This does not include all gratis burgesses, or even all those who were admitted as a compliment. It is merely a selection among the most interesting. For the most part no reason is given, except that of good services done or to be done to the town. The notes after the names are merely for the purpose of identification, especially among the earlier ones.
| Names, with notes for identification | Date of Vote or Presentation |
| Sir Edward de Boncle, first Provost of the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity, near Edinburgh, for aid and counsel | 3rd Oct., 1459. |
| James Adie, merchant in Dantzig | 8th Dec., 1500. |
| Mr. Gavin Douglas, Provost of the Collegiate Church of St. Giles | 31st Sept., 1513. |
| Sir Patrick Hamilton of Kincavill, Provost in that year | 4th Oct., 1515. |
| Alexander Guthrie, Town Clerk | 10th Jan., 1549. |
| Sir John Bellenden (Ballantyne) of Auchnoull, Lord justice Clerk, for kindnesses to the Town | 29th Oct., 1553. |
| Cleutin, Henri, Sieur d'Oysel, Lieutenant of the King of France and adviser to Marie de Lorraine, Queen Regent of Scotland | 10th Jan., 1558. |
| Sir James Balfour of Pittendreich, Captain of the Castle of Edinburgh and Lord Clerk Register | 23rd July, 1567. |
| Kirkcaldy, Sir William, of Grange, who held the Castle for Queen Mary in the siege of 1571-3. Executed 1573 | 4th Oct., 1569. |
| Mr. John Craig, Scottish Reformer. Sometime Colleague of John Knox, he drew up the Confession of Faith | 6th Oct., 1584. |
| Mr. Alexander Guthrie (2), Town Clerk | 5th Oct., 1598. |
| Sir Alexander Seton, Earl of Dunfermline, Provost | 7th Nov., 159S. |
| George, Earl of Home, for services done to the Town | 16th June, 1606. |
| Dr. Robert Balcanquell, maker of the rules for Heriot's Hospital | 27th June, 1617. |
| Theodore de Mayerne, Physician to James VI. and Charles I. On occasion of King James' return to Scotland | 27th June, 1617. |
| Orlando Gibbons, Organist gentleman of James VI.'s Chapel. On same occasion. One of the greatest of English Musicians | 9th July, 1617. |
| Ben Jonson, playwright | 25th Sept., 1618. |
| James, Marquess of Hamilton, High Commissioner to Scotland 1638, captured after defeat at Worcester in 1660 and executed | 6th July, 1626. |
| Alexander Leslie, later Earl of Leven, General of the Scots Army in the Bishops' Wars | 22nd April, 1640. |
| Mr. Alexander Guthrie (3), Town Clerk | 28th Oct., 1640. |
| John Hampden, English patriot, of Ship Money fame | 22nd Oct., 1641. |
| Major-General John Middleton, later Earl of Middleton and H.M. Commissioner after the Restoration | 3rd July, 1646. |
| Mr. James Gordon, Minister of Rothiemay, who made the plan of Edinburgh in 1647 | 5th April, 1647. |
| David Leslie, Lieutenant-General of the Army, who defeated the Marquess of Montrose at Philiphaugh | 3rd Sept., 1647. |
| Sir Thomas Cunningham, Conservator of the Scottish Privileges in the Netherlands | 3rd Sept., 1647. |
| Peter Jansen, bell founder | 28th Feb., 1649. |
| General George Monck, later Earl of Albemarle, largely responsible for the Restoration. At the time of his burgess-ship he was commanding the English army of occupation in Scotland | 26th May, 1654. |
| Colonel Robert Lilburne, also in command of English troops | 26th May, 1654. |
| Roger, Lord Broghill, President of Cromwell's Council for the government of Scotland | 8th Aug., 1656. |
| John, Earl of Rothes, H.M. Commissioner for Scotland | 12th Oct. 1660. |
| Sir John de Carpenter, son of Sir Peter, Governor of the East Indies under the United Provinces of Holland and Zealand | 31st May, 1661. |
| Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, King's Advocate, author of an essay on Toleration and nicknamed "Bluidy Mackenzie" | 27th Dec., 1661. |
| James Sharp, Archbishop of St. Andrews, assassinated on Magus Moor in 1679 | 27th June, 1662. |
