John Clerk of Eldin

John Clerk of Eldin was a Scottish merchant, author, artist, geologist and landowner, born at Penicuik on 10 December 1728 and dead on 10 May 1812. He was the seventh son of Sir John Clerk of Penicuik and a figure of the Scottish Enlightenment. He is best remembered for his influential writings on naval tactics in the age of sail. A friend of the geologist James Hutton, he drew landscapes and rock formations, including illustrations of the geology Hutton described. He was a brother in law of the architect Robert Adam.