Dick was born Alexander Cunningham at
Prestonfield House,
Edinburgh, the 3rd son of Sir William Cunningham, 2nd Baronet of Lambrughton and Caprington, Ayrshire and his wife Janet Dick, the only daughter and heiress of Sir James Dick, 1st Baronet of Prestonfield, Edinburgh. He changed his surname to Dick on the death in 1746 of his elder brother William, when he inherited the baronetcy and Prestonfield. He was educated at the
Edinburgh High School and studied medicine at the
University of Edinburgh, the
University of Leyden and the
University of St Andrews. He was also a fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and in 1783 was a founding fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh. He is mentioned in James Boswell's
The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson (1785). ==Family==