| Sir Charles Erskine of Cambo, Lord Lyon King-of-Arms | 10th Oct., 1666. |
| Sir Alexander Fraser of Dores, Physician to Charles II | 18th Dec., 1668. |
| James, Duke of Buccleuch and Monmouth, natural son of Charles II. The freedom was presented to him in a gold box after his defeat of the Covenanters at Bothwell Bridge. Executed in 1685 after the failure of his rising | 2nd July, 1679. |
| James, Duke of Albany and York (later James VII. and II.), H.M. Commissioner for Scotland | 26th Dec., 1679. |
| Colonel Churchill, Master of the Robes to the Duke of Albany and York | 26th Dec., 1679. |
| Samuel Pepys, Esq., Secretary to the Navy, who came to Scotland with the Duke of York | 10th May, 1682. |
| Sir Robert Grierson of Lag. For whom see "Wandering Willie's Tale" in Redgauntlet | 16th July, 1684. |
| Captain Grenville Collins, H.M. Hydrographer | 4th June, 1685. |
| Sir David Sibbald, Professor of Physic | 4th June, 1685. |
| Mr. David Gregory, Professor of Mathematics in the College | 14th Sept., 1687 |
| Major-General Mackay, who defeated Claverhouse at the battle of Killiecrankie, where the cause of James VII. and 11. was lost | lst Nov., 1689. |
| Edward Lloyd, Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford | 8th Dec., 1699. |
| James, Earl of Dalkeith, by right of his late father, James, Duke of Buccleuch and Monmouth | 19th Dec., 1701. |
| John, Duke of Argyle, who defended Edinburgh against the anger of Oueen Caroline, wife of George II, after the Porteous Riot | 28th June, 1704. |
| Sir George Byng, Admiral of the Blue, later court-martialled and shot for the loss of Minorca | 19th Mar., 1708. |
| Sir Alexander Erskine of Cambo, Lord Lyon King-of-Arms | 27th Aug., 1708. |
| Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, patriot and politician | 18th April, 1712. |
| Duncan Forbes of Culloden, advocate, who in 1746 appealed to the Duke of Cumberland for mercy for the Jacobite prisoners | 24th Feb., 1714. |
| John Law, Lord and Earl of Tankerville in France, Director-General of the Royal Bank and Indian Company of France, and nephew of John Law of Lauriston, the financier | 22nd July, 1719. |
| Mr. Colin M'Laurin, Professor of Mathematics. He helped to organise the defence of Edinburgh in 1745 | 14th Sept., 1726. |
| John Porteous, Captain of the City Guard, whose conduct provoked the riot in which he met his death | 19th June, 1728. |
| Pierre de la Motte, Dancing Master | 3rd Dec., 1735. |
| Sir John Barnard, M.P. for the City of London, for good services to the Town after the Porteous Riot | 15th June, 1737. |
| David, Lord Elcho, son of the Earl of Wemyss. He joined Prince Charlie in 1745, was forfeited and died in exile in Switzerland | 24th Nov., 1742 |
| Hon. Augustus Keppel, Captain of H.M. Greyhound | 23rd Jan., 1745. |
| H.R.H. William, Duke of Cumberland, Commander against Prince Charlie at the battle of Culloden | 3rd Jan., 1747. |
| William Anne, Earl of Albemarle, General of H.M. Forces in Scotland | 3rd Jan., 1747. |
| Rt. Hon. George Beauclerk, Commander-in-Chief, H.M. Forces in Scotland | 10th Dec., 1756. |
| Matthew Bell, Mayor of Newcastle | 14th Dec., 1757. |
| Robert Dinwiddie, late Governor of Virginia | 2nd Aug., 1758. |
| H.E. Baron de Grosvelines, Great Master of the Horse to the Princess of Orange | 15th Sept., 1758. |
| Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia | 5th Sept., 1759. |
| William Franklin, his son | 5th Sept., 1759. |
| Hon. Edward Boscawen, Admiral of the Blue, for victory at Lagos over the French | 28th Nov., 1759. |
| Lieutenant Malcolm Macpherson of Tyoness, for bravery at the battle of Quebec | 23rd Jan., 1760. |
| Tobias Smollet, M.D., Author of Roderick Random, etc. | 30th July, 1760. |
| Francis Garden, Lord Gardenstone, senator of the College of Justice and founder of the village of Laurencekirk | 22nd July, 1761. |
