen advocate of popular education and his firm pioneered the use of industrial technologies of publishing to make print available cheaply. With his younger brother, Robert Chambers, he produced books and periodicals of Scottish interest, such as Gazetteer of Scotland. They also made money in promulgating the many new science discoveries as the modern world emerged from prior modes of thinking in such periodicals as the Edinburgh Journal. Their publishing business prospered, and in 1859 Chambers founded a museum and art gallery in Peebles. The brothers collaborated on the publication of Chambers Encyclopaedia between 1860 and 1868.

As Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1865 to 1869, Chambers was responsible for the restoration of St Giles Cathedral and other major town planning exercises, including the creation of Jeffrey Street, St Marys Street and Blackfriars Street. These streets were all created under the City Improvement Act of 1866.