Thomas Kinnear


Thomas Kinnear FRSE was a Scottish banker and Director of T. Kinnear & Sons. He was also a Director of the Bank of Scotland.

Life

His father was Charles Kinnear, an agriculturalist in Fife. His grandfather Thomas Kinnear was also a banker and founded T. Kinnear and Sons in 1748. Kinnear’s was one of the few Scottish banks to survive the crisis of 1772.
His company had premises at 9 Royal Exchange in Edinburgh.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1820, his proposer being Thomas Allan.
After his death his widow is listed as living at 44 Melville Street in Edinburgh’s West End.
The National Archives in Kew hold a copy of his will, dated 21 February 1831.
After his death his firm amalgamated with Donald Smith and Son to form Kinnear, Smith and Company. Smith had been Lord Provost of Edinburgh 1807-08. Due to mismanagement of funds this company failed disastrously in 1833/4, leaving debts of £320,000.

Family

His nephew was the lawyer James Kinnear.