Q 01/05

What was the family profession that Stevenson's father, grandfather and uncles all followed?

A) Medicine and surgery

B) Lighthouse engineering

C) The Presbyterian ministry

D) Shipbuilding on the Clyde

Answer · why

B) Lighthouse engineering

His grandfather Robert Stevenson built the Bell Rock light, and his uncle Alan built Skerryvore, the name Louis later gave his Bournemouth house.

Q 02/05

At about what age did Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson change 'Lewis' to 'Louis'?

A) 18

B) 8

C) 25

D) 30

Answer · why

A) 18

He dropped 'Balfour', his mother's maiden name, in 1873.

Q 03/05

At which Edinburgh address was Stevenson born on 13 November 1850?

A) 1 Inverleith Terrace

B) 17 Heriot Row

C) 8 Howard Place

D) 5 Charlotte Square

Answer · why

C) 8 Howard Place

The family moved to a damp house at Inverleith Terrace in 1851 and then to the sunnier 17 Heriot Row when he was six.

Q 04/05

To whom did Stevenson dedicate A Child's Garden of Verses (1885)?

A) His stepson Lloyd

B) His mother Margaret

C) His wife Fanny

D) His nurse Alison Cunningham

Answer · why

D) His nurse Alison Cunningham

'Cummy' read him Bunyan and the Bible and told tales of the Covenanters; her fervent Calvinism was also an early source of his nightmares.

Q 05/05

Stevenson's first publication, printed at his father's expense when he was 16, was an account of what?

A) The Jacobite rising of 1745

B) The Covenanters' rebellion of 1666

C) A lighthouse inspection

D) A voyage to Orkney

Answer · why

B) The Covenanters' rebellion of 1666

The Pentland Rising: A Page of History, 1666 appeared in 1866, on the rebellion's 200th anniversary.