Alexander MacFarlane (astronomer)

Alexander MacFarlane FRS
Portrait by John Vanderbank
Born	c. 1702 Scotland
Died	23 August 1755 (aged 52–53) Jamaica
Occupations	Merchant judge politician planter
Parent(s)	John MacFarlane and Lady Helen Arbuthnot

Alexander MacFarlane, FRS (c. 1702 – 23 August 1755) was a Scottish merchant, planter and astronomer. Born into an aristocratic family, MacFarlane graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1728 and subsequently immigrated to the British colony of Jamaica, where he worked as a merchant and acquired several sugar plantations operated with slave labour.

In addition to stints as a judge and politician, MacFarlane also pursued an amateur career in astronomy in Port Royal and Kingston, using equipment purchased from fellow astronomer Colin Campbell. After his death in 1755, MacFarlane bequeathed his plantations to his brothers and his astronomical equipment to the University of Glasgow, which used it to establish an observatory, naming it Macfarlane Observatory in his honour.