The eldest son of William Cadell the younger, son of William Cadell, the original managing partner and one of the founders of the Carron Iron, by his wife Katherine, daughter of Archibald Inglis of Auchendinny in Midlothian, he was born at his father"s residence, Carron Park, near Falkirk, on 27 June 1775.
He did not practise the law, however, having private means and the estate of Banton in Stirlingshire. He was involved in businesses, in the coal and paper sectors as well as iron, but only as a financier. He trained as an advocate at Edinburgh University, qualifying in 1798, but never practiced, relying instead on his inheritances.
Cadell spent his time in scientific and antiquarian research at home and abroad.
While travelling on the European continent during the Napoleonic Wars, he was taken prisoner in 1802, and held captive for some years. On escaping he pretended to be a Frenchman on the basis of his knowledge of French.
He was back in Scotland in 1809. Cadell died unmarried at Edinburgh on 19 February 1866.
He is buried in Warriston Cemetery.
He was the great uncle of the geologist Henry Cadell.
Royal Society]
After studying at Edinburgh University, he became, about 1798, a member of the Scottish Barometer He was also a fellow of the Geological Society, a member of the Wernerian Natural History Society, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
