D. Alan Stevenson

David Alan Stevenson FRSE, F.I.C.E., FRSGS (7 February 1891 – 22 December 1971) was a lighthouse engineer from the famous Stevenson lighthouse-builder family[1] and noted amateur philatelist.

Not to be confused with David Alan Stevenson.

D. Alan Stevenson
Born(1891-02-07)7 February 1891
Died22 December 1971(1971-12-22) (aged 80)
Edinburgh, Scotland
NationalityScottish
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
Occupationengineer, architect
EmployerNorthern Lighthouse Board
Spouse(s)Jessie MacLaggan
Parent(s)Charles Alexander Stevenson (father)
Margaret Sherriff (mother)
The grave of David Alan Stevenson, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh
Stevenson's 1950 book The Triangular Stamps of Cape of Good Hope.

In 1951, Stevenson was awarded the Crawford Medal by the Royal Philatelic Society London for his work The Triangular Stamps of Cape of Good Hope.[2][3]

Life

He was born at 9 Manor Place[4] on 7 February 1891 the son of Margaret Sherriff and Charles Alexander Stevenson.[5] He was the last of a long line of lighthouse engineers. He was named after his uncle, David Alan Stevenson but was generally called Alan. The family lived at 9 Manor Place in Edinburgh's West End.[6] He was educated at Edinburgh Academy 1899 to 1903, then studied civil engineering at the University of Edinburgh graduating with a BSc in 1912.[7]

In 1911 he was living with his family at 28 Douglas Crescent.[8]

In World War I he served as a Captain in the Royal Marines as an engineer. His duties included setting guidance lights on the Dardanelles to aid shipping there.[9]

In 1919 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Charles Alexander Stevenson (his father), David Alan Stevenson (his uncle), William A. P. Tait, James Simpson Pirie, Sir Thomas Hudson Beare and Harry Rainy.[7]

Until 1938 he was an engineer of the Northern Lighthouse Board and thereafter spent his life working for the Clyde Lighthouse Trust.[10] His work on the Clyde was pre-empted in 1934 by a commission to deepen the river in order to have capacity to launch the RMS Queen Mary.[9]

He died on 22 December 1971 and was buried in the first northern extension to Dean Cemetery in western Edinburgh. The grave lies immediately alongside his parents.

Family

He was married to Jessie MacLaggan (1897–1973).

Family tree

Alan's position in the family tree shows his long pedigree as an engineer.

Robert Stevenson engineering family tree
Thomas Smith (engineer)Jean Lille StevensonAlan Stevenson (merchant)
Joan SmithRobert Stevenson (civil engineer)
David Stevenson (engineer)Alan Stevenson (engineer)Thomas Stevenson (engineer)
Charles Alexander Stevenson (engineer)David Alan Stevenson (engineer)Robert Louis Stevenson
D. Alan Stevenson (engineer)

Selected publications
  • The Triangular Stamps of Cape of Good Hope (New York, London, Sydney: H.R. Harmer, 1950)
  • The World's Lighthouses before 1820 (1959)
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gollark: An example SPUDNET key is `-VASBr2gn9Rny3sNrwxw`, which you can use to read incident reports.
gollark: Not unless they have a SPUDNET incident report key.
gollark: Santa, and also SPUDNET now.

References
  1. "D Alan Stevenson". DSA Architect Biography Report. Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  2. The Society's medals and honorary fellowship. The Royal Philatelic Society London, 2009, p. 3.
  3. Who Was Who in British Philately, Association of British Philatelic Societies, 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2013. Archived here.
  4. Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1891
  5. Grave of C A Stevenson, Dean Cemetery
  6. Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1891-2
  7. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  8. Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1911
  9. "D. Alan Stevenson from The Gazetteer for Scotland". www.scottish-places.info. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  10. "Bellrock.org.uk : Stevensons : D. Alan Stevenson 1891-1971". www.bellrock.org.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
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