Robert Blackwood of Pitreavie (1624–1720) was a 17th century Scottish silk merchant who served as

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is the convener of the City of Edinburgh local authority, who is elected by City_of_Edinburgh_Council, the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the e ...

from 1711 to 1713.

Life

He was born in 1642 the son of George Blackwood (d.1666). He was descended from

Adam Blackwood Adam Blackwood (1539–1613) was a Scottish author and apologist for Mary, Queen of Scots. Early life He was born in 1539 in Dunfermline, Scotland, to William Blackwood and Helen Reid. The great-nephew of Robert Reid, Bishop of Orkney (1541-1 ...

through Rev William Blackwood of

Duddingston Duddingston ( sco, Duddiston) is a historic village in the east of Edinburgh, Scotland, next to Holyrood Park. Origins and etymology The estate wherein Duddingston Village now lies was first recorded in lands granted to the Tironensian monks ...

in 1584. in 1695 he was one of the 30 men who set up the "Company of Scotland Trading in Africa and the Indies", generally just called the Company of Scotland. The company is remembered for the disastrous

Darien Scheme The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt, backed largely by investors of the Kingdom of Scotland, to gain wealth and influence by establishing ''New Caledonia'', a colony on the Isthmus of Panama, in the late 1690s. The plan was for the co ...

to colonise

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. All men lost a fortune in this venture in 1698/99. He was Lord Dean of Guild in Edinburgh from around 1700. He was awarded a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

by the

Lord Lyon The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grant ...

in 1704. Although, unlike his fellow directors of the Company of Scotland, Patrick Johnston and others, Blackwood was not a signatory to the

Act of Union 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the te ...

the terms of the Act included the more than dubious agreement to reimburse all losses from the Darien Scheme. Blackwood would have received this enormous compensation in 1707, under the terms of the Act. In 1711 he purchased

Pitreavie Castle Pitreavie Castle is a country house, located between Rosyth and Dunfermline in Fife, Scotland. It was built in the early 17th century, and was extensively remodelled in 1885. The house remained in private hands until 1938, when it was acquired by ...

from

Archibald Primrose, 1st Earl of Rosebery Archibald Primrose, 1st Earl of Rosebery (1664–1723) was a Scottish politician. Son of Sir Archibald Primrose, Lord Carrington, he was a Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland for Edinburgh county from 1695. He was created Viscount R ...

. In the same year he became

. He was succeeded in 1713 by George Warrender of Lochend. Blackwood died in 1720 but the castle remained in his family line until the end of the 19th century.

Family

Around 1695 he married Ann Steuart, possibly his second wife and presumably many years his junior as she lived until 1783. His heir was his eldest son Robert Blackwood (d.1767).

References

1624 births 1720 deaths Lord Provosts of Edinburgh {{Scotland-bio-stub