Editing Patrick Ferguson (section)

==Early life==
Patrick Ferguson was born at [[Pitfour estate|Pitfour]] in [[Aberdeenshire|Aberdeenshire, Scotland]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Chambers Biographical Dictionary|year=2007|publisher=Chambers Harrap|location=London|url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/chambbd/ferguson_patrick>}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Crystal Reference Encyclopedia|year=2005|publisher=Crystal Semantics|location=West Chiltington, West Sussex, UK|url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/cre/ferguson_patrick_1744_1780>}}</ref> on 25 May ([[Old Style and New Style dates|Old Style]])/4 June ([[New Style]]) 1744, the second son and fourth child of advocate [[James Ferguson (Lord Pitfour)|James Ferguson]] of Pitfour (who was raised to the judges' bench as a [[Senator of the College of Justice]], so known as Lord Pitfour after 1764) and his wife Anne Murray, a sister of the literary patron [[Patrick Murray, 5th Lord Elibank]].

Through his parents, he knew a number of major figures in the [[Scottish Enlightenment]], including philosopher and historian [[David Hume]], on whose recommendation he read [[Samuel Richardson]]'s novel ''Clarissa'' when he was fifteen, and the [[dramatist]] [[John Home]].  He had numerous first cousins through his mother's family: these included [[Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet]], Commodore [[George Johnstone (royal navy)|George Johnstone]], and [[James Murray-Pulteney|Sir James Murray (later Murray-Pulteney)]].