Thomas Stevenson
| Thomas Stevenson | |
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Thomas Stevenson, 1880.
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| Born | 22 July 1818 |
| Died | 8 May 1887 (aged 68) Edinburgh |
| Alma mater | Edinburgh University |
| Occupation | Lighthouse engineer |
| Employer | Northern Lighthouse Board |
| Home town | Edinburgh |
| Children | Robert Louis Stevenson |
| Parent(s) | Robert Stevenson (father) |
| Relatives |
David Stevenson (brother) Alan Stevenson (brother) |
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Thomas Stevenson PRSE MInstCE FRSSA FSAScot (22 July 1818 – 8 May 1887) was a pioneering Scottish lighthouse designer and meteorologist, who designed over thirty lighthouses in and around Scotland, as well as the Stevenson screen used in meteorology. His designs, celebrated as ground breaking, ushered in a new era of lighthouse creation.
He served as president of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts (1859–60), as president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1884-86), and was a co-founder of the Scottish Meteorological Society.
The youngest son of engineer Robert Stevenson, and brother of the lighthouse engineers Alan and David Stevenson, between 1854 and 1886 he designed many lighthouses, with his brother David, and then with David's son David Alan Stevenson. His wife's brother, James Melville Balfour, trained under D. & T. Stevenson and then emigrated to New Zealand, where he was first the marine engineer for Otago Province before he appointed Colonial Marine Engineer.
He married Margaret Isabella "Maggie" Balfour in 1848 and their son was the writer Robert Louis Stevenson, who caused him much disappointment by failing to follow the engineering interests of his family. Maggie Balfour was the older sister of James Balfour.
Thomas Stevenson was a devout and regular attender at St. Stephen's Church in St Stephen's Place, Silvermills, at the north end of St Vincent Street, Edinburgh.
He was involved in regrettable efforts to rubbish the inventions of John Richardson Wigham.
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