Sir William Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet of Edinburgh FRSE (24 December 1766 – 18 September 1829) was a Scottish landowner and politician.

[1] William was the son of Robert Keith Arbuthnot, 2nd of Haddo Rattray (1728–1803), and Mary Urquhart of Cromarty.

[2] Arbuthnot managed a plantation on the island of Carriacou, in the Grenadines, on behalf of his uncle, William Urquhart of Craigston.

On the death of his father, he became Secretary of the Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of the Manufactures and Fisheries of Scotland,[5][6] a post later held by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bt.

[7] Traditionally a knighthood was conferred on Lord Provosts[citation needed], but Arbuthnot was created a baronet on 24 August 1822 (by Letters Patent on 3 April 1823) on the occasion of a banquet given by the Magistrates and Town Council of Edinburgh in honour of King George IV during his visit to Edinburgh.