Alexander Edward
Encyclopedia
Alexander Edward was a Scottish
Episcopalian
clergyman, who later became a draughtsman
, architect
and landscape designer
. He was a stylistic follower of Sir William Bruce
, and planned several gardens in the grand French axial manner.
in Angus
, who was related by marriage to the Maule family, and as such enjoyed the patronage of the Maule Earls of Panmure
. Alexander's diary records that his family had to hide from Cromwell's
Puritan
troops in the 1650s, and also that he had a squint
. He graduated from the University of St Andrews
in 1670.
Edward was not ordained until 1679, and his activities during the 1670s are unknown. At this time, his father was writing a description of Angus, and preparing a map to accompany the book, entitled Angusia, Provincia Scotiae. The work was commissioned by George Maule, 2nd Earl of Panmure, and published in 1678. John Lowrey has suggested that Alexander assisted with Angusia, acquiring skills as a draughtsman and cartographer. Lowrey also speculates that he may have come into contact with Sir William Bruce at this time, as Bruce designed new gates for Panmure House in 1672.
Edward was one of the pallbearer
s at the funeral of Archbishop Sharp, the churchman murdered by Presbyterian Covenanter
s in 1679. From 1681 he was minister of Kemback
in Fife
, until 1689 when he was deprived of his parish as a non-juror
, following the establishment of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland
. Despite this, he was still minister in 1694, despite his manse
being attacked by a mob in 1691.
, designed by the King's architect Sir William Bruce as his own country house. He worked as Bruce's draughtsman again on an unexecuted scheme for the house and gardens of Kinnaird Castle, Angus. He drew up plans for Melville House
in Fife, where Bruce was also involved, and where James Smith
served as main contractor and designer. In 1699 he made a drawing of Falkland Palace
for its keeper, the 2nd Marquis of Atholl
.
Edward's first architectural commission came from James Maule, 4th Earl of Panmure
, for the reconstruction of Brechin Castle
as a country seat, on which he worked from 1696 to 1708. This remains his only known substantial work, and shows the stylistic influence of William Bruce. In 1700 he was involved in the building of Rossie House in Angus for Patrick Scott (now demolished), and he also oversaw interior works at Kellie Castle, Angus, another Maule property. He may have been responsible for the designs of Careston Castle, which was extended from an L-plan to a symmetrical U-plan shape in 1702. In 1704 he designed the monument to John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl
in Dunkeld Cathedral
.
-leaning nobles, led by the Earls of Mar
and Panmure. Edward was charged with visiting country seats in England, including Chatsworth
and Castle Howard
, before meeting various well-known craftsmen in London. He was then to travel to Paris and the low countries, visiting Versailles
, Marly
and St Cloud
. His main aim was to collect material on the most up-to-date architectural styles, as well as observing land improvements, water works, mines and other projects. He bought plans, made sketches and took notes, building up a large collection of material, which several of his patrons attempted to secure on Edward's death. Another, more secret, purpose to his journey was to convey coded letters from the Duke of Hamilton to James Stuart
, the "Old Pretender", at his court-in-exile at Saint-Germain
.
, as well as at Kinross. In 1708 Edward prepared drawings for the "Great Design" of the landscape around Hamilton Palace
, for Duchess Anne Hamilton
. The enormous scheme included plantations, forest rides, and mounds in the shape of the cinquefoils of the Hamilton arms. It was never fully realised, due to the deaths of Edward that year, and of Anne in 1716, and due to the expense of the proposals. However, the Nethertoun area of Hamilton
was demolished, and a great avenue laid out, later terminated by William Adam's Chatelherault
.
. The antiquary Robert Sibbald
described him as a "great master in architecture, and contrivance of avenues, gardens and orchards".
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Episcopalian
Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian church in Scotland, consisting of seven dioceses. Since the 17th century, it has had an identity distinct from the presbyterian Church of Scotland....
clergyman, who later became a draughtsman
Technical drawing
Technical drawing, also known as drafting or draughting, is the act and discipline of composing plans that visually communicate how something functions or has to be constructed.Drafting is the language of industry....
, architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and landscape designer
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
. He was a stylistic follower of Sir William Bruce
William Bruce (architect)
Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Baronet was a Scottish gentleman-architect, "the effective founder of classical architecture in Scotland," as Howard Colvin observes...
, and planned several gardens in the grand French axial manner.
Early life
Alexander Edward was the eldest son of Robert Edward, minister at MurroesMurroes
Murroes is a village and parish in Angus, Scotland. The village lies 3 miles north of Dundee city centre. The parish church was built in 1848. Ballumbie House, and Powrie, and Wedderburn castles are within the parish. In the reign of Charles II the minister was Robert Edward, author of an account...
in Angus
Angus
Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...
