Alexander Park (died 1570) was a Scottish merchant based in Edinburgh. He and his wife imported textiles and sold wine to Mary, Queen of Scots.

Career Alexander Park owned a house in Edinburgh, and was given permission to build cellars under the roadway in 1556.Register of the Privy Seal, 4 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1952), p. 579 no. 3249. He supplied Spanish iron to Edinburgh Castle in 1553.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, 10 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1913), p. 207. He imported French wine from Dieppe and Bordeaux. In 1564, Park and his servant Thomas Dicksoun supplied barrels of Bordeaux and Vin de Graves for the household of Mary, Queen of Scots.Michael Pearce, "Account of George Wishart of Drymme", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, 17 (Edinburgh: SHS, 2025), pp. 5, 21.

Park was married to Elizabeth Stevenson, who died in July 1569. In early modern Scotland, women did not use their husband's surnames.Jenny Wormald, Court, Kirk, and Community (London, 1981), p. 30.History Workshop, What's in a Surname? Rebecca Mason Her will reveals another significant aspect of their business, listing an extensive stock of imported luxury textiles, which were to be sold to tailors. Their merchant booth contained chamlet fabrics, bonnets lined with velvet, figured crepe velvet, satin, taffeta, counterfeit serge, and dornick linen for napkins. Customers included Lord Fleming and William Maitland of Lethington.Cathryn Spence, Women, Credit, and Debt in Early Modern Scotland (Manchester, 2016), pp. 65–66: Cathryn Spence, "Women, Debt and Coverture in Scotland", Cordelia Beattie and Matthew Frank Stevens, Married Women and the Law in Premodern Northwest Europe (Boydell, 2013), p. 185: National Records of Scotland, Will of Elizabeth Stevinsone 1569, CC8/8/1, pp. 708–713. Alexander Park sold a length of fine lawn linen for the use of Mary, Queen of Scots, in Edinburgh Castle when she was pregnant.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, 11 (Edinburgh, 1916), p. 512.

Alexander Park served as treasurer of the burgh council of Edinburgh and was Dean of Guild in 1564. He was involved in building projects for the town, often in consultation with William MacDowall.James David Marwick, Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 1557–1571 (Edinburgh, 1875), p. 8. In 1552, Park supervised or made an account for building work at the pier at Leith. The structure, continuing the line of The Shore at the mouth of the Water of Leith, was known as the "bulwark". Stone was brought by boat for the work from a quarry at Granton.Robert Adam, Edinburgh Records, 1 (Edinburgh, 1899), p. 80. In July 1557, he viewed the ruinous chapel of St Roque at the Burgh Muir and works at the harbour at Newhaven with MacDowall. In November 1557, he was involved in repairs to the town wall at Blackfriars.Extracts from the records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 2 (Edinburgh, 1871), pp. 7, 12.Sara Stevenson, "The Chapel of St Roque", Astley Ainslie Community Trust In August 1564, Park organised work at Leith to clear the storm damaged harbour.Extracts from the records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 2 (Edinburgh, 1871), p. 178. The Comptroller of Scotland, John Wishart of Pitarrow, gave a tip or "drinksilver" of twenty shillings to carpenters working for Park.Michael Pearce, "Account of George Wishart of Drymme", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, 17 (Edinburgh: SHS, 2025), pp. 5, 33.

In 1554, Park contributed £30 towards a loan of £1000 made to Henri Cleutin, a French diplomat who worked for Mary of Guise when she became Regent of Scotland. For New Year's Day 1555, the burgh council gave Mary of Guise two silver gilt cups bought from Alexander Park and the Flemish merchant Oglier Coqueil. Park's cup cost £42 and was described as a "goblet double overgilt".Extracts from the records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 2 (Edinburgh, 1871), p. 206: Robert Adam, Edinburgh Records, 1 (Edinburgh, 1899), p. 129.

In August 1559, Elizabeth Stevenson settled a business debt to John Cant of Leith. The notary at their meeting on the High Street was Gilbert Grote.William Angus, Protocol Book of Gilbert Grote (Edinburgh: Scottish Record Society, 1914), p. 40 nos. 182, 184.

Another merchant Luke Wilson was town treasurer when Mary, Queen of Scots, returned to Scotland in 1561. Park and Wilson discussed a gift of a cupboard of silver plate for the queen.Documents relative to the reception at Edinburgh of the Kings and Queens of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1822), p. 7.

