On a visit to Scotland in 1810, Baird invited William, then a trainee architect, to join his flourishing business in St. Petersburg and live in his household.
His first projects included installing machinery at the imperial arsenal and glassworks and helping build the Elizaveta steamship, launched in 1815.
[1] In 1835, a "communication" was read to the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh describing " ...the cutting and erection of the great Pillar at St Peterburgh in memory of Alexander the I, Emperor of Russia, by Wm.
(original spelling)[2] Handyside had a leading role in designing the large iron structure of the cathedral of St. Isaac dome, gilding it and casting the bronze ornamentation, though Francis Baird oversaw the later stages of this process.
He worked on the ground level colonnade of pillars and the columns supporting the dome and devised special machinery to help with construction.