Copies of sketchbooks by John and John Lessels, father and son, architects, Edinburgh, Scotland
551 1141
Description Copies of sketchbooks by John and John Lessels, father and son, architects, Edinburgh, Scotland
Date 1849 to 3/8/1882
Collection Copies of sketchbooks by John and John Lessels, father and son, architects, Edinburgh, Scotland
Catalogue Number 551 1141
Category All Other
Scope and Content Photographic copies of sketchbooks by John and John Lessels, nineteenth-century father and son architects. The father's sketchbook contains watercolours of buildings on the Royal Mile, City of Edinburgh, and near Kirkcaldy, Fife, where he was brought up. The other sketchbook contains views of Eastern Europe, where John Lessels the younger worked, and also buildings near Edinburgh.
Archive History Lent by the family to be copied by RCAHMS as a Survey of a Private Collection. Accessioned as Acc No 2004/56.
Access Conditions Open, but note that access may be subject to conservation requirements. Please contact the archive to confirm access in advance of a visit.
Administrative History John Lessels (1809-83) and John Lessels (1833-1914), father and son, architects. John Lessels (elder) was born in Kirkcaldy. He was taken into the office of William Burn, in time becoming his inspector of works. By 1843 he had moved to Edinburgh, establishing his own practice in 1846, in which he was joined by his son, John, as partner, c.1856. In 1866 he was appointed joint architect to the City Improvement Trust. John Lessels (junior) was born in Dawyck, where his father at the time was Burn's inspector of works. Educated in Kirkcaldy, the Edinburgh Institution, he then studied at the Trustees' Academy, studying modelling and watercolour. Between 1853 and c.1856 he worked as Drawing Clerk at Windsor Castle, before returning to Scotland to join his father in partnership, setting up a short-lived office in Perth. After a period spent planning to emigrate to New Zealand, he re-entered Crown service, executing works including those for Royal weddings and funerals. In 1870 he was selected to carry out the rebuilding of the British Embassy in Constantinople, before returning to Windsor in 1876 where he was responsible for works on the castle, Frogmore, Kew, and Hampton Court. For fuller details see the Dictionary of Scottish Architects http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=200066 http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=200583
Accruals No accruals are anticipated.
Accession Number 2004/56
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1765627
