Architects

Name:

William Stark

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Exact Date

Exact DOB:

25/05/1770

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Date of Death:

Exact Date

Exact DOD:

10/09/1813

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Bio Notes :

William Stark was born on 25 May 1770 in Dunfermline, the son of Mark Stark of Lasswade, Midlothian, a merchant and millowner in Glasgow. One of Stark’s older sisters married the Glasgow architect John Craig. It is possible that Stark was a pupil in his office. Stark married Catherine Thomson, daughter of George Thomson who was a musical scholar. The couple had one daughter, also Catherine.

In 1798 Stark visited St Petersburg presumably in connection with a commission there. There may have been a link to the architect Charles Cameron, then employed in Russia.

Stark’s career began in Glasgow but he moved to Edinburgh for the sake of his health about 1807. He is listed in Post office directories at various addresses in Edinburgh. He died at his home in Drumsheugh, Edinburgh, on 9 October 1813.

Stark must have suffered from poor health for some time before his death. Sir Walter Scott who thought highly of him remarked that ‘he must rise very high in his profession if the bad health from which he suffers does not keep him down’. Elsewhere he described him as having ‘genius’. The ‘Scots Magazine’ at the time of his death said ’ his reputation, deservedly high in Scotland, was spreading rapidly in England at the time of his death’. The Lunatic Asylum in Gloucester for which he had drawn up plans was completed after his death.

Stark was an original thinker. He was aware of contemporary medical opinion about the organisation of asylums and published 'Remarks on the Construction of Public Hospitals for the Cure of Mental Derangement' in 1807. At Glasgow he attempted to put his ideas into practice and to segregate by sex, social background and mental condition, one of the earliest asylums attempting to do this.

Stark was also an innovative town planner. He printed 'Report to the Lord Provost, Magistrates and Council of Edinburgh on the Plans for Laying out the Grounds for Buildings bewteen Edinburgh and Leith' which was published posthumously in 1814. It was also published in the Scots Magazine in 1815. This is a remarkably forward thinking understanding of the Edinburgh townscape. His principles, which included variety in layout rather than a rigid grid of streets, careful attention to contours, the benefits of oblique views and the picturesque value of trees) were mainly put into plan carried out by William Henry Playfair.

Bio Notes continued...

Additional Notes

The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:

Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date From Type	Date To	Date To Type	Notes
Glasgow Scotland	Business

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This person was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):

Buildings and Designs2 classic

Building Name	Date Started	Town, District or Village	City or County	Country	Notes
Glasgow Cathedral	In year 1802		Glasgow	Scotland	Alterations to east end of chancel (since removed)
The Hunterian Museum	In year 1804		Glasgow	Scotland
School	In year 1805	Greenock	Renfrewshire	Scotland	Designs dated
Glasgow Cathedral	In year 1805		Glasgow	Scotland	Refitted the Inner High Church
St George's Tron Church	In year 1807		Glasgow	Scotland
Dunfermline Abbey	In year 1808	Dunfermline	Fife	Scotland	Rebuilding of south-west tower, plus repairs, alterations and improvements
Broomhall	In year 1808	Limekilns, Dunfermline	Fife	Scotland	Designed friezes etc in State Rooms. Also unexecuted designs for Greek Revival portico etc.
Saline Parish Church	In year 1809	Saline	Fife	Scotland
Grange Hall	In year 1809	Forres	Morayshire	Scotland
Justiciary Court Houses	In year 1810		Glasgow	Scotland	Original building: only portico remaining now
Glasgow Royal Asylum	In year 1810		Glasgow	Scotland	Opened in 1914, after Stark\'s death
Muirkirk Parish Church	In year 1812	Muirkirk	Ayrshire	Scotland	Completed by Thomas Smith (which Smith is this?)
Bowhill House	In year 1812	Selkirk	Selkirkshire	Scotland	Centre block of south front. Continued by William Atkinson.
Signet Library	In year 1812		Edinburgh	Scotland	Designs drawn up and work begun. Interior of Signet Library.
Signet Library	In year 1812		Edinburgh	Scotland	Interior of the Advocates Library (now the Upper Signet Library).

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Part	Notes
Colvin, H M	A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840	1995	New Haven and London: Yale University Press	3rd edition
Pride, Glen L	The Kingdom of Fife	1999	The Rutland Press	2nd Edition	p10
RCAHMS	Dundee on Record	1992	RCAHMS		p21 Reconstruction drawing Of Dundee Asylum by D.M. Walker, showing the asylum's various building stages between 1812 and 1860 (1952).
APSD	The Dictionary of Architecture		The Architectural Publication Society (8v 1852-1892)	ed Wyatt Papworth
Cockburn, Henry	Memorials of his Time	1910			pp278-9
Youngson, A J	The Making of Classical Edinburgh	1966	Edinburgh University Press		pp149-152
Gomme, Andor and Walker, David	Architecture of Glasgow	1987	London: Lund Humphries	Second revised edn	pp69-71, 300
Library of Willliam Stark	Sale catalogue of Stark\'s Library
Henderson, E	Annals of Dunfermline	1879			p569
APSD	The Dictionary of Architecture		The Architectural Publication Society (8v 1852-1892)	ed Wyatt Papworth
Grierson, H J C	Letters of Sir Walter Scott				Volume covering 1811-14, pp34, 65, 368
New DNB	New Dictionary of National Biography

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Publisher	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
Builder		1961/10/27		'Architectural Historians' Conference: Papers Submitted to the Edinburgh Meeting' p787 - David Walker delivered a paper entitled 'Towards a New Style' at the SAH (UK) Conference in Edinburgh on 15-17 Sept 1961 that included discussion of Stark's work
Town Planning Review		1928	xiii	pp69-71. Article by T Harold Hughes 'Edinburgh: An Early Ninteenth Century Town Planning Scheme'.

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The following archives hold material relating to this person:

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Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Item Name	Notes
Dunfermline Register	NAS	201606
Manuscript Collection	National Library of Scotland	100064	MS. 1758	Memoir by R Gordon Stark.
Various accounts: imprests	NAS National Archives of Scotland	201486	CC8/8/142, f.315	Testament of William Stark

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

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Business Addresses2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

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