Everything about James Craig Architect totally explained
James Craig (
31 October 1739–
1795) was a
Scottish architect. His brief career was concentrated almost entirely in
Edinburgh, and he's remembered primarily for his layout of the first Edinburgh
New Town.
Date of Birth
Craig's birth date is traditionally given as 1744, as his baptism is recorded in parish register as Tuesday 13 November 1744. However, more recent research has shown that his birth date was 31 October 1739, as recorded in the registers of
George Watson's Hospital, where Craig was educated. As well as his date of birth, the records show he entered the school in 1748, and left in 1755. The 1744 date must therefore be incorrect, as it would mean he started school aged four, and left aged eleven. The baptism year, although not the date, has been shown to be in error, as
13 November fell on a Tuesday in 1739 also.
Early life
Craig was the son of William Craig, a merchant, and Mary Thomson, sister of the poet
James Thomson (1700-1748). William was the son of Robert Craig, merchant and
Dean of Guild in Edinburgh. After being schooled at George Watson's, Craig was apprenticed to mason Patrick Jamieson in 1755, and was a qualified mason by 1764.
Architectural work
His winning plan for the competition held in
1766 was for a simple rectilinear arrangement of three parallel main streets (
Princes Street,
George Street and
Queen Street) with a square at each end (
St Andrew's Square and
Charlotte Square). His plan was presented to King
George III in 1767. His other works included the Physicians' Hall in George Street that was later demolished and to be replaced by a banking hall in the
Palladian manner by
William Henry Playfair (for the Commercial
Bank) and Observatory House at the
City Observatory on
Calton Hill. Craig also designed Leith Fort.
Further Information
Get more info on 'James Craig Architect'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://james_craig__architect.totallyexplained.com">James Craig (architect) Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
