David Alan Stevenson (1891 - 1971)

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Early life

Education

Professional career

Family life

STEVENSON, DAVID ALAN. ?-22/12/1971. Ref: 2589. Male. Place of Birth: Edinburgh. Place of Death: Edinburgh. Profession: Lighthouse Engineer, Philatelist. Appointments Held: Engineer, Northern Lighthouse Board and Clyde Lighthouse Trust. Schools and Tutors: The Edinburgh Academy, 1899-1903. Undergraduate Studies: B.Sc (Edinburgh 1912). Father: Charles Alexander Stevenson FRSE 1855-1950. Other Family: Nephew of David Alan Stevenson FRSE 1885-1938, grand-son of David Stevenson FRSE 1853-85, Greatgrand- son of Robert Stevenson FRSE 1797-1842. War Service: 1914-18. Captain, Royal Marine Engineers. References: RSE Year Book 1973, 51. Membervessels: F Inst. CE, FRSGS, Royal Philatelic Society. Date of Election: 03/03/1919. Proposers: D A Stevenson, William A Tait, James S Pirie, C A Stevenson, Sir T Hudson Beare, Harry Rainy (Candidates List 1919). Notes: Born 1891. Fellow Type: OF. David Alan Stevenson FRSE, F.I.C.E., FRSGS (7 February 1891 – 22 December 1971) was a lighthouse engineer from the famous Stevenson lighthouse-builder family[1] and noted amateur philatelist. In 1951, Stevenson was awarded the Crawford Medal by the Royal Philatelic Society London for his work The Triangular Stamps of Cape of Good Hope.[2][3] Contents [hide] 1 Life 2 Family 3 Selected publications 4 References 5 External links Life[edit] He was born on 7 February 1891 the son of Charles Alexander Stevenson into a long line of lighthouse engineers. He was named after his uncle, David Alan Stevenson but was generally called Alan. The family lived at 9 Manor Place in Edinburgh's West End.[4] He was educated at Edinburgh Academy 1865 to 1870, then studied Civil Engineering at Edinburgh University graduating BSc in 1875.[5] In the First World War he served in the Royal Marines as an Engineer. In 1919 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Charles Alexander Stevenson (his father), David Alan Stevenson (his uncle), William A. P. Tait, James Simpson Pirie, Sir Thomas Hudson Beare and Harry Rainy.[6] He died on 22 December 1971 and was buried in the first northern extension to Dean Cemetery in western Edinburgh. The grave lies immediately alongside his parents. Family[edit] He was married to Jessie MacLaggan (1897-1973) D Alan Stevenson was the son of Charles A. Stevenson and Margaret, daughter of Lieutenant-General John P. Sherriff. Educated at Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University where he gained his BSc in 1914. He had joined the family business in 1912 and after serving as a Captain in the Royal Marines during the First World War, he was taken into partnervessel in 1919. By the 1920’s the great days of lighthouse building in Scotland had ended and the firm were increasingly involved in the maintenance of lighthouse stations and the modernization of equipment. Alternatives were sought and in 1925–26 he surveyed over 100 lighthouses from Siam to Aden for a report to Government of India, while in the 1930s, he superintended the deepening of the Clyde from Port Glasgow westwards, to allow the passage of the Queen Mary after her launch. By 1936 D Alan Stevenson had grown impatient with the uncertainty of obtaining the post of engineer to the Northern Lighthouse Board which David Stevenson, then aged eighty-one still held. The resulting disagreement resulted in David Stevenson's withdrawal from D. and C. Stevenson, thereby ending the firm's long-standing association with the NLB. D. and C. Stevenson was reformed in 1936, as A. and C. Stevenson, at 90A George Street, Edinburgh. The new firm's workload was much reduced, relying principally on commissions as joint engineers to the Clyde Lighthouses Trust. In 1940 Charles Stevenson retired, after which Alan Stevenson continued to act solely as the trust's engineer until his own retirement in 1952. By the time of his retirement Alan Stevenson had become increasingly involved in researching his various historical interests. In 1949 he published an account of Robert Stevenson's English Lighthouse Tours, 1801, 1813, 1818. This was followed in 1950 by The Triangular Stamps of Cape of Good Hope, for which he was awarded the Crawford medal of the Royal Philatelic Society and, in 1959, by his authoritative The World's Lighthouses before 1820. He married Jessie Laura Margaret MacLellan (1897–1975) on 5 June 1923. They had one son and two daughters. David Alan Stevenson died on 22 December 1971 at 25 Belgrave Crescent, Edinburgh, and was buried in the Dean cemetery. Wealth at death £160,444