John Carlyle (1720–1780) of Scotland was a prominent merchant of Alexandria, Va., and one of the founders of that city. He was a partner in the Alexandria firms of Carlyle & Adam and of Carlyle & Dalton, and was partner for a time with merchant William Ramsay, Sr. (1716–1785). Carlyle participated militarily in the French and Indian War, and later offered political service at the outset of the Revolutionary War. During the former conflict, he served as a major and then colonel in the Fairfax County, Va., militia, and was a commissary or supplier of GW’s troops. Carlyle also handled some of GW’s personal business while GW was colonel of the Virginia Regiment from 1755 through 1758. From 1774 to 1775, Carlyle served as a member of the Fairfax Committee of Safety (see Miller, Artisans and Merchants of Allexandria, 1:59-60).

In 1747 Carlyle married Sarah Fairfax (1730–1761) of Belvoir, and after her death, he married Sybil West.