Basic Biographical Details

Name: William Mylne
Designation:  
Born: 1734
Died: March 1790
Bio Notes: William Mylne was born in 1734, the second son of Thomas Mylne of Edinburgh and brother of the more famous brother Robert. He served an apprenticeship as a mason and in 1754 went to France where he studied under J F Blondel. He then went to Italy with his older brother. In 1758 he returned to Scotland to take over his father’s business as mason and builder. However his own predilection was for civil engineering rather than architecture and he developed this side of his business. He was mainly concerned with bridges and waterworks. He re-arranged the interiors of Inveraray in 1770-72, but passed the subsequent commission for redecorating the interiors to his brother Robert.

Mylne was Deacon of the Edinburgh masons and therefore a member of the Town Council. In 1765-6 he was Convenor of the Trades and was elected a member of the Bridge Committee. He was asked in 1765 to ‘rectify’ James Craig’s plan of the New Town and this may have involved the elimination of the diagonal streets which featured in Craig’s original plan. If this was the case he had a profound influence of the way the New Town looks. The change had been adopted by 1766.

In 1765 he submitted a design for North Bridge. Although the design was run-of-the-mill he was able (unlike his competitor David Henderson) to find security to execute the design and contracted to build it for £10,140. In 1769 when the bridge was nearly finished, the southern abutment collapsed burying five people alive. Mylne repaired the damage but was financially embarrassed and in 1773 left Scotland for America. He tried his hand as a planter in South Carolina but moved to New York in 1774 to try to find work as an architect. This did not prove easy.

He returned home and obtained a post superintending the improvement of the water supply in Dublin. This was in a very poor state and he affected great improvements. This success was recognised by the Lord Mayor and Alderman of Dublin who presented him with a silver salver in 1786.

Mylne died in Dublin in March 1790. His brother erected a tablet to his memory in St Catherine’s Church which was to inform posterity of his great success with the waterworks.

Buildings and Designs

This was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):
 Date startedBuilding nameTown, district or villageIslandCity or countyCountryNotes
Item 1 of 41764Bridge over the River Tweed, FernileeYair SelkirkshireScotland 
Item 2 of 41765North Bridge  EdinburghScotlandWon commission.
Item 3 of 41768Jamaica Bridge  GlasgowScotland 
Item 4 of 41770Inveraray CastleInveraray ArgyllScotlandInterior rearranged

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 7Colvin, Howard2008A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 London: YUP. 4th edition 
Item 2 of 7Cruft, K and Fraser, A (ed)1995James Craig 1744-1795  pp27, 52, 59
Item 3 of 7Institution of Civil Engineers2002Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers V.1 and 2Entry on Mylne by Ted Ruddock
Item 4 of 7Mylne, R S The Master Masons to the Crown of Scotland  pp253-60
Item 5 of 7Ruddock, Ted (ed.)1994Travels in the Colonies in 1773-5, described in the Letters of William Mylne Georgia 
Item 6 of 7Smeaton, John1812Reports of the late John Smeaton  iii, p218
Item 7 of 7Youngson, A J1966The Making of Classical Edinburgh Edinburgh University Presspp60-5

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this :
 Periodical NameDateEditionPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 1Newcomen Society Transactionsbetween 1974 and 647 E C Ruddock, 'The Building of the North Bridge, Edinburgh'.

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
 SourceArchive NameSource Catalogue No.Notes
Item 1 of 1RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert MuseumRIBA MSS Collection Mylne Family Papers