Board of Manufactures

The board was established in 1727, with the purpose of dispersing grants to encourage the growth of the fishing and manufacturing industries.

The board had established the Trustees Drawing Academy of Edinburgh in 1760, to improve industrial design, and in 1906 the board's remaining functions were transferred to the trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland by the National Galleries of Scotland Act.

[4] Encouraged and subsidized by the board of trustees so it could compete with German products, merchant entrepreneurs became dominant in all stages of linen manufacturing and built up the market share of Scottish linens, especially in the American colonial market.

[7] Glasgow would soon follow and Scotland had a flourishing financial system by the end of the century.

Historians often emphasise that the flexibility and dynamism of the Scottish banking system contributed significantly to the rapid development of the economy in the 19th century.

The Royal Institution, Edinburgh (now the Royal Scottish Academy building ), was commissioned and owned by the Board of Manufactures. It served as the head office of the board from 1826 until its demise in 1906, and as home to several learned societies.