William Dick

Sir William Dick of Braid (1580–1655) was a 17th-century Scottish landowner, banker and merchant who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh 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 (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. 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 for the visit of James VI and I 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).