Basic Biographical Details Name: | William Mylne | Designation: | | Born: | 1734 | Died: | March 1790 | Bio Notes: | William Mylne was born in 1734, the second son of Thomas Mylne of Edinburgh and brother of the more famous brother Robert. He served an apprenticeship as a mason and in 1754 went to France where he studied under J F Blondel. He then went to Italy with his older brother. In 1758 he returned to Scotland to take over his father’s business as mason and builder. However his own predilection was for civil engineering rather than architecture and he developed this side of his business. He was mainly concerned with bridges and waterworks. He re-arranged the interiors of Inveraray in 1770-72, but passed the subsequent commission for redecorating the interiors to his brother Robert.
Mylne was Deacon of the Edinburgh masons and therefore a member of the Town Council. In 1765-6 he was Convenor of the Trades and was elected a member of the Bridge Committee. He was asked in 1765 to ‘rectify’ James Craig’s plan of the New Town and this may have involved the elimination of the diagonal streets which featured in Craig’s original plan. If this was the case he had a profound influence of the way the New Town looks. The change had been adopted by 1766.
In 1765 he submitted a design for North Bridge. Although the design was run-of-the-mill he was able (unlike his competitor David Henderson) to find security to execute the design and contracted to build it for £10,140. In 1769 when the bridge was nearly finished, the southern abutment collapsed burying five people alive. Mylne repaired the damage but was financially embarrassed and in 1773 left Scotland for America. He tried his hand as a planter in South Carolina but moved to New York in 1774 to try to find work as an architect. This did not prove easy.
He returned home and obtained a post superintending the improvement of the water supply in Dublin. This was in a very poor state and he affected great improvements. This success was recognised by the Lord Mayor and Alderman of Dublin who presented him with a silver salver in 1786.
Mylne died in Dublin in March 1790. His brother erected a tablet to his memory in St Catherine’s Church which was to inform posterity of his great success with the waterworks.
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Buildings and DesignsThis was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details): | | Date started | Building name | Town, district or village | Island | City or county | Country | Notes | | 1764 | Bridge over the River Tweed, Fernilee | Yair | | Selkirkshire | Scotland | | | 1765 | North Bridge | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Won commission. | | 1768 | Jamaica Bridge | | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1770 | Inveraray Castle | Inveraray | | Argyll | Scotland | Interior rearranged |
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Colvin, Howard | 2008 | A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 | | London: YUP. 4th edition | | | Cruft, K and Fraser, A (ed) | 1995 | James Craig 1744-1795 | | | pp27, 52, 59 | | Institution of Civil Engineers | 2002 | Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers | | V.1 and 2 | Entry on Mylne by Ted Ruddock | | Mylne, R S | | The Master Masons to the Crown of Scotland | | | pp253-60 | | Ruddock, Ted (ed.) | 1994 | Travels in the Colonies in 1773-5, described in the Letters of William Mylne | | Georgia | | | Smeaton, John | 1812 | Reports of the late John Smeaton | | | iii, p218 | | Youngson, A J | 1966 | The Making of Classical Edinburgh | | Edinburgh University Press | pp60-5 |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this : | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Newcomen Society Transactions | between 1974 and 6 | 47 | | E C Ruddock, 'The Building of the North Bridge, Edinburgh'. |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA MSS Collection | | Mylne Family Papers |
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