A Gentleman of Great Enterprise: William Sandeman (1722-1790)

A Gentleman of Great Enterprise is the first biography of linen manufacturer William Sandeman, (1722-1790), a significant figure in the early industrialisation of Scotland, who worked with the Board of Trustees for Manufactures, to improve Scottish linen manufacture. A member of the Perth mercantile elite, he employed 1,000 hand workers in Highland Perthshire and Easter Ross; exporting to Europe, the Caribbean and North America.

A staunch Unionist, he wished to, effectuate a perfect unity between South and North Britain’, and persuaded Richard Arkwright, the English entrepreneur and cotton-spinner, to invest in Scottish mills in New Lanark, and Stanley. Sandeman was a pioneer in the use of water-powered cotton machinery, and with six other partners, held a £1,000 share in the Stanley Company, a total fixed capital of £7,000. He deserves to be better known.