Thomas Stevenson

PRSE The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

MInstCE

FRSSA The Royal Scottish Society of Arts is a learned society in Scotland, dedicated to the study of science and technology. It was founded as The Society for the Encouragement of the Useful Arts in Scotland by David Brewster, Sir David Brewster in 182 ...

FSAScot (22 July 1818 – 8 May 1887) was a pioneering Scottish civil engineer,

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

designer and meteorologist, who designed over thirty lighthouses in and around Scotland, as well as the

Stevenson screen A Stevenson screen or instrument shelter is a shelter or an enclosure to meteorological instruments against precipitation and direct heat radiation from outside sources, while still allowing air to circulate freely around them. It forms part of ...

used in meteorology. His designs, celebrated as ground breaking, ushered in a new era of lighthouse creation. He served as president of the

Royal Scottish Society of Arts The Royal Scottish Society of Arts is a learned society in Scotland, dedicated to the study of science and technology. It was founded as The Society for the Encouragement of the Useful Arts in Scotland by David Brewster, Sir David Brewster in 182 ...

(1859–60), as president of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

(1884–86), and was a co-founder of the

Scottish Meteorological Society The Scottish Meteorological Society was founded in 1855 by David Milne-Home with private funding, particularly from wealthy landowners who wished to compile meteorological records in order to improve agriculture. The Society founded the observato ...

Life

He was born at 2 Baxters Place in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, on 22 July 1818, the youngest son of engineer

Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engl ...

, and his wife (and step-sister) Jean Smith. He was educated at the Royal High School in Edinburgh. Thomas Stevenson was a devout and regular attendee at St. Stephen's Church in Stockbridge, at the north end of St Vincent Street, Edinburgh. He lived with his family at Baxters Place until he got married in 1848. He then got a house at 8 Howard Place. By 1855 he moved to 1 Inverleith Terrace. From at least 1860 he lived at 17

Heriot Row Heriot Row is a highly prestigious street in central Edinburgh, virtually unchanged since its original construction in 1802. From its inception to the present day in remained a top address in the city and has housed the rich and famous of the cit ...

, a large Georgian terraced townhouse in

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Stree ...

. In 1869, as a successful experiment into using the newly invented

electric light An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...

for

lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

, Stevenson had an underwater cable installed from the eastern part of Granton Harbour, and a light on the end of the

Trinity Chain Pier Trinity Chain Pier, originally called Trinity Pier of Suspension, was built in Trinity, Edinburgh, Scotland in 1821. The pier was designed by Samuel Brown, a pioneer of chains and suspension bridges. It was intended to serve ferry traffic on ...

was controlled from half a mile away by an operator on the harbour. He examined wind and wave effects, and his analysis is the first quantitative discussion of wave height as a (square root) function of fetch. His paper is one of the first quantitative studies of wind speeds in the

planetary boundary layer In meteorology, the planetary boundary layer (PBL), also known as the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) or peplosphere, is the lowest part of the atmosphere and its behaviour is directly influenced by its contact with a planetary surface. On Ear ...

. Motivated by practical applications, these are fundamental contributions. He designed the

as a shelter to shield meteorological instruments, and this has been widely adopted. He died at 17 Heriot Row in

on 8 May 1887 and is buried in the Stevenson family vault in

New Calton Cemetery New Calton Burial Ground is a burial ground in Edinburgh. It was built as an overspill and functional replacement to Old Calton Burial Ground and lies half a mile to its east on Regent Road in Edinburgh, Scotland, on the south-east slopes of Ca ...

. The vault lies midway along the eastern wall.

Family

He was brother of the lighthouse engineers

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' *A ...

and David Stevenson, between 1854 and 1886 he designed many lighthouses, with his brother David, and then with David's son

David Alan Stevenson David Alan Stevenson (21 July 1854 in Edinburgh – 11 April 1938) was a lighthouse engineer who built 26 lighthouses in and around Scotland. Life He was born on 21 July 1854 the son of David Stevenson and his wife, Elizabeth Mackay. His ...

. He married Margaret Isabella "Maggie" Balfour in 1848, daughter of Rev Lewis Balfour. Their son was the writer

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

, who caused him much disappointment by failing to follow the engineering interests of his family. His wife's younger brother,

James Melville Balfour James Melville Balfour (2 June 1831 – 19 December 1869) was a Scottish-born New Zealand marine engineer. He is best remembered for the network of lighthouses that he designed. Balfour was a highly energetic man, who despite drowning after only ...

(i.e. his brother-in-law), trained under D. & T. Stevenson and then emigrated to New Zealand, where he was first the marine engineer for

Otago Province The Otago Province was a province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The capital of the province was Dunedin. Southland Province split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the province again in 1870. Area an ...

before he appointed Colonial Marine Engineer.

Lighthouses designed by Thomas Stevenson

Gallery

File:Townhouse at 17 Heriot Row, Edinburgh.jpg, upTownhouse at 17 Heriot Row, Edinburgh File:Condensing light. Lighthouse optic, designed by Thomas Stevenson. Chance Brothers and Company, Birmingham, 1866. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.jpg, Condensing light. Lighthouse optic, designed by Thomas Stevenson. Chance Brothers and Company, Birmingham, 1866. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh File:Thomas Srevenson by Sir George Reid 1878 SNPG.jpg, upThomas Stevenson by Sir George Reid, 1878

References

External links