William Adam 1689–1748
From Book Owners Online
William ADAM 1689-1748
Biographical Note
The son of John Adam, builder and merchant, and of his wife, Helen, daughter of the third Lord Cranstoun, William Adam was trained as a mason. He had an extensive career as a builder, entrepreneur and architect, mainly in Scotland. From the 1720s on he designed mansions for a number of wealthy and aristocratic patrons.
His three sons John Adam 1721–1792, Robert Adam 1728–1792 and James Adam 1732–1794 continued in their father's footsteps.
Books
Adam's library at Blair Adam is recorded as having had a range of over 140 architectural works from Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain.
Sources
- Macaulay, James. "Adam, William (bap. 1689, d. 1748), builder and architect." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- Alistair Rowan, “William Adam’s Library.” Architectural Heritage 1, no. 1 (November 1, 1990): 8–33.