, who was related by marriage to the Maule family, and as such enjoyed the patronage of the Maule Earls of Panmure
Earl of Panmure
Earl of Panmure was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1646 for Sir Patrick Maule, a former Gentleman of the Bedchamber to James VI and loyal follower of Charles I. He was made Lord Maule, Brechin and Navar at the same time, also in the Peerage of Scotland...
. Alexander's diary records that his family had to hide from Cromwell's
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
troops in the 1650s, and also that he had a squint
Squint
Squint, means to look with the eyes partly closed. It may also refer to:* Squint, a commonly used alternative name for the medical condition, strabismus* Squint Entertainment record label* Squint...
. He graduated from the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
in 1670.
Edward was not ordained until 1679, and his activities during the 1670s are unknown. At this time, his father was writing a description of Angus, and preparing a map to accompany the book, entitled Angusia, Provincia Scotiae. The work was commissioned by George Maule, 2nd Earl of Panmure, and published in 1678. John Lowrey has suggested that Alexander assisted with Angusia, acquiring skills as a draughtsman and cartographer. Lowrey also speculates that he may have come into contact with Sir William Bruce at this time, as Bruce designed new gates for Panmure House in 1672.
Edward was one of the pallbearer
Pallbearer
A pall-bearer is one of several funeral participants who helps carry the casket of a deceased person from a religious or memorial service or viewing either directly to a cemetery or mausoleum, or to and from the hearse which carries the coffin....
s at the funeral of Archbishop Sharp, the churchman murdered by Presbyterian Covenanter
Covenanter
The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...
s in 1679. From 1681 he was minister of Kemback
Kemback
Kemback is a village in Fife, Scotland, located east of Cupar. The present village was developed in the 19th century to house those working the flax mills on the nearby Ceres Burn. From 1681 the minister for the parish was Alexander Edward, until 1689 when he was deprived as a non-juror...
in Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, until 1689 when he was deprived of his parish as a non-juror
Non-juror
A non-juror is a person who refuses to swear a particular oath.* In British history, non-jurors refused to swear allegiance to William and Mary; see Nonjuring schism...
, following the establishment of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
. Despite this, he was still minister in 1694, despite his manse
Manse
A manse is a house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist or United Church...
being attacked by a mob in 1691.
Architectural works
In around 1685, he prepared plans and elevations of Kinross HouseKinross House
Kinross House is a late 17th-century country house overlooking Loch Leven, near Kinross in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Construction of the house was begun in 1686, by the architect Sir William Bruce as his own home. It is regarded as one of his finest works, and was called by Daniel Defoe "the...
, designed by the King's architect Sir William Bruce as his own country house. He worked as Bruce's draughtsman again on an unexecuted scheme for the house and gardens of Kinnaird Castle, Angus. He drew up plans for Melville House
Melville House
Melville House lies to the southside of Monimail in Fife. It was built in 1697 by the architect James Smith for George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville, incorporating the 14th Century Monimail Tower...
in Fife, where Bruce was also involved, and where James Smith
James Smith (architect)
James Smith was a Scottish architect, who pioneered the Palladian style in Scotland. He was described by Colen Campbell, in his Vitruvius Britannicus , as "the most experienced architect of that kingdom".-Biography:...
served as main contractor and designer. In 1699 he made a drawing of Falkland Palace
Falkland Palace
Falkland Palace in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a former royal palace of the Scottish Kings. Today it is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, and serves as a tourist attraction.-Early years:...
for its keeper, the 2nd Marquis of Atholl
John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl
John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl, KT, PC was a Scottish nobleman, politician, and soldier. He served in numerous positions during his life, and fought in the Glorious Revolution for William III and Mary II....
.
Edward's first architectural commission came from James Maule, 4th Earl of Panmure
James Maule, 4th Earl of Panmure
James Maule, 4th Earl of Panmure , was a Scottish peer.Born in Monifieth, Scotland, James Maule lived at Ballumbie and became the 4th Earl of Panmure in 1686 on the death of his brother, George Maule, the 3rd Earl. he married Margaret, the daughter of William Douglas, Duke of Hamilton...
