Charles Alexander Stevenson MICE MIEE FRSE (23 December 1855, – 9 May 1950) was a Scottish lighthouse engineer who built twenty-three lighthouses in and around Scotland.

Life

He was born at 8 Forth Street in the east part of

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 ...

The family moved to 20 Royal Terrace on

Calton Hill Calton Hill () is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the cit ...

shortly after his birth. Born into the famous Stevenson family of lighthouse engineers, son of David Stevenson and his wife Elizabeth Mackay, brother of David Alan Stevenson, and nephew of

Thomas Stevenson Thomas Stevenson PRSE MInstCE FRSSA FSAScot (22 July 1818 – 8 May 1887) was a pioneering Scottish civil engineer, lighthouse designer and meteorologist, who designed over thirty lighthouses in and around Scotland, as well as the Stevenson s ...

, he was educated at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, is now part of the Senior School. The Junior School is located on Arboretum Ro ...

1866 to 1872 then studied mathematics and engineering at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

where he graduated BSc. He joined the family business of lighthouse design in 1875 remaining unpaid as a family member until 1887 when his uncle, Thomas Stevenson died, after which he became a partner. Between 1887 and 1937 he built 23 lighthouses with his brother, David, and is noted for his experiments with

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultrav ...

. He also improved foghorns and created his own wireless communication system prior to Marconi's wireless. In 1886, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir John Murray,

Peter Guthrie Tait Peter Guthrie Tait FRSE (28 April 1831 – 4 July 1901) was a Scottish mathematical physicist and early pioneer in thermodynamics. He is best known for the mathematical physics textbook ''Treatise on Natural Philosophy'', which he co-wrote wi ...

George Chrystal George Chrystal FRSE FRS (8 March 1851 – 3 November 1911) was a Scottish mathematician. He is primarily know for his books on algebra and his studies of seiches (wave patterns in large inland bodies of water) which earned him a Gold Meda ...

and Alexander Buchan. In 1889 he published an account of recent earthquakes in Scotland, with tabulations and a map, based largely on the accounts of lighthouse keepers. He lived at 9 Manor Place in

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

with

Ernest Maddox Ernest Edmund Maddox (1863 – 4 November 1933) was a British surgeon and ophthalmologist. He was a specialist in abnormal binocular vision and phorias ( heterophoria in particular). He made advances in optical treatments and invented several devi ...

as his neighbour at 7 Manor Place.Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1891-92 He died on 9 May 1950. He is buried in the first northern extension to Dean Cemetery in western

. The grave lies on the north path towards the north-east corner. His son David Alan Stevenson lies alongside.

Family

He married Margaret Sherriff (1863–1945). With her he had two daughters and a son, David Alan (1891–1971), who was the last of the family to enter the profession of lighthouse design. His cousin was

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 ...

, and grandfather was the lighthouse engineer, Robert Stevenson.

Lighthouses of Charles A Stevenson

Killintringan Lighthouse from Larbrax Bay - geograph

* Skroo,

Fair Isle Fair Isle (; sco, Fair Isle; non, Friðarey; gd, Fara) is an island in Shetland, in northern Scotland. It lies about halfway between mainland Shetland and Orkney. It is known for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting. Th ...

(1892) *

Helliar Holm Helliar Holm is an uninhabited island off the coast of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. It is home to a lighthouse, which was built in 1893 and automated in 1967. It is a tidal island that used to be connected to Shapinsay. It is still ...

(1893) *

Sule Skerry Sule Skerry is a remote skerry in the North Atlantic off the north coast of Scotland. Geography Sule Skerry lies west of the Orkney Mainland at . Sule Skerry's sole neighbour, Sule Stack, lies to the southwest; the remote islands of Rona a ...

(1895) * Rattray Head (1895) * Stroma (1896) * Tod Head (1897) * Noup Head (1898) * Flannan Isles (1899) *

Tiumpan Head Tiumpan Head (Scottish Gaelic:''Rubha an Tiùmpain'' or ''Rudha an Tiùmpain'') is the north-eastern end of the Point peninsula on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Tiumpan Head Lighthouse has marked the western limit of The Min ...

(1900) * Killantringan (1900) originally including a gigantic foghorn * Barns Ness (1901) *

Bass Rock The Bass Rock, or simply the Bass (), ( gd, Creag nam Bathais or gd, Am Bas) is an island in the outer part of the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland. Approximately offshore, and north-east of North Berwick, it is a steep-sided volca ...

(1903) *

Hyskeir Hyskeir ( gd, Òigh-sgeir) or Heyskeir is a low-lying rocky islet (a skerry) in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. The Hyskeir Lighthouse marks the southern entrance to the Minch. Geography Hyskeir lies in the southern entrance to the Minch, 10 kil ...

(1904) * Trodday (1908) *

Neist Point Neist Point ( gd, Rubha na h-Eist) is a viewpoint on the most westerly point of Skye. Neist Point Lighthouse has been located there since 1909. Geography Neist Point is the most westerly point on the Duirinish peninsula on the Isle of Skye. It ...

(1909) * Sandaig Light, Glenelg (1910) * Rubh Re (1912) * Milaid Point (1912) *

Maughold Head Maughold Head is the easternmost point of the Isle of Man and the closest point in the Isle of Man to England, being from St. Bees Head in Cumbria. Maughold Head lies in the northeast of the island, some from Ramsey, at the southern end of R ...

(1914) *

Copinsay Copinsay ( non, Kolbeinsey) is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, lying off the east coast of the Orkney Mainland. The smaller companion island to Copinsay, Horse of Copinsay lies to the northeast. The Horse is uninhabited, and is managed a ...

(1915) * Clyth Ness (1916) *

Duncansby Head Duncansby Head ( gd, Ceann Dhunngain or Dùn Gasbaith) is the most northeasterly part of both the Scottish and British mainlands, slightly northeast of John o' Groats. It lies approximately 20 km (12 mi) east-southeast of Dunnet Hea ...

(1924) * Esha Ness (1929) * Tor Ness (1937)

References

http://www.worldwidelighthouses.com/Lighthouses/Scottish-Lighthouses/Privately-Owned/Sandaig {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Charles Alexander Lighthouse builders Scottish civil engineers Engineers from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 1855 births 1950 deaths 19th-century Scottish people Stevenson family (Scotland)