Sir William Dick of Braid (1580–1655) was a 17th-century Scottish landowner, banker and 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 the city council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the ...

from 1638 to 1640. His fortunes took him from being "the richest man in Scotland" in 1650 to his death as a pauper a few years later.

Life

He was born in 1580 at Braid Castle, then south-west of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

(now enveloped by the city) close to what is now Hermitage of Braid. He was the son of John Dick and his wife, Margaret Stewart. John Dick had much land in Orkney and had also assembled much wealth trading with

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

.ODNB: William Dick William had an income of £3000 per annum from farm rentals in Orkney. As a banker in 1617 he loaned £66,666 to the treasurer-depute

Gideon Murray Gideon Murray of Elibank (died 1621), Scottish courtier and landowner. Family Gideon Murray was the third son of Sir Andrew Murray of Black Barony, Peebleshire, and Grisel Beaton, a daughter of Sir John Beaton of Creich, Fife. Regent Arran paid ...

for the visit of

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

to Scotland, indicating his enormous wealth and power. In 1639 he loaned the Covenanting Army under James Graham, Marquess of Montrose a staggering £200,000 (£24 million in current terms). He had an Edinburgh townhouse on the Royal Mile between Byers Close and Advocates Close, immediately opposite St Giles Cathedral. Much of this building (which he built in 1630) still survives (behind a new office on Advocates Close) and is known by the name of an earlier occupier of the site as Adam Bothwell's House. Dick would have had offices, his "bank", here at 369 High Street. An interior from around 1630 may have been added by Dick as it includes a built in safe within the timber panelling. He acquired this building from

John Byres of Coates Sir John Byres of Coates (1569–1629) was a 16th/17th century Scottish banker and merchant who served as Treasurer and Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Old Provost for Edinburgh Town Council. Old Provost is the equivalent of Deputy Provost. By ...

, also a banker. He had a large warehouse in the

Luckenbooths The Luckenbooths were a range of tenements which formerly stood immediately to the north of St. Giles' Kirk in the High Street of Edinburgh from the reign of King James II in the 15th century to the early years of the 19th century. They were de ...

close to his house on Byers Close, next to St Giles Cathedral. In 1638 he succeeded John Hay of Lands as Provost of Edinburgh. He was succeeded in turn in 1640 by Alexander Clerk of Pittencrieff. He was knighted in 1641 by

King Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...

, to whom he had loaned at least £20,000. In 1641 he gave 100,000 Scots merks to the Covenanter Army to enable it to continue as a force, and additionally paid for 10,000 soldiers in the Scots army to enforce the Protestant presence in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

. In 1642 he leased the Edinburgh customs house (near the Netherbow) at a cost of 202,000 merks per annum. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

his Royalist sympathies came home to roost when Cromwell's troops camped at the Braid and demanded compensation for his loyalist support. He was forced to pay £65,000 representing the bulk of his wealth He afterwards went to London to try to recover this money. His efforts instead ended with his being heavily fined by the Cromwellian authorities. He died on 19 December 1655. Although some records state he died in prison, he had been confined in private lodgings in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. A collection was required to pay for his funeral and his grave had no stone memorial and is lost. Following his death his Edinburgh property was sold to

John Keith, 1st Earl of Kintore John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

. The Royal Mile house was misidentified as Adam Bothwell's house around 1870 during the renewal of interest in "romantic history" by Victorian writers and is a category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. All that survives of Braid Castle is the

doocot 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 pige ...

and remnant boundary walls and foundations amongst the trees in the Braid Woods. "Provost Dick" is mentioned in

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

's novel ''

The Heart of Midlothian ''The Heart of Mid-Lothian'' is the seventh of Sir Walter Scott's Waverley Novels. It was originally published in four volumes on 25 July 1818, under the title of '' Tales of My Landlord, 2nd series'', and the author was given as "Jedediah Cle ...

''.

Family

He married Elizabeth Morrison. Their children included: * John Dick of Braid (1610-1642), father of William Dick of Braid and John Dick (died 1681), who settled as a merchant in London * Alexander Dick of Heugh (1618-1663), was the ancestor of the Dick-Cunyngham baronets and the Dicks of Prestonfield, including James Dick of Prestonfield, Lord Provost 1679/81 . * Andrew Dick of Craig House, who married (1) Christina Morrison, (2) Jean Leslie, a daughter of Sir John Leslie of Newton * William Dick, 1st Baron of Grange, who married Janet McMath, widow of Thomas Bannatine. Their children included William Dick, 2nd Baron of Grange. * Lewis Dick * Elizabeth Dick * Janet Dick * Katherine Dick married

William Nisbet of Dean Sir William Nisbet of Dean (c. 1570 – c. 1630) was a 16th/17th century Scottish merchant who twice served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Provost of Edinburgh from 1616 to 1619 and 1622 to 1623. Life He was the son of Henry Nisbet of Dean, P ...

Bibliography

Sir William Dick of Braid - imprisonment

*The Lamentable Estate and Distressed Case of Sir William Dick, published in 1657, contains the petition of his family and other papers, the originals of which are included in the Lauderdale Papers, Addit. MS. 23113. His case is set forth in verse as well as in prose, and is pathetically illustrated by three copperplates, one representing him on horseback superintending the unloading of one of his rich argosies, the second as fettered in prison, and the third as lying in his coffin surrounded by disconsolate friends who do not know how to dispose of the body. The tract, of which there is a copy in the British Museum, is much valued by collectors, and has been sold for 52l. 10s. *Acts of the Parliament of Scotland *Balfour's Annals *Spalding's Memorials *Gordon's Scots Affairs *State Papers, Dom. Ser. 1652-3 *Douglas's Baronage of Scotland, i. 269-70 *Notes and Queries, 3rd ser. vi. 457.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dick, William 1580 births 1655 deaths Scottish bankers Lord Provosts of Edinburgh Covenanters