File:Edinburgh City Police (8073772530).jpg

English: 100 Reward

Wanted in Edinburgh, charged with having, on or about the 10th June last, forged and uttered bills or promissory notes for large amounts,
DONALD SMITH PEDDIE,
whose likeness is here given, an accountant, 74 years of age, about 5 ft 8 inches high, slender or medium make, sallow complexion, prominent nose, protruding upper lip, peculiar teeth (set like a saw), steel-grey hair, bald on top of head, small side whisker when he absconded about a fortnight ago, neck twisted to one side, leans forward and to one side, one shoulder higher than the other, slightly bandy-legged, slouching gait, furtive look and reserved manner. Scotch accent.

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"The reputation of the practice and financial circumstances of the entire Peddie family were further compromised by John Dick Peddie's chartered accountant uncle Donald Smith Peddie who fled to the USA in November 1882 as a result of the divorce action by one of his clients, and was found to have liabilities of £75,000 and realisable assets of £4,565, chiefly represented by the house the elder Peddie had built for him in Trinity. Peddie's £800 bond on that property was amongst those 'left out of view' and the Peddie family had to subscribe heavily towards the £25,940 missing from the accounts of the Friendly Society of Dissenting Ministers which he had been raiding since at least 1845. Still more seriously Peddie's property, hydropathic and hotel companies all became insolvent from 1880 onwards with frequent calls for more capital. Making money thus became even more important than it had been, and the elder Peddie devoted the rest of his life to developing his international business interests and investments. It was on a voyage encompassing Australasia and the United States to inspect some of these operations in 1885 that Euphemia died and her body was brought home for burial in Dean Cemetery on 31 December. The elder Peddie himself died on 12 March 1891, leaving moveable assets of £26,432 2s 10d, liabilities of £10,002 13s 0d, his houses in Buckingham Terrace and Chalmers Street and the heavily mortgaged office building at 122 George Street. His net moveable estate was calculated at £16,429 9s 10d but because of bonds the net worth of his heritable property interests is difficult to guess." - http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=202322