Robert Matheson (1808–1877) was a Scottish architect operating for some time as Clerk of Works for Scotland and playing a major design role in many buildings, especially within

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 ...

. He was a great master of the Italian Renaissance style.

Life

Robert Matheson was born on 15 August 1808 (date on his tombstone, illustrated in this article) in

Tain Tain ( ) is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. Etymology The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The Gaelic n ...

in the far north of Scotland, which explains later links to this otherwise remote location (see Works). He was the son of James Matheson, a

cabinet maker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (solid ...

, and Alexie Urquhart.

Dictionary of Scottish Architects The Dictionary of Scottish Architects is a publicly available online database that provides biographical information about all architects known to have worked in Scotland between 1660 and 1980, and lists their works. Launched in 2006, it was comp ...

Robert Matheson
/ref> The mother’s name might be wrong as it is curiously similar to the name of Matheson's wife, Alexa Urquhart (1812 - 1897, also mentioned on the tomb stone), or it could be a strange but not impossible coincidence: Matheson could easily have married a cousin, who, given the traditional adherence to a recurring set of

first name First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared an ...

s within a family or

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

, might well have had a name similar to his mother's. In any case, other sources identifying the architect in question as a Robert Matheson, born 29 November 1807 in

, the son of Robert Matheson and Elizabeth Fraser, are discredited by the inscription on the tomb stone. Early life is unclear but in 1828 he became apprenticed to Robert Reid, one of the foremost Edinburgh architects of the period. In 1848 through a series of events he came to be appointed Clerk of Works for Scotland, a very prestigious role. The role was later renamed Principal Architect and Surveyor for Scotland. In later life he helped to train James Graham Fairley. He died at home, 25 Abercromby Place in

and is buried in the

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 ...

. His stone is fairly elaborate with angels on its shoulders and in a Gothic style very distant from his own style. He is buried with his children (three of whom died very young) and his wife Alexa Urquhart (1812-1897). It lies in the north-west section of the original section, just west of Sir Thomas Bouch's grave. His role as Principal Architect and Surveyor was filled by

Walter W. Robertson Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...

Principal works

*Restoration of

Dunfermline Abbey Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland parish church in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The church occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts of a large medieval Benedictine abbey, which was confiscated and sacked in 1560 during the S ...

(1845) *Restoration of

Paisley Abbey Paisley Abbey is a parish church of the Church of Scotland on the east bank of the River Cart, White Cart Water in the centre of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, about west of Glasgow, in Scotland. Its origins date from the 12th century, base ...

(c.1850) *Restoration of

Glasgow Cathedral Glasgow Cathedral () is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Glasgow, and the mother church of the Archdiocese of Glasgow and the province of Glasgow, from the 12th ...

(1848–55) *Lodge (now visitor centre) at

Linlithgow Palace The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are located in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland in the 15th and 16th ce ...

(1850) *Restoration of

Fortrose Cathedral Fortrose Cathedral was the Cathedral, episcopal seat (''cathedra'') of the Christianity in medieval Scotland, medieval Scottish Diocese of Ross (Scotland), diocese of Ross in the Highland region of Scotland near the city of Inverness. It is prob ...

(1853) *Palm House in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh (1854) *Refitting of Throne Room at

Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood has s ...

(1855) *Remodelling of Perth Prison (1857) *Lodges and cottages in

Holyrood Park Holyrood Park (also called the King's Park or Queen's Park depending on the reigning monarch's gender) is a royal park in central Edinburgh, Scotland about to the east of Edinburgh Castle. It is open to the public. It has an array of hills, lo ...

(1857) (as instructed by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

) *Law Room, Supreme Courts of Scotland,

Parliament House, Edinburgh Parliament House (), located in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a historic Parliament building, parliament and Courthouse, court building containing several buildings which now houses the Supreme Courts of Scotland ...

(1857) * New Register House (Sasine Office) Edinburgh (1857-60) *Central courtyard fountain,

(1858) *General Post Office,

(1859) * King’s College, Aberdeen (1859) (library added 1868) *Restoration of St Duthac’s Church,

(1859) *Internal replanning and new stable block, gatehouse and guardroom

(1860-1) *Head Post Office,

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 ...

(1861) *Restoration of St Salvator’s Chapel, University of St. Andrews (1861) *Redesign of central garden in

Charlotte Square file:Charlotte Square - geograph.org.uk - 105918.jpg, 300px, Robert Adam's palace-fronted north side Charlotte Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site ...

, changing from circular to square form, including new

tree planting Tree planting is the process of transplanting tree seedlings, generally for forestry, land reclamation, or landscaping purposes. It differs from the transplantation of larger trees in arboriculture and from the lower-cost but slower and les ...

and a memorial to Prince Albert in the centre (1861 but not built until 1873) *Lansdowne Crescent/Grosvenor Street development, Edinburgh (1863-5) *Head Post Office, Dundee (1863) *Head Post Office, Paisley (c. 1863) *Restoration of

Dunblane Cathedral Dunblane Cathedral is the larger of the two Church of Scotland parish churches serving Dunblane, near the city of Stirling, in central Scotland. The lower half of the tower is pre- Romanesque from the 11th century, and was originally free-stan ...

(1866–73) *Layout of East Queen Street Gardens, Edinburgh (1867) *Restoration of

(1868) *Rear Dome and Record Hall added to Register House, Edinburgh (1869-71) *Overseeing of the completion of Captain Francis Fowke’s design for the Edinburgh Industrial Museum, begun in 1861 (now the Royal Scottish Museum) (1865-70) (following the death of Fowke) *Internal refit of St Michaels Parish Church in

Linlithgow Linlithgow ( ; ; ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a historic route between Edi ...

(1871) *

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

Post Office (1873) *Head Post Office,

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

(1875) *Head Post Office,

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 ...

(1875–78)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matheson, Robert 1808 births 1877 deaths People associated with Edinburgh 19th-century Scottish architects