(Sir William), the celebrated architect, was descended from the ancient family of Chalmers in Scotland, barons of Tartas, in France. His grandfather suffered considerably in his fortune by supplying Charles XII. of Sweden with money, &c., which that monarch repaid in base coin. Sir William's father resided several years in Sweden to recover his claims; and there Sir William was born, and, at eighteen years of age, appointed supercargo to the Swedish East India company. From a voyage which he made to China, he brought home the Asiatic style of ornament, in tents, temples, mosques, and pagodas. These ornaments (through the interest of Lord Bute) he was enabled to apply in the gardens at Kew. Patronized by the princess dowager and the king, Mr. Chambers had much of the fashionable business of the day. Under Burke's reform, he was appointed surveyor-general of the board of works. Somerset-house was worth to him at least £2,000 a-year. His Chef d'œuvre are his火灾cares, particularly those at Lord Buteborough's, Lord Gower's, and the Royal and Antiquarian Societies. The terrace behind Somerset-house is a bold effort of conception. His designs for interior arrangements were excellent. His Treatise on Civil Architecture alone will immortalize his name. In private life, Sir William was hospitable, kind, and amiable. His son married Miss Rodney; Mr. Cotton, Mr. Innes, and Mr. Harward, married his beautiful daughters. Having been asthmatic in his youth, Sir William's constitution did not begin to break till he was seventy years of age. For the last three years, he was kept alive by wine and oxygenated air; and died on the 5th of March 1796. His celebrity will be lasting in the works which he has left; and, as he was equally skilled in the theory and practice of the arts which he professed, his precepts are as valuable as his works. At his death, he was fellow of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies, treasurer of the Royal Academy, surveyor-general of the board of works, and knight of the Swedish order of the Polar Star.