D. Alan Stevenson

David Alan Stevenson FRSE, F.I.C.E., FRSGS (7 February 1891 – 22 December 1971) was a lighthouse engineer from the famous Stevenson lighthouse-builder family and noted amateur philatelist.

In 1951, Stevenson was awarded the Crawford Medal by the Royal Philatelic Society London for his work The Triangular Stamps of Cape of Good Hope.

Life
He was born at 9 Manor Place on 7 February 1891, the son of Margaret Sherriff and Charles Alexander Stevenson. He was the last of a long line of lighthouse engineers. He was named after his uncle, David Alan Stevenson but was generally called Alan. The family lived at 9 Manor Place in Edinburgh's West End. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy 1899 to 1903, then studied civil engineering at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a BSc in 1912.

In 1911, he was living with his family at 28 Douglas Crescent.

In World War I, he served as a captain in the Royal Marines as an engineer. His duties included setting guidance lights on the Dardanelles to aid shipping there.

In 1919, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Charles Alexander Stevenson (his father), David Alan Stevenson (his uncle), William A. P. Tait, James Simpson Pirie, Sir Thomas Hudson Beare and Harry Rainy.

Until 1938, he was an engineer of the Northern Lighthouse Board and thereafter spent his life working for the Clyde Lighthouse Trust. His work on the Clyde was pre-empted in 1934 by a commission to deepen the river in order to have capacity to launch the RMS Queen Mary.

He died on 22 December 1971 and was buried in the first northern extension to Dean Cemetery in western Edinburgh. The grave lies immediately alongside his parents.

Family
He was married to Jessie MacLaggan (1897–1973).

Family tree
Alan's position in the family tree shows his long pedigree as an engineer.

Selected publications

 * The Triangular Stamps of Cape of Good Hope (New York, London, Sydney: H.R. Harmer, 1950)
 * The World's Lighthouses before 1820 (1959)