William McDowall III of Garthland

Major Glasgow West India firm, failing in 1801.

1. The partners of 'Messrs Houstoun & Co.' of Great Britain in 1776 were given as Alexander Houstoun, John Clerk or Clarke, William McDowall [there is lack of clarity for LBS at present in whether William McDowall II or III], Alexander Creighton, James McDowall and Andrew Houstoun.

Douglas Hamilton’s ‘Scottish Trading in the Caribbean: The Rise and Fall of Houstoun & Co.’, in Ned C. Landsman (ed), Nation and Province in the First British Empire: Scotland and the Americas, 1600-1800 (Bucknell University Press, 2001), 94-126. Hamilton in Scotland, the Caribbean and the Atlantic World p. 215 shows Houstoun, Clerk, Crichton & Co. as the London counterpart of Houstoun & Co.

1. Deed of 13/07/1776 whereby William Bradfoot of St Vincent mortgaged 15 named enslaved people to Messrs Houstoun for £300, at 8%, Deed Book 1776-1777, British Library, EAP688/1/1/27, https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP688-1-1-27 pp. 78-81. The mortgage was late increased to £500, Deed Book 1776-1777, British Library, EAP688/1/1/27, https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP688-1-1-27 pp. 433-435.