David Stevenson (engineer)
David Stevenson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 11 January 1815 |
| Died | 17 July 1886 (aged 71) |
| Alma mater | Edinburgh University |
| Occupation | Lighthouse engineer |
| Employer | Northern Lighthouse Board |
| Children | David Alan Stevenson Charles Alexander Stevenson |
| Parent | Robert Stevenson (father) |
| Relatives | Thomas Stevenson (brother) Alan Stevenson (brother) |
David Stevenson MICE FRSE FRSSA (1815 – 1886) was a Scottish lighthouse designer, who designed over thirty lighthouses in and around Scotland, and helped continue the great dynasty of lighthouse engineering founded by his father.
Life
He was born on 11 January 1815 at 2 Baxters Place[1] at the top of Leith Walk in Edinburgh, the son of engineer Robert Stevenson, and his wife, Hean Smith. He was brother of the lighthouse engineers Alan and Thomas Stevenson. He was educated at the High School in Edinburgh then studied at Edinburgh University. In 1838 he became a partner in his father's (and uncle's) firm of R & A Stevenson.
In 1844 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being David Milne-Home.
In 1853 he moved to the Northern Lighthouse Board.[2]
Between 1854 and 1880 he designed many lighthouses, all with his brother Thomas. In addition he helped Richard Henry Brunton design lighthouses for Japan, inventing a novel method for allowing them to withstand earthquakes. His sons David Alan Stevenson and Charles Alexander Stevenson continued his work after his death, building nearly thirty further lighthouses.
In 1868/9 he served as President of the Royal Scottish Society of the Arts.[3]
He died in North Berwick on 17 July 1886.
Publications
- The Life of Robert Stevenson (1878)
Family
He married Elizabeth Mackay in 1840. Their children included Charles Alexander Stevenson and David Alan Stevenson.
His daughter Jane Stevenson (d.1909) married William Mackintosh, Lord Kyllachy.[4]
His nephew was Robert Louis Stevenson.
Lighthouses designed by David Stevenson
- Whalsay Skerries (1854)
- Out Skerries (1854)
- Muckle Flugga (1854)
- Davaar (1854)
- Ushenish (1857)
- South Rona (1857)
- Kyleakin (1857)
- Ornsay (1857)
- Sound of Mull (1857)
- Cantick Head (1858)
- Bressay (1858)
- Ruvaal (1859)
- Corran Point (1860)
- Fladda (1860)
- McArthur's Head (1861)
- St Abb's Head (1862)
- Butt of Lewis (1862)
- Holborn Head (1862)
- Monach Islands (1864)
- Skervuile (1865)
- Auskerry (1866)
- Lochindaal (1869)
- Scurdie Ness (1870)
- Stour Head (1870)
- Dubh Artach (1872)
- Turnberry (1873)
- Chicken Rock (1875)
- Lindisfarne (1877, 1880)
References
- ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office directory 1815-16
- ^ BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF FORMER FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 1783 – 2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X.
- ^ BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF FORMER FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 1783 – 2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X.
- ^ BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF FORMER FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 1783 – 2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X.
See also
External links
- Life of Robert Stevenson: Civil Engineer (1878), by David Stevenson. From Internet Archive.
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