William Adam (architect)
William Adam | |
---|---|
Born | October 1689 |
Died | 24 June 1748 (aged 58) |
Occupation | Architect |
Spouse | Mary Robertson |
Children | at least 10, including John, Robert and James |
Buildings | Hopetoun House Mavisbank House Arniston House Duff House Pollok House |
Projects | Inveraray Castle |
William Adam (1689 – 24 June 1748) was a
and Continental architecture.In the 18th century, Adam was considered Scotland's "Universal Architect".
Biography
Early life
William Adam was born in Linktown of Abbotshall, now a neighbourhood of Kirkcaldy, Fife, and was baptised on 24 October 1689.[4] He was the only surviving child of John Adam (d. c. 1710), a mason, and Helen Cranstoun, daughter of William Cranstoun, 3rd Lord Cranstoun. His paternal grandfather was Archibald Adam, a laird in Angus.[4] Adam probably attended the grammar school in Kirkcaldy until 1704, when he turned 15, and thereafter learned the craft of masonry, possibly from his father. It is often suggested that Adam was apprenticed to Sir William Bruce at Kinross House, although the dates make this unlikely. John Fleming suggests that if Adam trained under Bruce at all, it must have been at Hopetoun House which Bruce was building from 1699 to 1703.[5] By 1717 Adam was a fully qualified member of the Kirkcaldy masons' guild,[6] and before 1720 he travelled to France and the Low Countries, visiting country houses and viewing the canal at Ostend.[6]
In 1714, Adam entered into a partnership with
Rise to fame
It is not known how William Adam became a successful architect from these beginnings, but by 1721 he was engaged on major projects at Floors Castle, where he executed a design by Vanbrugh, and designing extensions to Hopetoun House. John Gifford links Adam's rise with the retirement of James Smith, the most prominent architect of the early 18th century, who was in his 70s by this time.[9] Like Smith, Adam was a trained mason, had social connections through his family, and had the financial backing of successful business ventures.[9] It was in 1721 that Adam became a Freemason being initiated in The Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel), No.1.[10]
However, unlike the
In 1727 Adam and Sir John Clerk travelled to London, visiting a number of country seats along the way, including
Architect, entrepreneur, and laird
By 1728, Adam was firmly established as a successful architect with numerous ongoing business concerns, including coal mining, salt panning, quarrying and agricultural improvements, although in that year occurred the death of his partner and father-in-law William Robertson.[20] For the same year, William Adam and Alexander McGill are called architects in the subscribers' list to James Gibbs's Book of Architecture. On 21 February 1728, Adam was made a burgess of Edinburgh,[21] and moved with his family to a property on the Cowgate, where he later built a large tenement.[22]
His business activities continued to expand. Since the commission for Hopetoun in 1721, he had leased quarries near
Later life
In 1741 Adam was forced to initiate legal proceedings against William, Lord Braco, to retrieve unpaid fees arising from his work at Duff House. There was no formal contract, and client and architect disagreed on costs for carved stonework.[27] Adam sued for £5,796 12s 11⅓d, and the matter was initially resolved in his favour. However, Braco was a stubborn opponent, and dragged out the proceedings, which were not resolved until just before Adam's death.[23]
After the Jacobite rising of 1745, Adam's position as Mason to the Board of Ordnance brought him a number of large military contracts in the Highlands.[11] In 1746, the position of Master Carpenter to the Board of Ordnance became vacant, and Adam was quick to put forward his son John's name for consideration, although he was unsuccessful in securing him the post.[28] His three eldest sons were all involved in the family business by 1746, James and John both leaving Edinburgh University early to join their father.[28]
William Adam succumbed to illness in late 1747, dying the following summer. He was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh, where John Adam designed the family mausoleum built in 1753.[11] This was restored by Edinburgh City Council and Historic Scotland in 1997 to mark the 250th anniversary of his death.
Adam created a personal library at Blair Adam which held a range of over 140 architectural works from Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain. Upon his death, he bequeathed his library to his sons.[29]
Architectural works
Adam used a wide variety of sources for his designs, and created an inventive personal style of decoration.
