Merchant Company of Edinburgh

The Royal Company of Merchants of the City of Edinburgh, previously known as the Merchant Company of Edinburgh is a mercantile company and Guild officially recognised in 1681, but dating back to at least 1260. The Company, or Confraternity, was created to publicly represent, and protect the trading rights, of the merchants of the royal burgh of Edinburgh. Today, it continues to serve as a forum for businesses people and professionals operating in the City of Edinburgh. It also carries out a significant amount of charitable and educational work.

Along with the Incorporated Trades it forms part the Burgess Association of Edinburgh, an umbrella organisation for the trade bodies of the City of Edinburgh, who are discharged to propose individuals to the Edinburgh Lord Dean of Guild and Deacon Convener of the Trades to be made a Burgess of Edinburgh. Historically this was an important power, as being a Burgess was a necessity for anyone wanting to earn a living in Edinburgh. Both the Merchants' Company and the Incorporated Trades held formal roles within the governance of the City of Edinburgh, and sat on the City Council, until local government reforms in the late 20th century. Since then the public roles of the organisations have pivoted to primarily focus on the civic and ceremonial.

Edinburgh has a long history as a trading city. Prior to the Reformation there was a Guild of Merchants in the city. However, there was a great rivalry between the merchants and the craftsmen of the city, the latter forming the Incorporated Trades in the early 16th century. The Merchants – as many guilds in cities of the time – came to have a significant say in the running of the city. The Trades wanted to share in this power, and "constant bickering" ensued between them and the Merchants, who were unwilling to relinquish any.

In 1583, James IV issued a decree arbitral, sharing places on the town council between the Merchants and the Trades, but giving one more seat to the Merchants. By the late 1670s, the Merchants wished to consolidate their position and petitioned Charles II. In 1681, the king responded by granting a charter creating the Merchant Company of Edinburgh, which was ratified by the Parliament of Scotland in 1693. The 1681 formation had 82 members. Their premises was just west of the Tron Kirk off the Royal Mile. Following the improvements linked to the construction of South Bridge their building was refronted around 1790 when it was newly faced onto Hunter Square.

By 1691, the company had prospered and purchased a new meeting hall in the Cowgate in the Old Town by Magdalen Chapel (the hall was previously the house of Lord Oxenforde and cost the company £670 sterling). The company decorated its hall with 119 animal skins of Black Spanish leather stamped with Gold markings and turned an adjacent waste ground into a bowling green. The building was demolished due to the construction of George IV Bridge and only survives in the name of the street to the south: Merchant Street.

Carola Young later Macaulay was a milliner trading in Edinburgh who paid an annual fee to the company. When she married in 1710 her husband, Archibald Macaulay, was allowed to join because he had married Carola. Carola continued to trade on her own behalf.

Since 1365 the merchants of the city had sold their goods at the Mercat Cross, but in 1760 a new building called the Royal Exchange was opened (intended to rival the Royal Exchange in London), designed to provide a new venue for the Merchants to meet. The Merchants however preferred to meet at the Mercat Cross, and continued to meet at the site even though the original Mercat Cross was demolished in 1756.

The Merchant Company was founded in order to protect trading rights in the City of Edinburgh. In keeping with its guild origins, as its members shared many common interests, it took an interest in the running of the city, covering such fields as taxation, postal services and the city's water supply.