Robert Blackwood of Pitreavie

Robert Blackwood of Pitreavie (1624–1720) was a 17th century Scottish silk merchant who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1711 to 1713.

[1] In 1681 Blackwood was one of the promoters of the New Mills cloth manufactury in Haddingtonshire which was established with a working capital of £5,000.

He was a member of the committee which recommended proceeding with William Paterson's scheme to establish a Scottish trading colony at Darien on the isthmus of Panama in the autumn of 1697.

[2] The Darien Scheme was a disastrous failure, with many of the colonists perishing and investors losing a fortune in the venture in 1698/99.

[5] Although, unlike his fellow directors of the Company of Scotland, Patrick Johnston and others, Blackwood was not a signatory to the Act of Union 1707 the terms of the Act included the more than dubious agreement to reimburse all losses from the Darien Scheme.