John Lessels (9 January 1809 – 12 November 1883) was a Scottish architect and artist, active in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

(particularly in the former county of

Berwickshire Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...

Life

He was born and educated in

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, and initially worked for his father as a carpenter on the Raith estate. He joined the office of

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival, often referred ...

(1789–1870), acting as one of his inspector of works until he established his own practice in a flat at 7 St Vincent Street in Edinburgh's Northern or Second

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in 1846. Important commissions included the Walker Estate, the area of the Western New Town developed from the 1850s and the Edinburgh publishing firm of Thomas Nelson by 1860. He was appointed as joint architect to the City Improvement Trust, with

David Cousin David Cousin (19 May 1809 – 14 August 1878) was a Scottish architect, landscape architect and Urban planning, planner, closely associated with early cemetery design and many prominent buildings in Edinburgh, Scotland, Edinburgh. From 1841 to ...

, in 1866, and oversaw the redevelopment of parts of the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

and completion of multiple incomplete schemes in the New Town. In 1858 he moved to 21

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 ci ...

, a Georgian townhouse facing onto Queen Street Gardens, which was his home and office. Among his pupils were David MacGibbon (1831–1902) and

Robert Rowand Anderson Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, (5 April 1834 – 1 June 1921) was a Scottish Victorian architecture, Victorian architect. Anderson trained in the office of George Gilbert Scott in London before setting up his own practice in Edinburgh in 1860. ...

(1834–1921). Lessels was a keen photographer, and was president of the

Edinburgh Photographic Society The Edinburgh Photographic Society is a photographic society based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1861. The society awards medals annually to photographers of excellence. It began in a small back room at 81 South Bridge in rivalr ...

for several years. He also regularly exhibited oil and watercolour paintings at the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

. He was a prominent

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and member of the Old Kilwinning Lodge on St John St off the

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. David ...

. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

. The grave lies in the first northern extension in a north-west section, set back but visible from the main east-west path. His monument is in the form of an unusual sundial and states, wrongly, his date of birth as 1808. It formerly bore his portrait on a photographic glazed tile.

Family life

John's first wife, Mary Henderson (26 June 1808 – 2 January 1858) bore him four daughters and four sons. His second wife was Gertrude A. H. Neffkins (d. 13 May 1884). His first son, also John (1833–1914), partnered his father with a branch office in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. His second son, James (c.1834–c1905?), partnered and succeeded his father, finishing some schemes (such as Royal Crescent) following his father's death.

List of Works

Lessels was a prolific tenement designer over and above his individual "landmark" buildings. His works include: *

Stobo Castle Stobo Castle is located at Stobo in the Scottish Borders, in the Counties of Scotland, former county of Peeblesshire. The building of the present castle began in 1805 and was completed in 1811 under the supervision of architects Archibald Ellio ...

, Peebleshire (1849) *Melville Crescent, in the centre of Melville Street, Edinburgh (1855) *Victoria Primary School, Newhaven, Edinburgh (1861) *Chester Street, Edinburgh (1862) *1–7 Coates Place, Edinburgh (1864) *St. Mary Street and Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh (1866) *1-14 Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh (1874-1882) *4–24, 48–58 Manor Place, Edinburgh (1866–1892) *15–32 West Maitland Street, Edinburgh (1864) *3–21 Palmerston Place, Edinburgh (1870) *Replacement Trinity College Church on Jeffrey Street with a hall (Trinity Apse) attached to rear on Chalmers Close built from stones from original kirk (1877)

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lessels, John 19th-century Scottish architects 1809 births 1883 deaths People from Kirkcaldy Burials at the Dean Cemetery Scottish Freemasons