He was born on 7 June 1799 in
Kilbarchan in
Renfrewshire the third son of James Dunlop of
Linwood (1762–1826) and his wife, Bruce Alice (sic) (1769–1855), daughter of Rev James Alice of
Paisley. He joined the family firm of James Miller & Sons (one of the oldest cotton firms in Scotland) around 1813. He was educated at Glasgow High School and spent some time at
Glasgow University (without graduating). In 1829 he purchased the estate of
Craigton in south-west Glasgow. He was elected Lord Provost of Glasgow in 1837 aged only 37, one of the city's youngest Lord Provosts. During his period in office he lived at 86 Miller Street in Glasgow. His was a bitterly contested election which had to be settled by the
House of Lords. In 1854 he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being
John Learmonth his counterpart, being the former
Lord Provost of
Edinburgh. He was later Vice Chairman of the
Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and remained Vice Chairman when it amalgamated to create the far larger
North British Railway. He sold Craigton House to a merchant, Graham Hutchison, several years prior to his death. He died during a visit to
Edinburgh on 10 May 1867 from a "painful internal complaint." His widow moved to Edinburgh where she died on 20 January 1872. ==Family==