David Cousin (19 May 1809 – 14 August 1878) was a Scottish architect,

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

and

planner Planner may refer to: * A personal organizer (book) for planning * Microsoft Planner * Planner programming language * Urban planner * Route planner * Meeting and convention planner * Japanese term for video game designer See also * Plan (disambig ...

, closely associated with early cemetery design and many prominent buildings 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 ...

. From 1841 to 1872 he operated as Edinburgh’s City Superintendent of Works (also known as the City Architect).

Life

Cousin was born in North Leith on 19 May 1809, the son of Isabella Paterson (1773-1851) and John Cousin (1781-1862), and was baptised in North Leith Church. Initially he trained under his father as a

joiner Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes (such as laminate), to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, ...

, but went on to study mathematics with

Edward Sang Edward Sang FRSE FRSSA LLD (30 January 1805 – 23 December 1890) was a Scottish mathematician and civil engineer, best known for having computed large tables of logarithms, with the help of two of his daughters. These tables went beyond the ta ...

. He trained as an architect under

William Henry Playfair William Henry Playfair Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town, Edinburgh, New Town and many of Edinb ...

, Scotland’s most eminent architect of the time, leaving Playfair's practice in 1831 to set up on his own. During this time he competed, but was unsuccessful, in the competition to design the

Scott Monument The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It is the second-largest monument to a writer in the world after the José Martí monument in Havana. It stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, opp ...

. He established a partnership with Glaswegian engineer William Gale, and together they won two competitions for the design of the West Church in

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

and the Parish Church at

Cambuslang Cambuslang (, from ) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th-largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a town hall, it may also be cons ...

. In 1841 he was appointed assistant to Thomas Brown, Superintendent of City Works in Edinburgh, replacing him in this role when Brown retired. During the

Disruption of 1843 The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland. The main conflict was over whether the Church of Sc ...

, he left the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

and joined the

Free Church A free church is any Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church neither defines government policy, nor accept church theology or policy definitions from the government. A f ...

, after which he received many commissions for the new churches and graveyards that were necessary as a result of the split. He himself was an elder of

Pilrig Pilrig is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The name probably derives from the long field (rig) on which a peel tower (pil/peel) stood. There is evidence of a peel tower situated on an area of higher ground above the Water of ...

Free Church, which was to his own design and only the second purpose-built church for the Free Church. In the Disruption painting he is shown with John Maitland, holding the plan for the Free Church Offices which he designed and were gifted to the church by Maitland. He lived and worked at 7 Greenhill Gardens in Edinburgh. He employed John Chesser at his City Architect's office at 12 Royal Exchange. He also trained John Henderson,

Robert Morham Robert Morham (31 March 1839 – 5 June 1912) was the City Architect for Edinburgh for the last decades of the nineteenth century and was responsible for much of the “public face” of the city at the time. His work is particularly well re ...

and Morham's brother-in-law, John McLachan. He retired to

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

in the United States and died there in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

in 1878, aged 69. Although buried in the United States he has a memorial 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 ...

where the remainder of his family lie, including his wife, Isabella. The memorial stands on the west side of a north-south path, just north of the large Highlanders monument. His brother, George Cousin (1807-1890) a surveyor, lies nearby.

Family

On 23 April 1838 Cousin married Isabella Galloway (1804-1876), the daughter of a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

. Together they had three daughters however none of them survived to adulthood. David's brother William Cousin (1812-1883) was a minister in the Free Church of Scotland, latterly in Melrose in the Scottish Borders.

Cemetery designs and works

*Mausoleum for Major Archibald Monteath in

Glasgow Necropolis The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian era, Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of St. Mungo's Cathedral, Glasgow, Glasgow Cathedral (St. Mungo's Cathedral). Fifty thousand individuals have ...

(1842) *

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in List of graveyards and cemeteries in Edinburgh, Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and o ...

(1842) *

(1845) * Dalry Cemetery (1846) *

Rosebank Cemetery Rosebank Cemetery is a 19th-century List of graveyards and cemeteries in Edinburgh, cemetery in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the junction of Pilrig Street and Broughton Road in the Pilrig area, close to the historical boundary of Leith. The cemeter ...

(1846) *

Newington Cemetery Newington Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh, Scotland. Technically it lies beyond Newington itself, standing on an awkward elongated kite-shaped site between a railway line and Dalkeith Road, between Prestonfield and Peffermill. History ...

(1848)

Town planning

*East

Princes Street Gardens Princes Street Gardens are two adjacent public parks in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. The Gardens were created in the 1820s following the long draining of the Nor Loch and building of the New Town, ...

