John Steel, writer and clerk to the Jury Court, was resident at No. 5 from about 1823 until his death there on 31 December 1846. He was born c.1880, son of Robert Steel, a writer in Lanark, who also died at No. 5 Malta Terrace, on 25 August 1831. John Steel was described as Assistant to the Clerks of the Issues in 1847. His wife was named Jane, and his daughter continued to live at No. 5 until 1848.