Robert Stevenson

author

Robert Stevenson

1772–1850

Best known for the Bell Rock Lighthouse, this Scottish engineer helped make some of Britain’s most dangerous coasts safer. He also came from the remarkable Stevenson family of lighthouse builders and engineers.

1 Audiobook

An Account of the Bell Rock Light-House Including the Details of the Erection and Peculiar Structure of That Edifice; to Which Is Prefixed a Historical View of the Institution and Progress of the Northern Light-Houses

An Account of the Bell Rock Light-House Including the Details of the Erection and Peculiar Structure of That Edifice; to Which Is Prefixed a Historical View of the Institution and Progress of the Northern Light-Houses

by Robert Stevenson

About the author

Born in Glasgow in 1772, he became one of Scotland’s most important civil engineers and is especially remembered for designing and building lighthouses. He worked for the Northern Lighthouse Board for decades, following his stepfather Thomas Smith, and developed a reputation for practical ingenuity as well as endurance in harsh coastal conditions.

His most famous achievement was the Bell Rock Lighthouse, built on a dangerous reef off the east coast of Scotland and often described as a landmark work of marine engineering. Beyond lighthouse design, he also worked on harbors, bridges, roads, canals, and early railways, and wrote about engineering subjects for a wider audience.

He died in Edinburgh in 1850. He was also the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson, which gives his life an added literary connection, but his own legacy stands firmly on the coastline he helped make safer.