Robert Matheson was an architect working in the Italian Renaissance style in the early- to mid-19th century. His date of birth is uncertain. It may have been 29 November 1807, but most sources agree that he was born on 18 August 1808.
In 1828 he became a junior clerk in the Edinburgh Office of Works, where he worked his way up to become Clerk of Works for Scotland in 1848. Matheson died on 5 March 1877, while still in his post, and was buried in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh.