Wealthy Glasgow merchant. The son of a maltman and brother of Andrew (1690 - 1759), Buchanan continued the family business and rose to become a prominent citizen of Glasgow. He was appointed both City Treasurer and a Magistrate. He amassed a considerable fortune and much property in the city, owning most of the land around what is now Buchanan Street and Argyle Street. He purchased the Mount Vernon estate in 1758 and made this his country home.
His son, Andrew (1725-83), was ruined by the crash which followed the loss of the tobacco plantations to the American Revolutionaries, and his land around Buchanan Street, which was named after Andrew when it was laid out from 1778, was sold off.
