An Edinburgh based architect about whom little is known.
Adamson has been tentatively identified as the designer of the Gothic-style stonework of the Albert Bridge, the most richly ornamented bridge over Glasgow’s River Clyde (1868-71).
Adamson complimented the bridge’s Medieval parapets; tracery and stiff-leaf carver work with a fine display of heraldry, including shields bearing the arms of Glasgow, Lanark, Renfrew, Ayr, the Trades House, Merchants House, Glasgow University, and the Royal Family.
The bridge was a major project of its time and Adamson was working with some of the best contractors of the day:
The engineers R.B. & D. Miller, who designed the bridge's ironwork; Hannah, Donald & Wilson, of Paisley, who cast its spans and lamp standards; the pattern makers Kay & Reid, who modelled the shields and lamps in wood prior to casting; and
G E Ewing
, the most successful sculptor of his day in Scotland, who produced the bronze medallion portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert for the bridge’s abutments.