James Dick of Prestonfield

Sir James Dick, 1st Baronet (15 November 1728), better known as James Dick of Prestonfield, was a 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.

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. In 1681/82 he was the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh.

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.

Dick died on 15 November 1728.

Family

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