, for the reconstruction of Brechin Castle
Brechin Castle
Brechin Castle is a castle located in Brechin, Angus, Scotland. The castle is the seat of the Earl of Dalhousie, who is the clan chieftain of Clan Maule of Panmure in Angus, and Clan Ramsay of Dalhousie in Midlothian. The original castle was constructed in stone during the 13th century...
as a country seat, on which he worked from 1696 to 1708. This remains his only known substantial work, and shows the stylistic influence of William Bruce. In 1700 he was involved in the building of Rossie House in Angus for Patrick Scott (now demolished), and he also oversaw interior works at Kellie Castle, Angus, another Maule property. He may have been responsible for the designs of Careston Castle, which was extended from an L-plan to a symmetrical U-plan shape in 1702. In 1704 he designed the monument to John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl
John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl
John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl, KT was a leading Scottish royalist and defender of the Stuarts during the English Civil War of the 1640s, until after the rise to power of William and Mary in 1689...
in Dunkeld Cathedral
Dunkeld Cathedral
Dunkeld Cathedral stands on the north bank of the River Tay in Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Built in square-stone style of predominantly grey sandstone, the cathedral proper was begun in 1260 and completed in 1501...
.
Travels to Europe
He was sent on a fact-finding mission in 1701-02 by a group of JacobiteJacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
-leaning nobles, led by the Earls of Mar
John Erskine, 22nd Earl of Mar
John Erskine, 22nd and de jure 6th Earl of Mar, KT , Scottish Jacobite, was the eldest son of the 21st Earl of Mar , from whom he inherited estates that were heavily loaded with debt. By modern reckoning he was 22nd Earl of Mar of the first creation and de jure 6th Earl of Mar of the seventh...
and Panmure. Edward was charged with visiting country seats in England, including Chatsworth
Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House is a stately home in North Derbyshire, England, northeast of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield . It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549.Standing on the east bank of the...
and Castle Howard
Castle Howard
Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh...
, before meeting various well-known craftsmen in London. He was then to travel to Paris and the low countries, visiting Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
, Marly
Château de Marly
The Château de Marly was a relatively small French royal residence located in what has become Marly-le-Roi, the commune that existed at the edge of the royal park. The town that originally grew up to service the château is now a dormitory community for Paris....
and St Cloud
Château de Saint-Cloud
The Château de Saint-Cloud was a Palace in France, built on a magnificent site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about 10 kilometres west of Paris. Today it is a large park on the outskirts of the capital and is owned by the state, but the area as a whole has had a large...
. His main aim was to collect material on the most up-to-date architectural styles, as well as observing land improvements, water works, mines and other projects. He bought plans, made sketches and took notes, building up a large collection of material, which several of his patrons attempted to secure on Edward's death. Another, more secret, purpose to his journey was to convey coded letters from the Duke of Hamilton to James Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...
, the "Old Pretender", at his court-in-exile at Saint-Germain
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a royal palace in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the département of Yvelines, about 19 km west of Paris, France. Today, it houses the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale ....
.
Landscape gardening
Edward assisted William Bruce with the layout for the gardens at Hopetoun HouseHopetoun House
Hopetoun House is the traditional residence of the Earl of Hopetoun . It was built 1699-1701, designed by William Bruce. It was then hugely extended from 1721 by William Adam until his death in 1748 being one of his most notable projects. The interior was completed by his sons John Adam and Robert...
, as well as at Kinross. In 1708 Edward prepared drawings for the "Great Design" of the landscape around Hamilton Palace
Hamilton Palace
Hamilton Palace was a large country house located north-east of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The former seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, it was built in 1695 and subsequently much enlarged. The house was demolished in 1921 due to ground subsidence despite inadequate evidence for that...
, for Duchess Anne Hamilton
Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton
Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton was a Scottish peeress.The daughter of Sir James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton and 3rd Marquess of Hamilton, Scottish General and premier peer of the realm, and Lady Mary Feilding, daughter of William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh and Lady Susan Villiers, a...
. The enormous scheme included plantations, forest rides, and mounds in the shape of the cinquefoils of the Hamilton arms. It was never fully realised, due to the deaths of Edward that year, and of Anne in 1716, and due to the expense of the proposals. However, the Nethertoun area of Hamilton
Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
Hamilton is a town in South Lanarkshire, in the west-central Lowlands of Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It is the fifth-biggest town in Scotland after Paisley, East Kilbride, Livingston and Cumbernauld...
was demolished, and a great avenue laid out, later terminated by William Adam's Chatelherault
Chatelherault Country Park
Chatelherault Country Park is a country park in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland.Its name is derived from the French town of Châtellerault, the title Duc de Châtellerault being held by the Duke of Hamilton....
.
Death
Alexander Edward died in Edinburgh, and was buried in Greyfriars KirkyardGreyfriars Kirkyard
Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a number of notable Edinburgh residents are interred at...
. The antiquary Robert Sibbald
Robert Sibbald
Sir Robert Sibbald was a Scottish physician and antiquary.-Life:He was born in Edinburgh, the son of David Sibbald and Margaret Boyd...
described him as a "great master in architecture, and contrivance of avenues, gardens and orchards".