William Johnstone Pulteney

The Much Honoured Sir William Pulteney, Bt
Portrait by Thomas Gainsborough
Member of Parliament for Shrewsbury
In office 1775–1805
Member of Parliament for Cromarty
In office 1768–1774
Personal details
Born	October 1729 Westerhall, Dumfriesshire, Great Britain
Died	30 May 1805 (aged 75) Bath House, Piccadilly, London, UK
Resting place	Westminster Abbey
Political party	Whig
Parents	Sir James Johnstone Barbara Murray
Net worth	£12.133 billion in 2011 pounds

Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet (October 1729 – 30 May 1805), known as William Johnstone until 1767, was a Scottish advocate, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1768 and 1805. He was reputedly the wealthiest man in Great Britain. He invested in lands in North America, and in developments in Great Britain, including the Pulteney Bridge and other buildings in Bath, buildings on the sea-front at Weymouth in Dorset, and roads in his native Scotland.

He was a patron of architect Robert Adam and civil engineer Thomas Telford.

William Johnstone, as he was born, was the second son of Sir James Johnstone, 3rd Baronet of Wester Hall, Dumfries, and his wife Barbara Murray, the oldest sister of the literary patron Patrick Murray, 5th Lord Elibank.

His older brother was the soldier and politician Sir James Johnstone, 4th Baronet. His younger brothers included the politician and naval officer George Johnstone and the East India Company official John Johnstone. Alexander Murray of Elibank, a Jacobite, was his uncle.

He studied law, became a member of the Faculty of Advocates in 1751, and went on to become an eminent advocate. He lived in Edinburgh and associated with several major figures of the country's learned society, including philosopher and historian David Hume, political philosopher and economist Adam Smith, and architect Robert Adam. He was a brother of Commodore George Johnstone and first cousin of Patrick Ferguson.

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