William Mylne

He was the second son of Thomas Mylne, Deacon of the mason's guild, who built the original Edinburgh Royal Infirmary to designs by William Adam.

[2] In autumn 1753 he left Edinburgh for Paris, where he studied at the École des Arts under the architect Jacques-François Blondel.

As well as part-time study, he also undertook paid work, learning the art of marble carving, to supplement the minimal allowance from his father.

[3] The following year, at the suggestion of James Nevay, a fellow Scot in France, Mylne proposed to his father that he be allowed to go on to Rome to study architecture, with a view to eventually setting up practice in London.

Travelling mostly by foot, due to lack of funds, they visited Avignon and Marseilles, where they took a boat to Civitavecchia, and arrived at Rome in early 1755.

[7] They visited Naples in May 1756, but William was planning to leave by September, on account of his dislike of the hot weather.

[8] Leaving Robert at Rome the following spring, William travelled north, spending several months visiting Pisa, Florence, and Venice.

Mylne was obliged to burn all his papers to hide his British identity,[10] and posed as an Italian to avoid being either arrested or pressed into military service.

By 1758 he was a member of the Incorporation of St Mary's Chapel, the guild of masons and carpenters in Edinburgh, and began to take on the running of his father's business.

[2][13] Between 1768 and 1772, William and Robert were jointly responsible for designing and supervising construction, of the New Bridge over the River Clyde in Glasgow.

Robert by this time was an established architect and engineer in London, and had won the competition to build a new bridge at Blackfriars.

[17] Willy was raised in the Mylne household, and William paid for his education at the Royal High School.