Clerk baronets

It was created in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia by Letters Patent dated 24 March 1679, for John Clerk of Pennycuik (or Penicuik; see Penicuik House).

His father, the merchant John Clerk, had returned from Paris in 1647 with a considerable fortune and purchased the lands of Penicuik in Midlothian.

[1] The 3rd Baronet, James, laid out plans for a new town in 1770, inspired by the local plans for a New Town in Edinburgh which were by then coming into reality.

[2] The rebuilding included a new church, St Mungos, in 1771, reputedly by Sir James himself.

The family are said by Anderson (1867) to date from at least 1180 AD when one of them appeared as a witness to a donation to Holyrood Abbey by William The Lion.