Thomas Stevenson, father of Robert Louis Stevenson

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

21881

Title

Thomas Stevenson, father of Robert Louis Stevenson

Description

Thomas Stevenson, father of Robert Louis Stevenson sits for a portrait. He is leaning on a covered table with a book on it and is sitting on an upholstered carved wooden chair. He has a high forehead and his hair is swept back. He is wearing a dark jacket, cravat and tweed type trousers.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1880

Size

16.2 x 24.8 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Writers' Museum

Thomas Stevenson, the father of Robert Louis Stevenson, was born in Edinburgh on 22nd July 1818. He was a civil engineer, who like his father before him, designed lighthouses.

At seventeen Thomas became apprenticed to his father in the family engineering firm, where his growing interest in writing fiction was thoroughly disapproved of by his father. He went on to use his talent in writing however to submit articles to engineering journals and to write books such as "Lighthouse Construction & Illumination".

After his father's retirement Stevenson had continued to research and develop lighthouse illumination and harbour engineering, going on to become a leading authority in the area. The Stevenson's firm advised on the construction of lighthouses as far away as Japan, China and New Zealand. Between 1855-87 he held the post of engineer to the Northern Lighthouse Board. In this role, along with his brother David, he designed and built 28 beacons and 30 lighthouses.

Thomas suffered liver problems from 1885 which eventually led to jaundice. He died on 8th May 1887.

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in 1850. He studied law at Edinburgh University and became an advocate in 1875. He went on to write several popular novels including 'Treasure Island'(1883) and 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' (1886). He died in 1894.

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Related subjects

Clothing and dress > Accessories > Neckties

Clothing and dress > Garments > Jacket

Clothing and dress > Garments > Trousers

Furnishings > Furniture > Chairs

People > Adults > Men

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