John Elder was a Scottish marine engineer and shipbuilder. He was born at Glasgow on 8 March 1824. His family was connected with Kinross, where, for several generations, his forefathers had followed the occupation of wrights, for which they seemed to have a special aptitude.

Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland, the third-most populous city in the United Kingdom, and the 27th-most populous city in Europe. In 2022, it had an estimated population as a defined locality of 632,350 and anchored an urban settlement of 1,028,220. Glasgow became a county in 1893, the city having previously been in the historic county of Lanarkshire, and later growing to also include settlements that were once part of Renfrewshire and Dunbartonshire. It now forms the Glasgow City Council area, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and is administered by Glasgow City Council.