John Alves Arbuthnot

John Alves Arbuthnot of Coworth House (7 October 1802 – 29 August 1875) was a British banker, co-founder of Arbuthnot Latham, a private bank.

Early life Arbuthnot was born on 7 October 1802 at Queen Street in Edinburgh, Scotland into Clan Arbuthnott. He was the second son of Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet (1766–1829) and Anne Alves (d. 1846). His elder brother was Sir Robert Keith Arbuthnot, 2nd Baronet. Among his younger siblings were George Clerk Arbuthnot (father of Charles Ramsay Arbuthnot), Archibald Francis Arbuthnot (who married Hon. Gertrude Sophia Gough, daughter of the 1st Viscount Gough, father of Maj.-Gen. William Arbuthnot and Sir George Gough Arbuthnot), William Urquhart Arbuthnot (a member of the Council of India) and James Edward Arbuthnot. His father served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh and Lord Lieutenant of the City of Edinburgh.

His maternal grandfather was John Alves, Esq., of Shipland, Inverness-shire. His paternal grandparents were Robert Keith Arbuthnot, FRSE of Haddo Rattray, and Mary Urquhart of Cromarty. Among his extended family were uncles, George Arbuthnot, 1st of Elderslie, and Robert Arbuthnot.

Career On 13 May 1833, Arbuthnot and Alfred Latham co-founded Arbuthnot Latham at 33 Great St Helen's, Lime Street (near The Gherkin) in the City of London. Originally starting as a general merchant business, it soon began involving itself in finance and lending operations. He also served as a director of the London Assurance Company and of the London and Colonial Bank.

A Justice of the Peace for Berkshire, he also served as High Sheriff of Berkshire in 1873.

Personal life In 1832, Arbuthnot was married to his cousin, Mary Arbuthnot (1812–1859), a daughter of George Arbuthnot, Esq., of Elderslie, Surrey, and Elizabeth "Eliza" ( Fraser) Arbuthnot (a daughter of Donald Fraser). Among her siblings were sisters Jane Arbuthnot (wife of George Gough, 2nd Viscount Gough), Laura Arbuthnot (wife of Sir William Fitzwilliam Lenox-Conyngham), and brother William Reierson Arbuthnot. Together, they lived at Coworth Park, Old Windsor, Sunningdale, and were the parents of eleven children: Florence Arbuthnot (1841–1932), who died unmarried.

Descendants Through his son George, he was a grandfather of, among others, John Bernard Arbuthnot, who married Olive Blake (the only daughter of Sir Henry Arthur Blake and Edith Bernal Osborne, sister of the Duchess of St Albans), and Dorothy Gertrude Arbuthnot (who married Brig.-Gen. Hugh Frederick Bateman-Champain).

Through his youngest son Hugh, he was a grandfather of Alice Maud Arbuthnot, who married Brig.-Gen. Sir Dalrymple Arbuthnot, 5th Baronet, parents of Maj. Sir Robert Dalrymple Arbuthnot, 6th Baronet and Sir Hugh FitzGerald Arbuthnot, 7th Baronet.