1.
University of Edinburgh
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The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582, is the sixth oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotlands ancient universities. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city of Edinburgh, the University of Edinburgh was ranked 17th and 21st in the world by the 2014–15 and 2015-16 QS rankings. It is now ranked 19th in the according to 2016-17 QS Rankings. It is ranked 16th in the world in arts and humanities by the 2015–16 Times Higher Education Ranking and it is ranked the 23rd most employable university in the world by the 2015 Global Employability University Ranking. It is ranked as the 6th best university in Europe by the U. S. News Best Global Universities Ranking and it is a member of both the Russell Group, and the League of European Research Universities, a consortium of 21 research universities in Europe. It has the third largest endowment of any university in the United Kingdom, after the universities of Cambridge and it continues to have links to the British Royal Family, having had the Duke of Edinburgh as its Chancellor from 1953 to 2010 and Princess Anne since 2011. Edinburgh receives approximately 50,000 applications every year, making it the fourth most popular university in the UK by volume of applicants, after St Andrews, it is the most difficult university to gain admission into in Scotland, and 9th overall in the UK. This was a move at the time, as most universities were established through Papal bulls. Established as the Tounis College, it opened its doors to students in October 1583, instruction began under the charge of another St Andrews graduate Robert Rollock. It was the fourth Scottish university in a period when the more populous. It was renamed King Jamess College in 1617, by the 18th century, the university was a leading centre of the Scottish Enlightenment. The universitys first custom-built building was the Old College, now Edinburgh Law School and its first forte in teaching was anatomy and the developing science of surgery, from which it expanded into many other subjects. From the basement of a nearby house ran the anatomy tunnel corridor and it went under what was then North College Street, and under the university buildings until it reached the universitys anatomy lecture theatre, delivering bodies for dissection. It was from this tunnel the body of William Burke was taken after he had been hanged, towards the end of the 19th century, Old College was becoming overcrowded and Robert Rowand Anderson was commissioned to design new Medical School premises in 1875. The medical school was more or less built to his design and was completed by the addition of the McEwan Hall in the 1880s. The building now known as New College was originally built as a Free Church college in the 1840s and has been the home of divinity at the university since the 1920s. The two oldest schools – law and divinity – are both well-esteemed, with law being based in Old College and divinity in New College on the Mound and they are also represented by the Edinburgh University Sports Union which was founded in 1866. The medical school is renowned throughout the world and it was widely considered the best medical school in the English-speaking world throughout the 18th century and first half of the 19th century
2.
Robert Adam
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Robert Adam FRSE FRS FSA FSA FRSA was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam, Scotlands foremost architect of the time, with his older brother John, Robert took on the family business, which included lucrative work for the Board of Ordnance, after Williams death. In 1754, he left for Rome, spending five years on the continent studying architecture under Charles-Louis Clérisseau. On his return to Britain he established a practice in London, here he developed the Adam Style, and his theory of movement in architecture, based on his studies of antiquity and became one of the most successful and fashionable architects in the country. Adam held the post of Architect of the Kings Works from 1761 to 1769, Robert Adam was a leader of the first phase of the classical revival in England and Scotland from around 1760 until his death. He influenced the development of Western architecture, both in Europe and in North America, Adam designed interiors and fittings as well as houses. He served as the member of Parliament for Kinross-shire from 1768 to 1774, Adam was born on 3 July 1728 at Gladney House in Kirkcaldy, Fife, although the family moved to Edinburgh later that same year. As a child he was noted as having a feeble constitution, in autumn 1743 he matriculated at Edinburgh University, and compulsory classes for all students were, the Greek language, logic, metaphysics and Natural philosophy. Students could choose three subjects, Adam attended classes in mathematics, taught by Colin Maclaurin, and anatomy. His studies were interrupted by the arrival of Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Highlanders, at the end of the year, Robert fell seriously ill for some months, and it seems unlikely that he returned to university, having completed only two years of study. On his recovery from illness in 1746, he joined his elder brother John as apprentice to his father and he assisted William Adam on projects such as the building of Inveraray Castle and the continuing extensions of Hopetoun House. Williams position as Master Mason to the Board of Ordnance also began to generate much work, William Adam died in June 1748, and left Dowhill, a part of the Blair Adam estate which included a tower house, to Robert. On William Adams death, John Adam inherited both the business and the position of Master Mason to the Board of Ordnance. He immediately took Robert into partnership, later to be joined by James Adam, the Adam Brothers first major commission was the decoration of the grand state apartments on the first floor at Hopetoun House, followed by their first new build at Dumfries House. For the Board of Ordnance, the brothers were the contractor at Fort George. In the winter of 1749–1750, Adam travelled to London with his friend and he took the opportunity for architectural study, visiting Wilton, designed by Inigo Jones, and the Queens Hermitage in Richmond by Roger Morris. His sketchbook of the trip shows an continuing interest in gothic architecture. Among his friends at Edinburgh were the philosophers Adam Ferguson and David Hume, other Edinburgh acquaintances included Gilbert Elliot, William Wilkie, John Home and Alexander Wedderburn
3.
