The business grew rapidly and Dale became a wealthy merchant in the city. In 1777, at the age of 38, he married 24 year old Anne Caroline (Carolina) Campbell, whose late father had been the Chief Executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland. A wealthy merchant needed a suitable house and in 1783 Dale had a grand mansion built in Glasgow’s fashionable Charlotte Street. The couple were together for 14 years until the untimely death of Carolina. During that period, she bore him nine children, four of whom, including their only son, died in infancy. Their first born – also named Anne Caroline – later became Mrs Robert Owen.