George Goldie - Secretary of the British Linen Company
Biography
Birth: n/a
Death: n/a
Son of Alexander Goldie. He possibly married (1779) to Sophia M'Douall.1 Goldie was the Secretary (then Manager) of the British Linen Bank (1759-1785) and Keeper of the Linen Hall. There appears to have been some family connection between Goldie and the Heron family at Kirroughtrie,2 and Boswell, in his journal, tells us, that he was educated with Patrick Heron.
Life with James Boswell
Boswell met Goldie at Patrick Heron's on September 18, 1762. Boswell thought him "a neat young man, very cheerful and very friendly". He is probably the same Mr. Goldie who came to William Maxwell's Springkell during Boswell's stay there on October 8 of that same year. Boswell had supper at Goldie's place in Edinburgh on October 27.
Notes
Note 1: A Goldie, Mr. George, merchant was married in Edinburgh on July 10, 1779 to Mrs. Sophia M'Douall, widow of deceased Capt. Osborne according to the Register of Marriages of the City of Edinburgh. 1751-1800. I can't be certain that this is the same Mr. Goldie referred to by Boswell. but no other merchants by that name appear in the trade directories of the time in Edinburgh (or any other places, apparently).
Note 2: Lee, T. A. (2006) Seekers of Truth. JAI press. p. 121
Note 3: 1782 was the last year he appeared as a merchant at British Linen Hall (the Edinburgh HQ of the British Linen Company) in Williamson's Directory for the City of Edinburgh, Canongate, Leith, and Suburbs
Recommended literature
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