Peter Nicholson (architect)

Peter Nicholson
Engraved portrait of Nicholson from the frontispiece of his Guide to Railway Masonry
Born(1765-07-20)20 July 1765
Prestonkirk, East Lothian
Died18 June 1844(1844-06-18) (aged 78)
Carlisle, Cumbria
NationalityBritish
EducationParish school (three years only), mostly self-taught[1]
OccupationEngineer
Spouse(s)Jane (d. 1832);[2]
re-married
ChildrenMichael Angelo Nicholson (c. 1796–1841), by Jane;
Jessie Nicholson (m. Bowen), Jamieson T. Nicholson, both by 2nd wife[2]
Parent[father was a stonemason]
Engineering career
DisciplineArchitect, mathematician, structural engineer
ProjectsCarlton Place, Glasgow
Ardrossan town plan
Significant designThe centrolinead
The cyclograph
Significant advanceThe helicoidal skew arch

Peter Nicholson (20 July 1765  – 18 June 1844) was a Scottish architect, mathematician and engineer. Largely self-taught, he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker but soon abandoned his trade in favour of teaching and writing. He practised as an architect but is best remembered for his theoretical work on the skew arch (he never actually constructed one himself), his invention of draughtsman's instruments, including a centrolinead and a cyclograph, and his prolific writing on numerous practical subjects.

  1. ^ Anderson, William (1867). The Scottish Nation. Vol. III (Mac–Zet). Edinburgh: A. Fullarton & Co. pp. 250–251.
  2. ^ a b T., O. (1844). Laxton, William (ed.). "Memoir of the Late Peter Nicholson, Architect". The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal, Scientific and Railway Gazette. VII. London: Groombridge & Sons, J. Weale: 425.