Architects

Name:

William Tregarthen Douglass (erroneously spelt Douglas)

Designation :

Engineer

Date of Birth:

Year Only

Exact DOB:

28/05/1926

Year of Birth :

1857

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Date of Death:

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Exact DOD:

08/10/1913

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Bio Notes :

William Tregarthen Douglass (sometimes erroneously spelt Douglas) was born in 1857, the eldest son of Sir James Nicholas Douglass FRS, and his wife Mary, daughter of Captain James Tregarthen, ship-owner of St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly. He was educated at Dulwich College before becoming a pupil to his father who was Engineer-in-Chief to the Trinity House from 1862-1892.

In the early 1880s the younger Douglass acted as site engineer for the Eddystone Lighthouse and most of his subsequent professional activities related to matters of marine safety, including his appointment as inspecting engineer to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (from c.1880) and consulting engineer to the Public Works, Loan Board, Lighthouse and Harbour Authorities. Publications included “The New Eddystone Lighthouse”, “The More Efficient Lighting of Estuaries” and “Coastal Erosion”. He was also a contributor to the 1911 edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Notable lighthouses that he designed outwith Scotland included the Round Island Light, Isles of Scilly, built 1887, the second lighthouse, Rottnest Island and Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, both in Western Australia, built 1894-96, though the details were altered by the local engineer who supervised their construction.

Outwith his engineering work, Douglass had commercial interests as Chairman of General Petroleum Properties of Trinidad Limited and Chairman of the Maikop Shirvansky Oil Company Limited.

William Tregarthen Douglass drowned in a boating accident off Start Point near Dartmouth on 10 August 1913 at the age of 56 while visiting his mother.

Publications:

“The New Eddystone Lighthouse” “The More Efficient Lighting of Estuaries” and “Coastal Erosion”

Contributor Encyclopaedia Britannica - Lighthouses

The Bishop Rock lighthouses. Paper by William Tregarthen Douglas... [Excerpt minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Vol. cviii. Session 1891-92. Part ii]

'Biography authored by the Dictionary of Scottish Architects Compilation Team.'

Bio Notes continued...

Additional Notes

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

Private Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From Char	Date From Type	Date To Char	Date To Type	Notes
11 Airlie Gardens Camden Hill London England	Private

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date From Type	Date To	Date To Type	Notes
15 Victoria Street Westminster London England	Business	c. 1899		1913		DSA originally had 10 Victoria Street, but it is unclear which source this came from.

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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	Island	City or County	Country	Notes
Lifeboat House	In year 1898	Campbeltown		Argyll	Scotland	Role of Clifford unclear as the lighthouse and boathouse were erected under the supervision of Douglass\'s assistant, N G Gedye.
Dunbar Lifeboat station	In year 1900	Dunbar		East Lothian	Scotland
Anstruther Easter Harbour, lifeboat house	In year 1903	Anstruther Easter		Fife	Scotland
Cluny Harbour	In year 1908	Buckie		Banffshire	Scotland	extension
St Abbs lifeboat house, Middle Pier	In year 1909	St Abbs		Berwickshire	Scotland
Lifeboat station	In year 1909	Broughty Ferry		Dundee	Scotland
Lifeboat House	In year 1909	St Andrews		Fife	Scotland
Lifeboat house	In year 1910	Girvan		Ayrshire	Scotland
Eyemouth Harbour	In year 1910	Eyemouth		Berwickshire	Scotland	Proposed improvements
Stronsay lifeboat house and slipway	In year 1910		Stronsay	Orkney	Scotland
Harbour	In year 1911	Cullen		Banffshire	Scotland	Extension, with new jetty, new road and retaining walls
Peterhead lifeboat house	In year 1911	Peterhead		Aberdeenshire	Scotland	second boathouse and roller slipway to the west of the South Harbour for the No.2 lifeboat
Port Namarve lifeboat house	In year 1912	Machrihanish (near)		Argyll	Scotland
Findochty Harbour	In year 1913	Buckie		Banffshire	Scotland	Extension
Port Logan lifeboat house	Before 1913	Stranraer (near)		Wigtownshire	Scotland

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Date Circ	Notes
The Times	1913/08/12	p1 (death notice)
The Times	1913/09/01	p3, column D (inquest)
The Times	1910/05/25	p19 Prospectus of the Maikop Shirvansky Oil Company Ltd.
Building News	1913/08/15	p222 - obituary
Builder	1913/08/15	p180 - obituary
The Times	1913/08/11	p5, column A

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The following archives hold material relating to this person:

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Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Building Id	Item Name	Notes
Information sent via DSA website	Courtesy of Neil Darlington	200960			Sent August 2009

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

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