Basic Biographical Details Name: | William Davidson | Designation: | | Born: | 1789 | Died: | 9 February 1853 | Bio Notes: | William Davidson was born in 1789 and baptised on 20 April of that year, the son of John Davidson and his wife Elizabeth Ross of Buckies and Aimster, Thurso, the Davidsons being an old and well-established Caithness farming family. He is said to have studied in England as an architect and spent the years 1809-1811 in London.
Despite his years spent in England Davidson's designs show little originality and his drawings are rather crude. His church designs are all of traditional design and layout.
Besides his work as an architect Davidson was also a builder, a farmer on the large arable farm of Old Hall, Watten and for a period acted as a land agent. He died at Old Hall, Watten on 9 February 1853. In his obituary he is described as having been 'affable and gentlemanly in his manners, and scrupulously honourable in his dealings … eminently respected by all who knew him'.
There may be a merging in this record of two generations of William Davidsons. The census of 1851 shows a William Davidson at Old Hall, Watten, who was 'Farmer Factor & J P F 850 Acres 18 Lab' but he was born in 1811 so might well have been the son of William Davidson, born in 1789. Some further confusion may have arisen because William Davidson architect and land surveyor wrote a book entitled 'Arithmetic and Measurement improved by examples and plain demonstrations' which was published in 1779 in London. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | Scotland | Business | | | |
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Beaton, Elizabeth | 1996 | Caithness: An Illustrated Architectural Guide | | Edinburgh: Rutland Press | p18, 21, 74 | | Colvin, Howard | 2008 | A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 | | London: YUP. 4th edition | | | Mill, Hugh Robert | 1951 | An autobiography | | London: Longmans | p6 |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this : | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | John O' Groats Journal | 11 February 1853 | | | Obituary | | Northampton Mercury | 17 May 1779 | | | |
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