Park was involved in Edinburgh's Yule or New Year's Day gift to Mary, Queen of Scots, for 1564. The burgh council asked Park to buy wine as a gift at Leith with flambeaux torches worth £20. The plan was changed and subsequently the council asked Park to reimburse the Queen's sommelier Master Louis for three tun barrels of wine and give him enough fine satin to make a doublet.Extracts from the records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 2 (Edinburgh, 1871), pp. 175, 178.

Thomas Dicksoun died at Campvere, the Scottish Staple, in November 1568. He had a large sum of gold, and a shipment of wine worth £160 Scots was on its way. He left his money to his relations and his possessions in his chamber in Park's house, a tin basin and jug, to Park's daughter Elizabeth. Details of the will suggest that Dicksoun was at the point of setting up as a merchant after his years of service with Park.Margaret H. B. Sanderson, A Kindly Place? Living in Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Tuckwell, 2002), pp. 62–63.

Alexander Park died in February 1570. His registered testament includes a stock of textiles, as narrated in his wife's will, and merchandise held by Nicoll Udwart.National Records of Scotland, will of Alexander Park, 1569, CC8/8/2 pp. 102–108.

James Hathoway James Hathowye or Hathoway (died 1579) was Park's nephew, the son of his sister Elizabeth Park. Hathoway was Park's agent in Bordeaux. Some time before February 1574 he married the Edinburgh money lender Janet Fockart.National Records of Scotland, will of Alexander Park, 1569, CC8/8/2 pp. 102–108: Margaret H. B. Sanderson, A Kindly Place? Living in Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Tuckwell, 2002), p. 108: Martin Rorke, "Women Overseas Traders in Sixteenth-Century Scotland", Journal of Scottish Historical Studies, 25:2 (2005), p. 96. Margaret H. B. Sanderson, Mary Stewart's People (Edinburgh: James Thin, 1987), pp. 90, 97.

Margaret Park

His eldest daughter was Margaret Park (died 1569).Michael Lynch, Edinburgh and the Reformation (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1981), p. 295, described as Alexander Park's sister. She married William Adamson in 1566. Adamson was a young man with three legal curators, William Maitland of Lethington, John Bellenden of Auchnoule, and David Borthwick of Lochill. As part of the marriage contract she was given property at King's Cramond.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, 5:2 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1957), p. 50 no. 2639. William Adamson was the heir of his uncle who had been killed at the battle of Pinkie, and he became the laird of Craigcrook in the parish of Cramond. Margaret Park's testament lists the farm stock at Craigcrook. Their children included Elizabeth Adamson who married John Broun younger of Fordell (Perth) in 1581.Robert Riddell Stodart, Memorials of the Browns of Fordell (Edinburgh, 1887), p. 21.

Elizabeth Park and William Napier His daughter Elizabeth Park married William Napier of Wrightshouses in the Grange, Edinburgh, around the year 1570.Henry Paton, HMC Laing Manuscripts in the University of Edinburgh, 1 (London, 1914), p. 254. A stone pediment from Wrightshouses with the date 1570 depicts their conjoined heraldry supported by hands issuing from clouds with their initials "WN*EP" and a Latin motto Ditat Servata Fides which can be translated as "honesty is the best policy". The stone was taken to North Queensferry and used in an archway in the garden of a house called St Margarets. After the structure was demolished the stone was taken to the Museum of Edinburgh at Huntly House.David Masson, Register of the Privy Council, 7 (Edinburgh, 1885), p. 154.John Geddie, "The Sculptured Stones of Edinburgh, 4: Wrychtis-Housis", Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, 4 (1911), pp. 67–68 and fig. 10Dismantling of the Archway at St Margaret's Hope, North Queensferry, Fife Archaeological Watching Brief The carved stone may date from the early 17th century, serving with others as a visual commemoration of the alliances of the Napier family.Charles McKean, "The Wrychtishousis: A Very Curious Edifice", Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, New Series 3 (1994), pp. 113–122.

William Napier and Elizabeth Park had an interest in the salt pans at Newhaven, Edinburgh. The pans were worked by two Flemish contractors Peter Scheves and Jacques Deburtyene (possibly the son-in-law of Adrian Damman). Eustachius Roche or Roog undertook to pay half the annualrent of £20 due to Napier and Park. The money was not forthcoming and there was a court case.Winifred Coutts, The Business of the College of Justice in 1600 (Stair Society, 2003), p. 74, and suggests that Elizabeth Park was a daughter of a Patrick Park.

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