John Clerk (merchant)
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John Clerk (merchant)
John Clerk of Penicuik (1611–1674) was a Scottish merchant noted for maintaining a comprehensive archive of family papers, now held by the National Archives of Scotland and the National Library of Scotland. Background Born in Montrose, he was the son of merchant William Clerk (d.1620), and was baptised by Alexander Forbes, the Bishop of Caithness, at Fettercairn on 22 December 1611. He was a person of great ability and of an enterprising commercial spirit. He settled in Paris in 1634, and, in a few years, acquired а very considerable fortune. Returning to Scotland in 1646, he purchased the lands (see Penicuik Policies) and barony of Penicuik, in Midlothian, which have ever since continued to be the residence and title of this family. Clerk bought paintings in Paris, some from the collections of Cardinal Richelieu, and sold them to William Kerr, 3rd Earl of Lothian. The Earl of Moray was another of Clerk's customers. Newbiggin House at Penicuik Clerk made his home at N ...
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Penicuik
Penicuik ( ; sco, Penicuik; gd, Peighinn na Cuthaig) is a town and former burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk. It lies on the A701 midway between Edinburgh and Peebles, east of the Pentland Hills. Name The town's name is pronounced 'Pennycook' and is derived from ''Pen Y Cog'', meaning "Hill of the Cuckoo" in the British language (Celtic), Old Brythonic language (also known as Ancient British and the forerunner of modern Welsh language, Welsh). History In 1296, Thomas Rymer's ''Foedera'' mentions a "Walter Edgar a person of Penicok south of Edenburgh", which logically can only be what is now called Penicuik. Penycook appears as the name on John Adair's map of 1682 and the ruined old parish church, in the centre of the graveyard, dates from the late 17th century. Penicuik became home to an early paper mill, Valleyfield Mill, which was established by Agnes Campbell (printer), Agnes Campbell in 1709. The Pomathorn Bridge was a toll b ...
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North Berwick
North Berwick (; gd, Bearaig a Tuath) is a seaside town A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the German ' ... and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holiday resort in the nineteenth century because of its two sandy bays, the East (or Milsey) Bay and the West Bay, and continues to attract holidaymakers. Golf courses at the ends of each bay are open to visitors. Name The name Berwick means "barley farmstead" (''bere'' in Old English means "barley" and ''wic'' means "farmstead"). Alternatively, like other place names in Scotland ending in 'wick', this word means 'bay' (Old Norse: vík). The word North was applied to distinguish this Berw ...
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People From Midlothian
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, or legal responsibility. The defining features of personhood and, consequently, what makes a person count as a person, differ widely among cultures and contexts. In addition to the question of personhood, of what makes a being count as a person to begin with, there are further questions about personal identity and self: both about what makes any particular person that particular person instead of another, and about what makes a person at one time the same person as they were or will be at another time despite any intervening changes. The plural form "people" is often used to refer to an entire nation or ethnic group (as in "a people"), and this was the original meaning of the word; it subsequently acquired its use as a plural form of per ...
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17th-century Scottish People
The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 ( MDCI), to December 31, 1700 ( MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized by the Baroque cultural movement, the latter part of the Spanish Golden Age, the Dutch Golden Age, the French ''Grand Siècle'' dominated by Louis XIV, the Scientific Revolution, the world's first public company and megacorporation known as the Dutch East India Company, and according to some historians, the General Crisis. From the mid-17th century, European politics were increasingly dominated by the Kingdom of France of Louis XIV, where royal power was solidified domestically in the civil war of the Fronde. The semi-feudal territorial French nobility was weakened and subjugated to the power of an absolute monarchy through the reinvention of the Palace of Versailles from a hunting lodge to a gilded prison, in which a greatly expanded royal court could be more easily k ...
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Clerk Baronets
There has been one creation of a baronetcy with the surname Clerk () (as distinct from Clark, Clarke and Clerke). It was created in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia by Letters Patent dated 24 March 1679, for John Clerk of Pennycuik (or Penicuik; see Penicuik House). His father, the merchant John Clerk, had returned from Paris in 1647 with a considerable fortune and purchased the lands of Penicuik in Midlothian. The 1st Baronet acquired the lands of Lasswade, Midlothian, in 1700. The second Baronet built Mavisbank House near Loanhead between 1723 and 1727. The 3rd Baronet, James, laid out plans for a new town in 1770, inspired by the local plans for a New Town in Edinburgh which were by then coming into reality. The rebuilding included a new church, St Mungos, in 1771, reputedly by Sir James himself. The family are said by Anderson (1867) to date from at least 1180 AD when one of them appeared as a witness to a donation to Holyrood Abbey by William The Lion. John Scougal is known ...
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Sir John Clerk, 1st Baronet
Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, 1st Baronet (died 1722) was a Scottish politician, created a Baronet of Nova Scotia on 24 March 1679. Sir John was the eldest son of John Clerk of Penicuik and Mary, daughter of Sir William Gray of Pittendrum. From 1690 until 1702 he was MP for Edinburghshire (Lothian) in the Scottish Parliament. In 1700, he acquired the lands and barony of Leswade, near Edinburgh.Burkep. 257/ref> He served as a shire commissioner in the Parliament of Scotland for Edinburghshire from 1690 to 1702. He married twice. With his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Henderson, of Elrington, he had three sons and three daughters including Barbara. His son-in-law, Barbara's second husband, Dr. William Arthur, became embroiled in the Jacobite rising of 1715. With his second wife, Christian, daughter of the Reverend James Kilpatrick, he had four sons and four daughters. He died in 1722, and was succeeded by his eldest son Sir John Clerk, 2nd Baronet. See also *Clerk baro ...
