John Lessels

[1] He was born and educated in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and initially worked for his father as a carpenter on the Raith estate.

He joined the office of William Burn (1789–1870), acting as one of his inspector of works until he established his own practice in a flat at 7 St Vincent Street in Edinburgh's Northern or Second New Town in 1846.

Important commissions included the Walker Estate, the area of the Western New Town developed from the 1850s and the Edinburgh publishing firm of Thomas Nelson by 1860.

[1] In 1858 he moved to 21 Heriot Row, a Georgian townhouse facing onto Queen Street Gardens,[2][1] which was his home and office.

The grave lies in the first northern extension in a north-west section, set back but visible from the main east-west path.