John Hutchison (sculptor)
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John Hutchison was a Scottish sculptor based in Edinburgh. His most notable work is the bust of Sir Walter Scott in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. He was born in Laurieston, in north-west Edinburgh and he lived worked and died in Edinburgh. However his apprenticeship was served in Hospitalfield, Arbroath 1849 to 1853 under James Christie alongside Robert Scott Lauder and he exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy from 1862 until 1902. He acted as Librarian to the RSA from 1877-1886 and as Honorary Treasurer from 1886 –1907 and he studied at the Edinburgh School of Applied Art 1894-5, when already an established sculptor. He contributed three stone figures to the Scott Monument on Princes Street, Baron Bradwardine, The Glee Maiden and Flora MacIvor. His sculpture yard stood at 3 Torphicen Place in Edinburghs West End and he died in Edinburgh and is buried in Grange Cemetery, in the northern half of its SE section, alongside his wife Margaret Ballantine. His daughter Henrietta married Andrew Paterson Melville and became a Justice of the Peace
4.
Napoleonic Wars
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The wars resulted from the unresolved disputes associated with the French Revolution and the Revolutionary Wars, which had raged on for years before concluding with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. Napoleon became the First Consul of France in 1799, then Emperor five years later, inheriting the political and military struggles of the Revolution, he created a state with stable finances, a strong central bureaucracy, and a well-trained army. The British frequently financed the European coalitions intended to thwart French ambitions, by 1805, they had managed to convince the Austrians and the Russians to wage another war against France. At sea, the Royal Navy destroyed a combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in October 1805, Prussian worries about increasing French power led to the formation of the Fourth Coalition in 1806. France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July, although Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, it did not bring a lasting peace for Europe. Hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia, the Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support. The Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, the Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia. Unwilling to bear the consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse and retreat of the Grand Army along with the destruction of Russian lands. In 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France, a lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813. The Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814 and he was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power. However, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again, the Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June. The Congress of Vienna, which started in 1814 and concluded in 1815, established the new borders of Europe and laid out the terms, Napoleon seized power in 1799, creating a de facto military dictatorship. The Napoleonic Wars began with the War of the Third Coalition, Kagan argues that Britain was irritated in particular by Napoleons assertion of control over Switzerland. Furthermore, Britons felt insulted when Napoleon stated that their country deserved no voice in European affairs, for its part, Russia decided that the intervention in Switzerland indicated that Napoleon was not looking toward a peaceful resolution of his differences with the other European powers. The British quickly enforced a blockade of France to starve it of resources. Napoleon responded with economic embargoes against Britain, and sought to eliminate Britains Continental allies to break the coalitions arrayed against him, the so-called Continental System formed a league of armed neutrality to disrupt the blockade and enforce free trade with France
5.