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Trinity College Kirk
Trinity College Kirk was a royal collegiate church in Edinburgh, Scotland. The kirk and its adjacent almshouse, Trinity Hospital, were founded in 1460 by Mary of Gueldres in memory of her husband, King James II who had been killed at the siege of Roxburgh Castle that year. Queen Mary was interred in the church, until her coffin was moved to Holyrood Abbey in 1848. The original concept was never completed. Only the apse, choir and transepts were completed. The church was originally located in the valley between the Old Town and Calton Hill, but was systematically dismantled in the 1840s (under the supervision of David Bryce) due to the construction of Waverley Station on its site. Its stones were numbered in anticipation of rebuilding and were stored in a yard on Calton Hill. Reconstruction did not begin until 1872, when it was moved to a site on Chalmers Close on the newly formed Jeffrey Street overlooking the original site. Early history The church and hospital of So ...
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Mary, Queen Of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scotland, Mary was six days old when her father died and she inherited the throne. During her childhood, Scotland was governed by regents, first by the heir to the throne, James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, and then by her mother, Mary of Guise. In 1548, she was betrothed to Francis, the Dauphin of France, and was sent to be brought up in France, where she would be safe from invading English forces during the Rough Wooing. Mary married Francis in 1558, becoming queen consort of France from his accession in 1559 until his death in December 1560. Widowed, Mary returned to Scotland in August 1561. Following the Scottish Reformation, the tense religious and political climate that Mary encountered on her return to Scotland was further agitated by pro ...
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Jewels Of Mary, Queen Of Scots
The jewels of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587), are mainly known through the evidence of inventories held by the National Records of Scotland. She was bought jewels during her childhood in France, adding to those she inherited. She gave gifts of jewels to her friends and to reward diplomats. When she abdicated and went to England many of the jewels she left behind in Scotland were sold or pledged for loans, first by her enemies and later by her allies. Mary continued to buy new jewels, some from France, and use them to reward her supporters. In Scotland her remaining jewels were worn by her son James VI and his favourites. French fashion and the Scottish queen Mary, Queen of Scots, inherited personal jewels belonging to her father, James V. For a time, the Earl of Arran was ruler of Scotland as regent. In 1556, after her mother Mary of Guise had become regent, Arran returned a large consignment of royal jewels to the young queen in France. Among these jewels was a pendant or h ...
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John Smith Of Grothill
Sir John Smith of Grothill and Kings Cramond (c. 1600 – c. 1675) was a 17th-century Scottish landowner and merchant who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1643 to 1646. Life He was the son of Robert Smith and Gillis Mowbray, a daughter of John Mowbray of Barnbougle. In 1634 he is first referred to as "John Smith of Grothill" in the purchase of the Southfield estate (south of Edinburgh) from William Adamson of Craigcrook (his close neighbour).''Ancient and Modern State of the Parish of Cramond'', by J P Wood Grant alternatively places him at Groat Hall, a mansion to the west near Craigleith. As a burgess of Edinburgh he and one other (Hugh Kennedy of Ayr) were dispatched to London to settle the Treaty of London in 1641. He was also involved in the drafting of the Solemn League and Covenant in 1643. In 1643 he succeeded Sir Alexander Clerk of Pittencrieff as Lord Provost of Edinburgh. The time of this is critical as it immediately precedes Scotland's involvement in t ...
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Dalkeith
Dalkeith ( ; gd, Dail Cheith, IPA: ˆt̪alˈçe is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-century castle (now Dalkeith Palace). Dalkeith has a population of 12,342 people according to the 2011 census. The town is divided into four distinct areas: Dalkeith proper with its town centre and historic core; Eskbank (considered to be the well-heeled neighbourhood of Dalkeith with many large Victorian and newer houses) to its west; Woodburn (primarily a working class council estate with pockets of new housing developments) to its east; and Newbattle (a semi-rural village with its abbey) to the south. Dalkeith is the main administrative centre for Midlothian. It is twinned with Jarnac, France. In 2004, Midlothian Council re-paved Jarnac Court in honour of Dalkeith and Jarnac's long standing link. On the north-eastern edge of Dalkeith at ...
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Dovecote
A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pigeonholes for the birds to nest. Pigeons and doves were an important food source historically in the Middle East and Europe and were kept for their eggs and dung. History and geography The oldest dovecotes are thought to have been the fortress-like dovecotes of Upper Egypt, and the domed dovecotes of Iran. In these regions, the droppings were used by farmers for fertilizing. Pigeon droppings were also used for leather tanning and making gunpowder. In some cultures, particularly Medieval Europe, the possession of a dovecote was a symbol of status and power and was consequently regulated by law. Only nobles had this special privilege, known as ''droit de colombier''. Many ancient manors in France and the United Kingdom have a dovecote st ...
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