Blogs using the British Newspaper Archive
@ 22102012 Blog#1
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Saving seamen’s lives
– Robert Stevenson
Of those
prominent in saving seamen’s lives, Robert Stevenson (172-1850) is a worthy
candidate. His death on 12 July 1850 was noted in the Manchester Times - Wednesday 17 July 1850, p.7. col.6. “He was the sole designer and sole
executioner of the celebrated Bell Rock Lighthouse.”
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000502/18500720/024/0007
Perhaps the most significant contribution he made to the
safety of ships and seamen in Scotland was the construction of the Bell Rock
lighthouse, in 1807-1811. Lives at sea had always been lost as a result of
storms. That of 1799 off the East Coast of Scotland resulted in seventy vessels
lost, with most of their crews. (Caledonian
Mercury, Monday 29 June, 1807, and thp.3 col.2.) http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000045/18070629/007/0003
) After this, renewed energy was made to design and install a lighthouse to
prevent such losses; attention focused
upon Bell Rock, eleven miles south of Abroath, and one of the most dangerous
reefs for ships. Robert Stevenson submitted his proposals to the Commissioners
for Northern Lights, and was appointed Assistant Engineer for its construction.
The obstacles to building were daunting: stormy weather was
frequent; work could only be undertaken in summer months and at low tide. The story
of the work was followed by a number of newspapers, in particular the Caledonian Mercury. Reported in their
issue of Saturday 25 August 1810 (p.3 col.4), there was a
letter written by “…a gentleman engaged in the undertaking”. It was reported that the lighthouse foundation
stone was laid on Sunday 10th July 1808. The lighthouse was to be
100 feet high and 42 feet in diameter at its base. The writer went on: “… The
foundation course is on a level with low water springtides, the sea
accordingly, … seldom rises more than 16 feet of the building; yet, in the
month of June last [1809] when the lighthouse was 70 feet high, the workmen
were actually driven off the walls by the sea spray.”
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000045/18100825/011/0003?_=1349599584053
Despite these difficulties, construction was complete by the
end of 1810, and the Commissioners announced that the light from the lighthouse
would commence from the 1st February 1811. (Caledonian Mercury Saturday 5 January 1811 p. 3 col. 4)
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000045/18110105/011/0004
The light would appear: “… alternately of a bright yellow
and deep red colour, by means of coloured glass.” It was to be visible for 12
miles out into the German ~Ocean, “… at so great a distance as to assist in
preventing the recurrence of such dismal mistakes as have this winter happened
in what seafaring people term Berwick Bay.” The article concluded: “We cannot
help adding, that it is owing to the laudable zeal of the Commissioners having
been duly seconded by the enterprize [sic] and indefatigable perseverance of
their engineer, Mr Stevenson, that our Scottish Eddistone Lighthouse has been
completed, a whole year sooner than we could possibly have anticipated.”. (Caledonian Mercury Thursday 10 January
1811, p.3 col. 4) http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000045/18110105/011/0004
Robert Stevenson wrote and published his work: An account of Bell Rock light-house with a
circumstantial detail of the operations carried on during the progress of its
erection, in 1824. An advertisement placed (probably by the publisher A.
Constable) in the Leeds Intelligencer
of 27 May 1824, p.1 states: “Embellished
with numerous engravings and a frontispiece from a drawing by Turner… As only
240 copies of this work are printed for sale, early application for copies will
be necessary.” http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000193/18240527/021/0001?_=1350902812224
As engineer to the
Northern Lighthouse Board from 1808 to 1843, Robert Stevenson designed and
constructed at least eighteen lighthouses. Reports of these appear regularly in
newspapers : progress on the Isle of May lighthouse (Caledonian
Mercury Thursday 1 February 1816 p.3 col. 2) http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000045/18160201/008/0003 ;
And the Dunnet Head Lighthouse – “Notice to Mariners” ( Belfast Newsletter Tuesday 30 August
1831 p.3. col. 4.) http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000038/18310830/007/0003
Robert Stevenson’s sons – Alan, David, and Thomas all worked
in the family business. The endeavour to improve the safety of seamen and of
their ships continued. David and Thomas were also engineers to the Northern
Lighthouse Board in the years 1855-1882. They designed some 28 beacons and 30
lighthouses. What of Thomas’s only son?
He was none other than Robert Louis Stevenson, who inherited his
father’s talent for writing. By 1871, Robert Louis gave up his early training
in engineering, and, partly as a result
of poor health, he rejected any further interest in the family engineering
enterprise, going on to write famous
novels as Kidnapped and the Strange
case of Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde, both published in 1886. Amongst his many
poems, the Light-Keeper evokes
memories of his early training in lights and lighthouses:
The clear bell chimes: the clockworks strain:
The turning lenses flash and pass,
Frame turning within glittering frame
With frosty gleam of moving glass:
Unseen by me, each dusky hour
The sea-waves welter up the tower
Or in the ebb subside again;
And ever and anon all night,
Drawn from afar by charm of light,
A sea-bird beats against the pane.
Ed King
October 2012
Further reading:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Bathurst, Bella. The lighthouse Stevensons. 1999.
Scots Sites: http://www.scotsites.co.uk/ebooks/thelightkeeper.htm
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