William Henry Playfair
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William Henry Playfair FRSE was one of the greatest Scottish architects of the 19th century, designer of many of Edinburghs neo-classical landmarks in the New Town. He was born on 15 July 1790 in Russell Square, London, to James Playfair, Playfairs father was also an architect, and his uncles were John Playfair, the scientist, and William Playfair, an economist and pioneer of information graphics. Two of his finest works are the buildings of the National Gallery of Scotland. The Playfair Project completed in 2004 joined the two buildings with an underground link. In the 1830s Playfair is listed as living at 17 Great Stuart Street on the prestigious Moray Estate in Edinburghs west end, Playfair joined the Free Church following the Disruption of 1843, losing his right to burial in the parish churchyard. Playfair took David Cousin under his wing and was responsible for the part of his training. 1817 Appointed architect to design work on the Old College, University of Edinburgh. The building was completed around 1831,1818 Commissioned by the will of the late Captain John McNabb to design the main building of Dollar Academy, a fitting structure with a Doric facade, which is now named after him. However, due to lack of investment it was never finished, adjacent to The Royal Scottish Academy. 1851 Donaldsons College, Edinburgh 1852 Dunstane House – now a Hotel in west of Edinburgh 1859 National Gallery of Scotland opened to the two years after Playfairs death. Parks & Gardens, UK Playfair, William Henry, Dictionary of Scottish Architects Dictionary of Scottish Architects- William Henry Playfair Gazetteer for Scotland Details William Henry Playfairs buildings in Edinburgh Portrait
6.
Robert Rowand Anderson
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Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, FRSE RSA was a Scottish Victorian architect. Anderson trained in the office of George Gilbert Scott in London before setting up his own practice in Edinburgh in 1860, during the 1860s his main work was small churches in the First Pointed style that is characteristic of Scotts former assistants. By 1880 his practice was designing some of the most prestigious public, Anderson was born at Liberton, outside Edinburgh, the third child of James Anderson, a solicitor, and Margaret Rowand. Educated at George Watsons College, he began an apprenticeship in 1845. He began to study architecture in 1849, attending classes at the Trustees Drawing Academy, in 1857 he took a two-year post as an assistant to George Gilbert Scott, in his office at Trafalgar Square, London. Here he worked alongside many influential architects and he then spent time travelling and studying in France and Italy, also working briefly for Pierre Cuypers in Roermond, Netherlands. In 1860 Anderson returned to Edinburgh, and began working as an architect with the Royal Engineers, undertaking works on coastal defences, all of these were carried out alongside his work for the Royal Engineers, and show the influence of Scotts church designs. Anderson set up his own independent practice in 1868 and his first significant commission came in 1871, for the restoration of St Vigeans Parish Church, Angus. He went on to win the competition to design the Catholic Apostolic Church in Edinburgh, Anderson joined the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, where he met future clients including the Marquis of Bute. In 1873 a short-lived partnership with David Bryce began, but was dissolved only a few months later, in 1874 he was invited to submit designs for a competition for the University of Edinburgh Medical Faculty and graduation hall. He undertook further tours to Europe, resulting in the winning Italian Renaissance style design which was finalised in 1877. The design secured Andersons election to the Royal Scottish Academy, although the Medical School was not completed until 1886, and his next major commission came soon after, in 1876, when he was appointed as architect for Glasgow Central Station. In 1878 Anderson designed a new Mount Stuart House in an Italian Gothic style for the 3rd Marquess of Bute, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery was designed in a similar style, and also executed in red sandstone. However, Browne left in 1885, and Hew Wardrop died in 1887 at Udny Castle, notable architects employed within the Anderson practice included Robert Weir Schultz, Robert Lorimer, Sydney Mitchell, and James Jerdan. During the 1880s, Andersons style became increasingly influenced by Scottish historical architecture, possibly as a result of his friendship with architectural historians MacGibbon, the Scottish influence is evident in the Normand Memorial Hall, Dysart, Ardgowan Estate Office, Greenock, and the Pearce Institute, Govan. From the 1890s, restoration became the focus of Andersons architecture and he had already undertaken work at Iona Abbey and Jedburgh Abbey in the 1870s, and now restored Dunblane Cathedral and Paisley Abbey. He became more involved in teaching, helping to set up a School of Applied Art in 1892, in 1903 this merged into the new Edinburgh College of Art, with Anderson as a trustee. In his later years Anderson became difficult to work with, and was perceived as arrogant, another partnership, formed in 1899, was dissolved following lawsuits in 1902
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