| David Graeme of Gorthy, Secretary to the Queen, Colonel of the Queen's Own Highlanders | 27th Jan., 1762. |
| The Marquess of Lorne, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in Scotland | 9th June, 1762. |
| Rev. George Whitefield, one of the founders of the Methodists | 8th Sept., 1762. |
| Isaac Barrhe, Colonel of H.M. Black Musketeers and Governor of Stirling Castle | 6th June, 1763. |
| Robert Keith of Craig, Ambassador to Vienna and St. Petersburg | 31st Aug., 1763. |
| John Hume, Conservator of the Scottish Privileges in the Netherlands | 6th Dec., 1763. |
| James Mounsey, First Physician to the Empress of Russia | 22nd Dec., 1763. |
| John Wentworth, Esq., of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, North America | 29th Aug., 1764. |
| Count John Baptista Carburi, Royal Professor of the Practice of Medicine at Turin, Member of the Academy of La Crusca, Fellow of the Royal Society of London, M.D., Edinburgh and Oxford, etc. | 26th June, 1765. |
| Dr. John Gregory, Professor of the Practice of Medicine in the College of Edinburgh | 12th Feb., 1766. |
| Mr. Adam Ferguson, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the College of Edinburgh | 7th May, 1766. |
| Dr. Robert Drummond, Archbishop of York | 21st May, 1766. |
| Richard Stockton, Esq., of New Jersey, Councillor-at-Law | 4th Mar., 1767. |
| James Craig, Architect, planner of the New Town of Edinburgh | 17th April, 1767. |
| Rt. Hon. Alexander, Lord Colville, Vice-Admiral of the White | 17th May, 1769. |
| Rt. Hon. Sir Fletcher Norton , Privy Councillor, Chief justice in the Eyre south of Trent | 5th July, 1769. |
| The Worshipful Francis Forster, Mayor of Newcastle | 29th Nov., 1769. |
| Adam Smith, LL.D., author of The Wealth of Nations | 6th June, 1770. |
| Rt. Hon. Simon, Earl of Harcourt | 22nd Aug., 1770. |
| Thomas Pennant, Esq., author of Tours in Scotland | 20th May, 1772. |
| Rt. Hon. George, Viscount Townshend, Lieut.- General of H.M. Forces and Master-General of Board of Ordnance | 13th Oct., 1773. |
| Dugald Stuart, Professor of Mathematics in the College of Edinburgh | 28th June, 1775. |
| Douglas, Duke of Hamilton and Brandon | 30th July, 1777. |
| His Excellency Sir Samuel Greig, Vice-Admiral in the service of the Empress of Russia | 27th Aug., 1777. |
| Rear-Admiral Sir George Bridges Rodney, Rear- Admiral of Great Britain and Admiral of the White, for the victory off Cape St. Vincent | 15th Mar., 1780. |
| Andrew Frazer, Chief Engineer for Scotland | 31st Jan., 1781. |
| Hyde Parker, Esq., Vice-Admiral of the Blue, for action against the Dutch off the Dogger Bank | 27th June, 1781. |
| John Howard of Cardington, Prison Reformer | 31st July, 1782. |
| Hon. George Augustus North, eldest son of Lord North, Lieut.-Colonel commanding the Cinque Ports Volunteers | 30th Oct., 1782. |
| Rt. Hon. Robert Dundas, Solicitor-General for Scotland | 3rd March, 1784. |
| Rt. Hon. Sir Ilay Campbell, H.M. Advocate, arbiter in dispute between merchants and trades in Edinburgh | 3rd March, 1784. |
| Vincent Lunardi of Lucca, the Balloonist | 12th Oct., 1785. |
| John Palmer, Controller-General of the Post Office, London | 22nd Nov., 1786. |
| Rt. Hon. Charles Hope, Lord Advocate | 25th May, 1801. |
| Rt. Hon. Earl of Moira, Commander-in-Chief H.M. Forces in Scotland | 16th Nov., 1803. |
| Dr. Edward jenner, discoverer of Vaccination | 31st Oct., 1804. |
| Dr. John Gilchrist, late Professor of Hindustani at the College of Fort William in Bengal | 31st Oct., 1804. |
| Dr. James Gregory, Professor of the Practice of Medicine at the College of Edinburgh (son of Dr. John) | 7th Sept., 1808. |
| Admiral Sir Samuel Hood | 23rd Nov., 1809. |
| James Neild, Esq., of Chelsea, Philanthropist, for attention to the jail and prisoners of Edinburgh | 28th Feb., 1810. |