: terraces,

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

-pierced

balustrades A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its c ...

and steps (1847) *Layout of the villas in the

Grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * The Grange (Toronto), Toronto, Ontario, built in 1817 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to ...

estate (1851) *Layout of the villas in the Mayfield estate (1862) *St Mary Street Improvement Plan (1868) and detailed design of north-east quarter (1869) *Blackfriars Street Improvement Plan (1868) *Jeffrey Street (1868) *Chambers Street (1868) *West Savile Road (1877)

Churches for the Free Church

Many of these were done to a standard plan as "temporary" solutions which were later replaced. *

Auchterarder Auchterarder (; , meaning Upper Highland) is a town north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the Gleneagles Hotel. The High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "The Lang Toun" or Long Town. The ...

(1843) *

Cramond Cramond Village (; ) is a village and suburb in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth. The Cramond area has evidence of Mesolithic, Bronze Age and Roman activity. In modern ...

(1843) *

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 ...

(1843) *

Newington, Edinburgh Newington is a neighbourhood of southern Edinburgh, Scotland. Developed from the early 19th century, it is an affluent, predominantly residential area. Located between south of Edinburgh city centre, Newington is bounded to the east by St Leo ...

(1843) *Pathhead, Kirkcaldy (1843) *St Andrews, Edinburgh (1843) *St Devenick’s,

Banchory Banchory (, , ) is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, historically in Kincardineshire, Scotland. It is about west of Aberdeen, near where the Feugh River meets the River Dee. Prehistory and archaeology In 2009, a farmer discovered a short ...

(1843) *St Georges, Lothian Road, Edinburgh (1843) * Borgue,

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ) or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the Counties of Scotland, historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an ...

(1843) *

Dean Village Dean Village (from ''dene'', meaning 'deep valley') is a former village immediately northwest of the city centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is bounded by Belford Road to the south and west, Belgrave Crescent Gardens to the north and below the ...

, Edinburgh (1844) *

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

(1844) *Roseneath,

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...

(1844) *

Saltcoats Saltcoats (; Scots: ''Saulcuts'') is a town on the west coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. The name is derived from the town's earliest industry when salt was harvested from the sea water of the Firth of Clyde, carried out in small cottages ...

(1844) *

Kinghorn Kinghorn (; ) is a town and parish in Fife, Scotland. A seaside resort with two beaches, Kinghorn Beach and Pettycur Bay, plus a fishing port, it stands on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, opposite Edinburgh. Known as the place where K ...

(1845) *

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

(1846) *Free Church Offices (their base) on the Mound in Edinburgh (1858)

Other works

Parish Church (1839) *Kingston Church,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

(1839) *

Olrig Olrig is a parish in Caithness, Scotland. The main settlement in the parish is Castletown. Prior to the 19th century, the parish was sub-divided into ten townlands or "fermlands". Townland boundaries were mostly disregarded and lost during the a ...

Parish Church,

Caithness Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Scotland. There are two towns, being Wick, Caithness, Wick, which was the county town, and Thurso. The count ...

(1840) *

Chirnside Chirnside is a hillside village in Berwickshire, Scotland, west of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and east of Duns, Scottish Borders, Duns. Church The parish church at Chirnside dates from the 12th century. It was substantially rebuilt in 1878 and ...

Bridge Paper Mills (1842) * Dalrymple Church,

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

(1849) *Villa at 7 Greenhill Gardens (1849) (for his own home) * Dalkeith Corn Exchange (1853) * Kelso Corn Exchange (1855) *Curriehill House near Currie, Edinburgh (1856) *The

Reid School of Music The Reid Concert Hall is a small music venue in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located in the south-western corner of Bristo Square about south of the Royal Mile, and is part of the University of Edinburgh. Originally opened in 1859 as ...

, Edinburgh (1859) * St Catharine's Convent, Lauriston Gardens, Edinburgh (1860)St Catharine's Convent, 4 Lauriston Gardens
from British Listed Buildings, 17 September 2022 * Melrose Corn Exchange (1862) *The India Buildings (at head of Victoria Street) (1862) * Campbeltown Sheriff Court (1871)

Unbuilt competition entries

(1837)

References

Citations

Sources

* *''Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh'' by John Gifford, Colin McWilliam, David Walker *''Buildings of Scotland: Lothian''; by Colin McWilliam

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cousin, David 1809 births 1878 deaths 19th-century Scottish architects People from Leith Scottish landscape architects Scottish urban planners Free Church of Scotland people