David McLaren was a Scottish accountant and lay preacher who served as Resident Manager of the South Australian Company for the Colony of South Australia from 1837 to 1841.

The South Australian Company, also referred to as the South Australia Company, was formed in London on 9 October 1835, after the South Australia (Foundation) Act 1834 had established the new British Province of South Australia, with the South Australian Colonization Commission set up to oversee implementation of the Act.