Patrick Miller of Dalswinton

Patrick Miller of Dalswinton, just north of Dumfries (1731–1815) was a Scottish banker, shareholder in the Carron Company engineering works and inventor. Miller is buried in a tomb against the southern wall of Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh.

Miller was born in Glasgow, the third son of William Miller of Glenlee, and his wife, Janet Hamilton. After attending the University of Glasgow, he decided to take up banking as his trade, since the Scottish economy was growing.

By November 1760 Miller became partners with William Ramsay of Barnton, merchants and bankers, in Edinburgh. In 1767 he was elected to the court of the Bank of Scotland where he implemented a number of reforms, particularly the introduction of note exchange, whereby the bank agreed to accept notes of its competitors. Thanks to his improvements, the bank successfully endured a banking crisis in 1772.

In his final years he served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Scotland, being succeeded by Adam Rolland of Gask FRSE upon his death.

While looking after shipping interests overseas, Miller experienced firsthand the dangers of piracy on his ocean voyages. These brushes with privateers combined with his time on the ocean sparked a lifelong interest in ordnance and naval architecture.

He attempted to interest various European navies in his design for a super warship, but only Sweden showed any notable interest; their great naval architect Chapman called it the "English (sic) sea-spook". The Swedish king Gustav III, as thanks for the actual vessel, Experiment of Leith, that Miller sent him, despatched Miller seeds of the Swede in a magnificent snuff-box, featuring marine illustrations, now in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

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