An eminent Scottish engineer, born at Glasgow, the son of a West India merchant; adopted the profession of his stepfather Thomas Smith, and in 1796 succeeded him as first engineer to the Board of Northern Lighthouses, a position he held for 47 years, during which he planned and erected as many as 23 lighthouses round the coasts of Scotland, his most noted erection being that on the Bell Rock; introduced the catoptric system of illumination and other improvements; was also much employed as a consulting engineer in connection with bridge, harbour, canal, and railway construction (1772-1850).