James Dick of Prestonfield

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| birth_date = {{circa|1644}}

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| death_date = 15 November 1728

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| nationality = Scottish

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| occupation = Merchant
Lord Provost of Edinburgh

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Sir James Dick of Prestonfield ({{circa|1644}}{{snd}}15 November 1728) was a 17th and 18th century Scottish merchant who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1679 to 1681. He was the first Baronet of Prestonfield and was progenitor to the Dick baronets.

Life

Dick was born around 1644. He the son of Alexander Dick and his wife Helen Rocheid. Alexander Dick was the son of William Dick of Braid, a statesman who was Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1638 to 1640, and who had loaned the city £45,000 in 1646.{{Cite web|url=https://www.prestonfield.com/hotel-in-edinburgh/history|title=The History of Prestonfield House | Scotland's Most Exciting Hotel|website=Prestonfield House}}

File:Prestonfield House - geograph.org.uk - 1599982.jpg

Dick was a merchant and Dean of Guild in Edinburgh. He purchased the Priestfield estate, including Priestfield House, in 1677. In 1679 he was elected Lord Provost of Edinburgh under the title of James Dick of Priestfield, in succession to Sir Francis Kinloch.History of Edinburgh from its Foundation to the Present Time in 9 Books: Book 3 p.227: Civil Government In 1681/82 he was the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst4127.html|title=Sir James Dick from The Gazetteer for Scotland|website=www.scottish-places.info}}

Priestfield House was built by King James IV's printer, Walter Chepman. The house had a history of Catholic sympathy, which was tolerated in the Scottish upper classes despite being illegal. In 1681 the original house was burnt down in an anti-Catholic demonstration, and Dick employed the architect William Bruce to design a new house. The U-plan house, which had a formal garden attached, was not completed and occupied until 1689. It was then renamed Prestonfield House to distance it from the word priest, with its Catholic associations.Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh, by Gifford, McWilliam and Walker James then became known as James Dick of Prestonfield and most records use this term, despite being technically incorrect in his earlier life.

Dick was made a baronet of Nova Scotia at the Union of 1707.{{refn|1=Burke's Peerage states 1677.{{citation required|date=November 2022}}|group=note}} In 1713 he purchased the estate of Corstorphine from Hugh Wallace of Ingliston who had purchased it from the Forresters, the traditional family in that area, in 1698.{{Cite web|url=https://www.clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info/genealogy/TNGWebsite/getperson.php?personID=I38424&tree=CC|title=Sir James Dick, of Prestonfield, 1st Baronet d. 15 Nov 1728 Prestonfield House, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland: MacFarlane Clan & Families Genealogy|website=www.clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info}}

Dick died on 15 November 1728.

Family

Dick married Anne Paterson, the daughter of William Paterson of Dunmure (or Drumure) in Fife.

Their daughter Janet married William Cunningham of Caprington. Their son William inherited the baronetcy in 1728, and readopted the surname Dick (sometimes Dick-Cunningham).{{Cite web|url=https://www.scottishshow.co.uk/history|title = The World Famous Taste of Scotland Show}}

James Dick of Prestonfield

Life

Family

Notes

References

Further reading