Country houses
His first commission seems to have been for extensions to Hopetoun House, near Edinburgh, for Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun.[33] Hopetoun had been built only 20 years before by Sir William Bruce, and Adam was retained to rebuild the south-east wing. These works, completed in 1725, aimed to give the east front a bold new facade, stepping forward at the ends with curved sections. According to John Fleming, "nothing so ambitious or imaginative had ever before been attempted in Scotland".[34] Over the following years, Adam would return to Hopetoun, building the south colonnade from 1726, the north wing from 1728, and finally the pavilions from 1736. These were not finished until 1742, the year of the Earl's death, and the completed scheme was finished by Adam's sons after his own death.[35] Adam also laid out the gardens, possibly to designs by Bruce, whose axial style they follow.[36]
Other early designs included
Duff House, Adam's major work of the 1730s, demonstrates his accretion of local and foreign influences, presenting itself as "a medieval castle in baroque dress".[42] Built between 1735 and 1739, Adam acted as contractor and architect to William, Lord Braco. James Gibbs had recently built another house for Lord Braco, but he declined the commission for Duff, recommending Adam for the job.[27] The main facade of Duff House is remarkable for its height, and with the tall corner towers the impression is of a highly vertical house. This style is related to the designs produced by the exiled Jacobite Earl of Mar, an amateur architect who collaborated with Adam at the House of Dun.[30] Charles McKean compares Duff to the 17th century Drumlanrig Castle, and places it within the Scottish architectural tradition. Like Drumlanrig, and Heriot's Hospital (1620s–1690s) in Edinburgh before it, Duff House has a double-pile block flanked by taller square corner towers.[32] The "baroque dress" at Duff derives from Vanbrugh, and particularly Eastbury Park (1724–38) in Dorset.[42] Designs for pavilions and quadrant wings were never executed due to Lord Braco's dispute with Adam. Braco never occupied or fitted out the house for the same reason.[27]
Adam's other houses of the 1730s include
After 1740, Adam built only two houses,
Public buildings
Adam's first public building commissions were in
The last Jacobite rising occurred in
Vitruvius Scoticus
In the 1720s Adam planned to publish a book of architectural drawings of Scottish houses, including his own work and that of others. His Vitruvius Scoticus was started and named in response to Colen Campbell's Vitruvius Britannicus. He commissioned some engravings during his 1727 trip to London, and had begun to collect subscriptions.[15] Further engraving were completed in Edinburgh in the 1730s by Richard Cooper.[23] The project then stalled, possibly due to the lack of subscriptions (only 150 were collected, compared to over 700 for Vitruvius Britannicus), although it may have been revived around the time of Adam's death. In 1766, John Adam attempted to restart the project and collect fresh subscriptions, although nothing came of this. The book was finally published in 1812 by John's son William, and contained 160 plates, including 100 of Adam's own designs.[11]
Legacy
William Adam's dominant position in Scottish architecture is reinforced by his lack of contemporaries. Colin McWilliam, in The Buildings of Scotland: Lothian, wondered "whether Scottish architecture at this period... would have achieved very much without him."[1]
Adam's death coincided with the final defeat of the Jacobite threat in 1746, and the advance of the
His main bequest to architectural history were his three architect sons, and in particular Robert Adam, whose success as developer of the "Adam Style" far outran that of his father. Although Robert formed his own style through lengthy study in Rome, John Fleming detects traces of his father's influence on all three of the brothers' work, and suggests that the Adam principle of "movement" in architecture was partly inspired by William's admiration for Vanbrugh. More concretely, Fleming notes that working with their father gave the brothers a solid grounding in the technical aspects of architecture, and introduced them to a set of clients which they might never otherwise have had access to.[53]
Critical appreciation
Although his contemporaries acclaimed Adam's "genius for architecture",[54] recent architectural historians have found his work of more variable quality. In the 18th and 19th centuries, he was accepted as Scotland's "Universal Architect", and at the end of the 19th century, MacGibbon and Ross suggested in The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland that William was "at least" the equal in talent of his son Robert.[55]
