John Coutts (merchant)

John Coutts (28 July 1699 – 23 March 1750). Scottish merchant and banker who became Lord Provost of Edinburgh in 1742.[1]

John Coutts

Life

Born on 28 July 1699 either in Montrose or Edinburgh, Scotland, he was the eldest son of Patrick Coutts, a merchant in Edinburgh and Montrose, with trading interests in New York, Pensylvania, Amsterdam, France and the Canaries[2]. John was born to Partick's first wife, Jean Dunlop,[3] on 28 July 1699.

He started business as a commission agent and dealer in grain. After acquiring capital, he became a negotiator of bills, a business which the banks then neglected.[4]

In 1730 Coutts entered Edinburgh town council, and in 1742 was elected Lord Provost, spending lavishly, and conducting the banquetings in his own home. He held office till 1744, having been re-elected once. He was a patron of the fine arts.[4]

Coutts died at Nola, near Naples, on 23 March 1750, at the age of 51.[5]

Family

By his wife Jean Stuart, who died in 1736, Coutts had five sons and a daughter. Of those sons, James and Thomas were founders of the banking house of Coutts & Co.;[4] two other sons, John and Patrick, survived to adulthood. When John died in 1761, and Patrick became insane, the firm brought in an outsider, Sir William Forbes, 6th Baronet, who had worked in the Edinburgh end of the business.[1]

Notes
  1. Price, Jacob M. "Coutts, John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6468. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. William Forbes of Pitslogo (1915). "Memoirs of a Banking House". p. 24. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  3. "Genealogical Memoirs of the families of Colt and Coutts"
  4. Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1887). "Coutts, John" . Dictionary of National Biography. 12. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  5. William Forbes of Pitslogo (1915). "Memoirs of a Banking House". p. 26. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1887). "Coutts, John". Dictionary of National Biography. 12. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

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