William Neilson was a 17th/18th century Scottish merchant and mason who served as

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is elected by and is the convener of the City of Edinburgh Council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of ...

1717 to 1719. His term of office was sandwiched between the two terms of John Campbell. He was paid a salary of £300 per year from the City Treasurer Robert Wightman but was also the first Provost who had to swear an oath that he would receive no other monies (i.e. an anti-bribery oath). He was father to the architect/builder Samuel Neilson who designed the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

in 1750.

References

Politicians from Edinburgh Lord provosts of Edinburgh {{Scotland-politician-stub