In the 20th century, a more critical view of Adam's work was taken. For example, Ian Hannah in The Story of Scotland in Stone (1934) found Adam to be "a rather ordinary classical architect".[56] Arthur T. Bolton, in the introduction to his definitive work on Robert and James Adam (1922), dismissed the father's work as "heavy and ordinary", and a mere "compilation of ideas... from Vanbrugh and Gibbs to Kent".[57] John Fleming lamented his "ad hoc improvisation from source books, improperly digested",[58] and decided that he "cannot be allowed great distinction as an architect".[59] John Summerson disregards Adam's work, in Architecture in Britain, 1530–1830 (1953), as it does not fit into the English Palladian orthodoxy,[58] although John Dunbar suggests that "he could express himself convincingly enough in that idiom",[60] for instance at Haddo House.[60] Dunbar found Adam's work "as remarkable for its eclecticism as for its unevenness of quality", and he went on to stress William Adam's "robustness and directness", and found these "appropriate to the artistic climate of North Britain".[60] Gifford also stresses Adam's Scottish context, pointing out that Scotland was in many ways a foreign country during his working life, and indeed was a separate country to England until 1707. Adam should, he argues, be seen not as a provincial British architect, but as "the architect of Scotland".[61]
John Fleming and Colin McWilliam are in agreement that Adam was at his best as a collaborator. Fleming's comment that Adam "was at his best when guided by a man of taste who knew his own mind",[62] is echoed by McWilliam, who suggests that William Adam "always did his best, but did his best architecture... when he was in touch not only with his source books, but with other lively minds".[1]
Family
William Adam and Mary Robertson had ten surviving children:
- Janet ("Jenny") (b. 1717), born at Linktown, later managed their brothers' London business.
- John (b. 3 July 1721), born at Linktown, took over Blair Adam and the other family businesses, as well as practising architecture.
- Robert (b. 3 July 1728), born at Linktown, architect, and best known of the Adam brothers.
- James, (b. 21 July 1732) architect, business partner of Robert.
- William ("Willie") (b. 1738)
- Elizabeth ("Betty"), with Janet, managed their brothers' London business.
- Helen ("Nellie")
- Margaret ("Peggy")
- Mary, married FRSE (1718–1788), minister of the Tron Kirk with the rare distinction of being twice the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (1773 and 1784), though now chiefly remembered for his friendship with economist Adam Smith.
- Susannah, married Sir John Clerk of Eldin, son of Sir John Clerk of Penicuik.
The birth dates of their five younger daughters are not recorded.[28] In addition another son, named William, and two daughters died in infancy.[21]
After William Adam's death, his oldest son John, inherited the family business, and immediately took his brothers Robert and James into partnership, which would last until the late 1750s when Robert established himself in London. William Adam's obituary in the Caledonian Mercury noted that "it is fortunate he has left behind him some promising young men to carry on what he has so happily begun".
See also
References
- ^ a b c d McWilliam, p.57
- ^ Glendinning, et al. (1999) p.48
- ^ John Clerk of Eldin first used the term "Universal Architect" to describe Adam, in his unpublished Life of Robert Adam. Gifford (1990) p.1
- ^ a b Gifford (1989), pp.68 & 75
- ^ Kinross was under construction from 1686. Fleming, pp.6–7
- ^ a b Gifford (1989), p.72
- ^ Gifford (1989), pp.73–74
- ^ Gifford (1989), p.75
- ^ a b Gifford (1989), pp.76–77
- ISBN 978-0-9560933-8-7
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Colvin, pp.56–59
- ^ Fenwick, p.73–78
- ^ Glendinning & McKechnie (2004), p.103
- ^ Gifford (1989), pp.80–81
- ^ a b Gifford (1989), p.106
- ^ Fleming, p.34
- ^ a b Gifford (1989), p.107
- ^ a b c Friedman, p.37
- ^ Gifford (1989), p.108
- ^ Gifford (1989), pp.109–110
- ^ a b Gifford (1989), p.110
- ^ Gifford (1989), p.176
- ^ a b c Gifford (1989), p.179
- ^ Gifford (1989), pp.176 & 178
- ^ a b Fleming, p.52
- ^ Gifford (1989), pp.176–178. Blair Adam remains the home of the Adam family today.
- ^ a b c Donaldson, Peter R. (1996). "Conservation Case Study: The Duff House Project". Architectural Heritage. VI: 33–48.
