Peter Spalding

Colonial Trader and Philanthropist | Number 1

Peter Spalding was the first person to live in Number 1. As a young man, he followed his father into the jewellery trade.  Then - like many other Scots in the second part of the eighteenth century - he travelled to India to build a trading business. His first fortune in trading goods failed when the ship carrying himself and his (uninsured) goods sank in the mouth of the Ganges.  He went back and prospered, using his connection with the Governor General Lord Cornwallis to become Superintendant of the Calcutta Mint.

He returned to Scotland in 1801, a wealthy man. His fortune was eroded by a lawsuit, but an inheritance from his mother allowed him to buy the Heriot Row property in 1808. He lived a reclusive life, his main interest focusing on science, engineering, drawing and model making. 

When he died, he had in his drawing room five gothic models, four of which were for a national monument to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo. At one stage these were on display in Holyrood Palace. They had to be moved when the Duke of Bordeaux took up residence there and were last known of in the cellars of the Royal Institution. 

The inventory of his goods on his death listed many rich furnishings and decorative features. His wardrobe contained 3 great coats, 5 pairs of pantaloons and coats, 3 pairs of breeches, 12 pairs of flannel drawers, 22 pairs of socks, 10 cotton shirts, 1 flannel gown and 5 night caps, 19 neckcloths, 1 pair of short boots, 1 pair of long boots, 5 pairs of shoes, 4 handkerchiefs, 21 muslin jackets, 8 pairs of gaiters, a hat and box, 5 pairs of nankin pantaloons and 2 umbrellas. A lot of clothes for a recluse!

He died at home aged 68. His large fortune - which included property in Atholl Place, the Grassmarket and West Bow, Anchor Close and Lauriston Street as well as his main house  - was left to the Directors of the Royal Institution 'for the encouragement of the Fine Arts in Scotland, for the support of decayed and superannnuated associated artists'. His money helped Alexander Nasmyth (£60), and Andrew Wilson, who designed the gardens opposite Spalding's house (£100).