Alan StevensonFRSEMInstCE (28 April 1807 – 23 December 1865) was a Scottish civil engineer, known for designing and buildinglighthouses in and around Scotland.^[1]

Alan Stevenson was born inEdinburgh on 28 April 1807, the eldest son of Jean Smith and her husband (and step-brother)Robert Stevenson.^[2] With his father, and brothersDavid andThomas, he was part of a notable family of engineers and lighthouse builders. The writerRobert Louis Stevenson was his nephew.

He was educated at theHigh School in Edinburgh. In 1821, he attended theUniversity of Edinburgh to study Latin, Greek and mathematics with a view to becoming a member of the clergy. However, 2 years later in 1823, he decided to pursue a career in engineering and began a four-year apprenticeship at his father's business.

Between 1843 and 1853 he built 13 lighthouses in and aroundScotland. Among his notable works is theSkerryvore Lighthouse.^[3]

He was Engineer in Chief to theNorthern Lighthouse Board from 1843 to 1853.^[4]

In 1838 he was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh his proposer beingJames David Forbes. In 1840 theUniversity of Glasgow conferred on him an honorary LLB degree.

He died at 13 Pitt Street^[5] (later renamed Pittville St.)^[6] inPortobello on 23 December 1865.

He is buried in the Stevenson family vault inNew Calton Cemetery with his wife, Margaret Scott Jones. The vault lies midway along the eastern wall.

• Biographical Sketches of the Late Robert Stevenson (1861)^[2]

On 11 September 1844, he married Margaret Scott Jones (1813–1895), daughter of Jean (née Scott) and Humphrey Herbert Jones ofAnglesey.^[1] They had three daughters, Jean, Dorothea and the author and journalistKatherine Elizabeth de Mattos Stevenson (1851–1939), and one son, art criticRobert Alan Mowbray Stevenson (1827–1880).^[1][7]

He was uncle toRobert Louis Stevenson,Charles Alexander Stevenson andDavid Alan Stevenson.^{[citation needed]}

• Little Ross (1843)
• Isle of May Low Light (1843)
• Skerryvore (1844)
• Covesea Skerries (1846)
• Chanonry Point (1846)
• Cromarty (1846)
• Cairn Point,Loch Ryan (1847)
• Noss Head (1849)
• Ardnamurchan (1849)
• Sanda (1850)
• Hestan Island (1850)
• Hoy High andHoy Low,Graemsay (1851)
• Arnish Point (1853)
• Eilean Musdile (Lismore)

Coat of arms of Alan Stevenson

Notes Granted 7th April 1865 byGeorge Burnett,Lyon Depute.[8] Crest A dexter hand holding a wreath of laurel Proper. Escutcheon Argent on a chevron between two fleurs de lys in chief Azure and a lighthouse in base Proper three mullets of the field. Motto Ceolum Non Solum

• Biographical Sketch of the Late Robert Stevenson: Civil Engineer, read at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, at the meeting of 17 February 1851. FromGoogle Book Search
• A Rudimentary Treatise on the History, Construction and Illumination of Lighthouses, 1850, from Google Book Search

Alan's position in the Stevenson family tree.

• Lighthouse builders
• Scottish civil engineers
• 1807 births
• 1865 deaths
• Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
• 19th-century Scottish people
• Engineers from Edinburgh
• Burials at the New Calton Burial Ground
• People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh
• Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
• Stevenson family (Scotland)

• Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the ODNB
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from October 2020
• Pages using infobox person with multiple parents
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from June 2019