[3] However, since the early 20th century, architectural critics have taken a more measured view, Colin McWilliam, for instance, finding the quality of his work "varied to an extreme degree".

[1] As well as being an architect, Adam was involved in several industrial ventures and improvement schemes, including coal mining, salt panning, stone quarries and mills.

John Gifford links Adam's rise with the retirement of James Smith, the most prominent architect of the early 18th century, who was in his 70s by this time.

[12] Adam's beliefs were much more acceptable, although he did manage to maintain relations with the exiled Jacobite, and amateur architect, John Erskine, Earl of Mar.

[15] For example, Sir John Clerk unsuccessfully proposed Adam for city architect under the "Town of Edinburgh Bill", which would have seen him overseeing new public works in the capital.

[17] In 1727 Adam and Sir John Clerk travelled to London, visiting a number of country seats along the way, including Cliveden, Wilton, and Wanstead House.

[18] In London, Adam attempted to make further political contacts, as well as seeking out an engraver for his projected book of architectural plans, which would eventually become Vitruvius Scoticus.

[19] By 1728, Adam was firmly established as a successful architect with numerous ongoing business concerns, including coal mining, salt panning, quarrying and agricultural improvements, although in that year occurred the death of his partner and father-in-law William Robertson.

[20] For the same year, William Adam and Alexander McGill are called architects in the subscribers' list to James Gibbs's Book of Architecture.

[24] Other engineering works included an aqueduct cut through a hill at Inveresk, and in 1741, an attempt to promote a Forth and Clyde canal, a project eventually realised by others some 30 years later.

[26] In 1741 Adam was forced to initiate legal proceedings against William, Lord Braco, to retrieve unpaid fees arising from his work at Duff House.

[11] In 1746, the position of Master Carpenter to the Board of Ordnance became vacant, and Adam was quick to put forward his son John's name for consideration, although he was unsuccessful in securing him the post.

Mavisbank House, constructed between 1723 and 1727, was the first Palladian villa in Scotland,[38] a collaboration between Adam and the owner, amateur architect Sir John Clerk of Penicuik.

Built for Robert Dundas, a lawyer and politician linked to John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, Arniston includes extensive grounds laid out by Adam, with a parterre and cascade, and a main avenue centred on Arthur's Seat to the north.

[41] Duff House, Adam's major work of the 1730s, demonstrates his accretion of local and foreign influences, presenting itself as "a medieval castle in baroque dress".

This style is related to the designs produced by the exiled Jacobite Earl of Mar, an amateur architect who collaborated with Adam at the House of Dun.

[44] In the 1730s Adam extended Taymouth Castle and laid out gardens, although his work was largely demolished to make way for the present building in the 19th century.

[11] Adam's approach here mirrored the work of Bruce at Balcaskie, extending a Scottish tower house to form a near-symmetrical architectural composition.

[45] From 1746, Adam was acting as "Intendant General" and contractor, overseeing the building of Inveraray Castle to a Gothic design by Roger Morris.

His role was to correspond with the architect on behalf of the client, Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, and Adam also offered Morris his own advice on detail design.

Also in Edinburgh, Adam built George Watson's Hospital from 1738 to 1741, demolished 2004, which in the 19th century was incorporated by David Bryce as part of the new Royal Infirmary.

[11] The last Jacobite rising occurred in 1745, when "Bonnie Prince Charlie" attempted to seize the British throne, aided by rebellious Scottish Highlanders.

[50] He was engaged in 1747 to provide the mason work and brickwork for Fort George near Inverness, although the project only began shortly before Adam's death.

[23] The project then stalled, possibly due to the lack of subscriptions (only 150 were collected, compared to over 700 for Vitruvius Britannicus), although it may have been revived around the time of Adam's death.

"[1] Adam's death coincided with the final defeat of the Jacobite threat in 1746, and the advance of the Scottish Enlightenment, which resulted in new styles of building becoming popular.

Although Robert formed his own style through lengthy study in Rome, John Fleming detects traces of his father's influence on all three of the brothers' work, and suggests that the Adam principle of "movement" in architecture was partly inspired by William's admiration for Vanbrugh.

More concretely, Fleming notes that working with their father gave the brothers a solid grounding in the technical aspects of architecture, and introduced them to a set of clients which they might never otherwise have had access to.

[57] John Fleming lamented his "ad hoc improvisation from source books, improperly digested",[58] and decided that he "cannot be allowed great distinction as an architect".

William Adam's obituary in the Caledonian Mercury noted that "it is fortunate he has left behind him some promising young men to carry on what he has so happily begun".