Archibald Simpson

Archibald Simpson (4 May 1790 – 23 March 1847) was a Scottish architect, who along with his rival John Smith, is regarded as having fashioned the character of Aberdeen as "The Granite City". Life and work Early life Archibald Simpson was born at 15 Guestrow, Aberdeen on 4 May 1790, the ninth and last child of William Simpson (1740–1804), a clothier at Broadgate, and his wife Barbara Dauney (c.1750 - 1801), the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. The family house at Guestrow is thought to have been built by his uncle William Dauney, who was a master mason. The house was later demolished in 1930. Simpson attended Aberdeen Grammar School as a contemporary of Byron, who lived nearby in Broadgate. At 13 he entered Marischal College but left after a year, on the death of his father, to work in the office of James Massie, a builder at Castlehill, having been influenced so by his uncle William Dauney.