Thomas Coats

In the hands of Thomas and his surviving brother, Sir Peter Coats, the Ferguslie Thread Works became substantial.

[1] Coats in 1868 presented to the town of Paisley a public park, called the 'Fountains Gardens,' as a place of recreation.

He took an interest in education, and in 1873 was elected chairman of the school board, an office he continued to hold until his death.

From 1862 to 1864 he was president of the Paisley Philosophical Institution, and in 1882 he presented to the society the Coats Observatory; he furnished it with an equatorial telescope and other instruments, and provided a residence and endowment for the curator.

He wanted a catalogue of the specimens, and entrusted the work to Edward Burns, a Scottish numismatist.