- ^ a b c Gifford (1989), p.183
- ^ "William Adam 1689–1748 – Book Owners Online". bookowners.online. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
- ^ a b Glendinning and McKechnie (2004), p.103
- ^ Gifford (1989), passim
- ^ a b c McKean, p.258
- ^ The contract was signed on 17 January 1721. Gifford, p.76
- ^ Fleming, p.47
- ^ Gifford (1989), pp.88, 124, 127
- ^ Gifford (1989), p.89
- ^ Fleming, p.49
- ISBN 0-297-78610-5.
- ^ a b Gifford (1989), pp.90–94
- ^ Fleming, p.44
- ^ Fleming, p.51
- ^ a b Dunbar, p.106
- ^ Fleming, p.35
- ^ Fleming, p.59
- ^ Fleming, p.56
- ^ Fleming, p.65
- ^ Walker, pp.305 & 313
- ^ Fleming, pp.63–64
- ^ Fleming, p.62
- ^ a b Fleming, p.64
- ^ Gifford (1992), p.174
- ^ Glendinning & McKechnie (2004) p.97
- ^ Fleming, pp.74–75
- ^ William Adam's obituary in the Caledonian Mercury, cited in Gifford (1990), p.1
- ^ Cited in Gifford (1990), p.2
- ^ Hannah, p.306
- ^ Cited in Gifford (1990), p.3
- ^ a b Cited in Gifford (1990), p.4
- ^ Fleming, p.73
- ^ a b c Dunbar, p.104
- ^ Gifford (1989), p.9
- ^ Fleming, p.72
- ^ Cited in Fleming, p.66
- ^ ""Adam, of Blair Adam", in Burke's Landed Gentry of Scotland" (PDF). pp. 3–4. Retrieved 3 September 2007.
Sources
- Colvin, Howard (1978) A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840, John Murray
- Donaldson, Peter R. (1996). "Conservation Case Study: The Duff House Project". Architectural Heritage. VI: 33–48.
- Dunbar, John (1978) Architecture of Scotland, 2nd edition, B.T. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-1142-2
- Fenwick, Hubert (1970) Architect Royal: the Life and Work of Sir William Bruce, Roundwood Press
- Fleming, John (1962) Robert Adam and His Circle, John Murray
- Friedman, Terry (1990). "Mr Inigo Pilaster and Sir Christopher Cupolo: On the Advantages of Architectural Farrago". Architectural Heritage. I: 33–48.
- Gifford, John (1989) William Adam 1689–1748, Mainstream Publishing / RIAS
- Gifford, John (1990). "William Adam and the Historians". Architectural Heritage. I: 33–48.
- Gifford, John (1992) The Buildings of Scotland: Highlands and Islands, Penguin
- Glendinning, Miles, McKechnie, Aonghus, and McInnes, Ranald (1999) Building a Nation: The Story of Scotland's Architecture, Canongate. ISBN 0-86241-830-5
- Glendinning, Miles, and McKechnie, Aonghus, (2004) Scottish Architecture, Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-20374-1
- Hannah, Ian C. (1988) The Story of Scotland in Stone, 2nd edition, Strong Oak Press. ISBN 1-871048-05-2
- McKean, Charles (2004) The Scottish Chateau, Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3527-8
- McWilliam, Colin (1978) The Buildings of Scotland: Lothian (except Edinburgh), Penguin
- Rykwert, Joseph, and Rykwert, Anne (1985) The Brothers Adam – The Men and the Style, Collins, London. ISBN 0-00-217509-6
- Walker, Frank Arneil (2000) The Buildings of Scotland: Argyll and Bute, Penguin
Further reading
- Adam, William. Vitruvius Scoticus Being a Collection of Plans, Elevations, and Sections of Public Buildings, Noblemen's and Gentlemen's Houses in Scotland, Principally from the Designs of the Late William Adams, Esq. Architect. Edinburgh: Printed for Adam Black and J.J. Robertson, 1812.
- Gifford, John. William Adam, 1689–1748 A Life and Times of Scotland's Universal Architect. Edinburgh: Mainstream, 1989. ISBN 1-85158-295-9
- Howard, Deborah (Ed.), William Adam. Architectural Heritage I. The Journal of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland, issue 17. Edinburgh, University Press. 1990. ISBN 0-7486-0232-1
External links
- Testament Testamentar of William Adam, architect in Edinburgh from Scotland's People