Daniel Asher Alexander

Daniel Asher Alexander (6 May 1768 – 2 March 1846) was an English architect and engineer.

Daniel Asher Alexander
Portrait of Daniel Asher Alexander by John Partridge, circa 1818

Life

Daniel Asher Alexander was born in Southwark, London[1] and educated at St Paul's School, London. He was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools in 1782.[2]

His first major work was the improvement of the medieval bridge at Rochester. The bridge was widened and the two central arches merged into one to provide a wider channel for shipping.[3][4] The work was not completed until 1824, by which time Alexander had been dismissed from his post as engineer to the bridge.[5] He was the principal architect of Dartmoor Prison and Maidstone Prison, two of the oldest gaols still in use in the United Kingdom.[6]

In 1799 he carried out a detailed survey of Rochester Cathedral, and recommended a programme of repairs, which was begun in 1801.[7]

Alexander was the surveyor to the London Dock Company between 1796 and 1831 and was responsible all the buildings at the London Docks during that time, including the Pennington Street Warehouses and the London Dock House. The dock basins themselves were by the company's engineers, including John Rennie.[8]

In his capacity as surveyor to the Trinity House he built a number of lighthouses,[2] including the High Lighthouse at Harwich (1818),[9] and others at Holyhead, Farne Island, and Lundy Island, the latter built on older foundations in 1819.[10]

Lundy Old Lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 15437

Other works include Mote House near Maidstone, built in the 1790s for the 1st Earl of Romney;[11] Coley House near Reading[12] and extensions to Inigo Jones' Queen's House (then the Royal Naval Asylum) in Greenwich, London.[2]

In later life he lived at Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, and at Exeter, where he died.[2][13]

Daniel Alexander memorial in St James' Church, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight

His pupils included James Savage, John Whichcord Snr, William Hurst Ashpitel and Charles Busby.[14]

Notes
Wikisource has the text of the 1885–1900 Dictionary of National Biography's article about Daniel Asher Alexander.
  1. "Alexander, Daniel Asher (1768–1846), architect and engineer". Oxford Index. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 23 September 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/329. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. Radford, Ernest (1885). "Alexander, Daniel Asher". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 01. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  3. "D.A Alexander, Esq". The Gentleman's Magazine. 26: 210–12. 1846. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  4. "The Medieval Bridge". Rochester Bridge Trust. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  5. Rochester Bridge Trust Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Maidstone Prison". HM Prison Service. Archived from the original on 12 February 2010.
  7. Yates, Nigel; Welsby, Paul A. (1996). Faith and fabric: a history of Rochester Cathedral, 604-1994. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 197–202. ISBN 978-0-85115-581-4. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  8. Smith, Denis, ed. (2001). London and the Thames Valley. Civil Engineering Heritage. Thomas Telford. ISBN 9780727728760.
  9. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1280598)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  10. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1326646)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  11. "Walk Maidstone - Mote Park" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  12. "History - John McConnell". Coley Park & Beyond (Kevin Rosier). Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  13. "D.A Alexander, Esq". The Gentleman's Magazine. 26: 210–12. 1846. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  14. "Oxford DNB article: Alexander, Daniel Asher". Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
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