1: The ingenious Stevensons

The Stevensons were a famed family even before Robert Louis came along. But it was engineering they excelled at, rather than the arts.

Both Robert Louis Stevenson's father and grandfather (Thomas and Robert respectively) were celebrated lighthouse makers. Thomas Stevenson created many lighthouses around Scotland, as well as inventing weather instruments still in use today. Robert Stevenson, meanwhile, created the still-famous Bell Rock Lighthouse. Erected in 1811, it's one of the world's oldest remaining lighthouses.

2: The "first wife"

Stevenson was hailed as a literary genius for books like Treasure Island and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. But it was actually a humble nanny we should thank for getting his creative juices flowing.

Allison Cunningham – known as Cummy – was an eccentric and creative creature who nursed the sickly young Stevenson, who was bedridden a lot of the time. To keep him occupied she told him a multitude of stories, often very dark and vicious, and fed him plenty of "health-giving" black coffee which put his young mind into overdrive. He later credited her with making him want to write stories, even referring to her as his "first wife". We're surprised he wasn't a nervous wreck.