Andrew Drummond

Andrew Drummond (1688–1769) was a Scottish banker and founder of Drummonds Bank in Charing Cross in London; now a part of the Royal Bank of Scotland. Andrew Drummond was apprenticed as a goldsmith in Edinburgh but in about 1712 he set up his own goldsmiths business at the sign of the 'Golden Eagle' on the east side of Charing Cross in London. By 1717 banking had been added to goldsmithing and he became goldsmith banker attracted a growing clientele, especially expatriate Scots in London. He was the fifth son of Sir John Drummond of Machany who had been outlawed in 1690 for his close links to the exiled family of the deposed King James II in France. The three eldest sons had died young, the eldest survivor, the fourth son, was William Drummond who came to inherit the Viscountcy Strathallan, as 4th Viscount, from his young cousin, also William Drummond in 1711. His older and younger brothers both took an active part in the 1715 Jacobite rebellion and were made prisoners at Sheriffmuir. This seems to have had little effect on the Drummonds Bank business. In 1716 Andrew Drummond married Isabella Strahan (d. 1731) from which union there was at least one son, John Drummond of Stanmore (1723–1774).