Basic Biographical Details

Name: Stewart, Tough & Alexander
Designation:  
Born: 1899
Died: After 1945
Bio Notes: James Brown Stewart practised in Greenock in the 1880s and 1890s. In 1883 he was taken into partnership by William Gilmour Wilson but by 1893 the practice seems to have run out of work and the partnership was dissolved. Stewart had good connections in Greenock and Port Glasgow and continued to practise on his own.

James Montgomerie Alexander, born Greenock on 8 October 1874 was articled to Stewart in 1893 and attended classes at Glasgow School of Art. In 1898 Alexander left at the end of his apprenticeship to gain wider experience with James Milne Monro in Glasgow, but was invited to return to the practice as a partner in the same year. The partnership must have prospered as in the following year the older and more experienced Joseph John Tough, born 1870 and also from Greenock, was invited to become a partner, the practice name now becoming Stewart Tough & Alexander. Tough had been articled to William Leiper in Glasgow in 1888 and had remained with him as an assistant, attending classes at Glasgow School of Art, the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College and Greenock School of Art.

Tough and Alexander were both admitted LRIBA in the mass intake of 20 July 1911. Tough died in 1927. Alexander appears to have continued the practice under the same title of Stewart, Tough & Alexander thereafter. He disappears from the Greenock Post Directories in c.1940. It appears that at some point in the later 1940s the practices of Boston Menzies & Morton (then being run by a Mr Stirling) and Stewart Tough & Alexander were merged and Douglas Lindsay Crawford who had joined the practice in 1928 as an assistant became a partner. In 1944 he was joined by John Tonner and in 1950 by James Neil at which point the name of the practice changed to Crawford & Neil.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 12, Hamilton Street, Greenock, Renfrewshire, ScotlandBusiness1905 or 1906 *1937 or 1938Or possibly one year later.

* earliest date known from documented sources.

Employment and Training

Employees or Pupils

The following individuals were employed or trained by this (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate fromDate toPositionNotes
Item 1 of 12James Montgomerie Alexander1899 Partner 
Item 2 of 12Joseph John Tough1899 Partner 
Item 3 of 12John Mackie Venters2 August 19042 August 1909Apprentice 
Item 4 of 12John Mackie Venters2 August 19099 November 1910Assistant 
Item 5 of 12John Paterson Graham19151916Assistant 
Item 6 of 12Robert McNab (or Robert Macnab)19191923Apprentice 
Item 7 of 12Edward Stanley Carden8 September 192529 September 1934Apprentice 
Item 8 of 12Douglas Lindsay Crawford19281944(?)Assistant 
Item 9 of 12John Bolton12 March 192830 March 1933Apprentice 
Item 10 of 12John Bolton19331936Assistant 
Item 11 of 12Douglas Lindsay Crawford1944(?)c. 1950Partner 
Item 12 of 12John Tonner7 July 1944After 1945Partner 

Buildings and Designs

This was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):
 Date startedBuilding nameTown, district or villageIslandCity or countyCountryNotes
Item 1 of 32 Hillend ClinicGreenock RenfrewshireScotlandJohn Tonner as architect, either for Greenock Corporation or for Stewart, Tough & Alexander
Item 2 of 32After 1899Ashton UF ChurchGourock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 3 of 32After 1899Broadstone CastlePort Glasgow RenfrewshireScotlandHalf-timbered gate lodge
Item 4 of 32After 1899Co-operative Society business premisesGreenock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 5 of 32After 1899Co-operative Society business premisesGourock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 6 of 32After 1899Destructor Works, Stables and OfficesPort Glasgow RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 7 of 32After 1899Gamble InstituteGourock RenfrewshireScotlandExtension and decoration
Item 8 of 32After 1899Greenock Poorhouse and Parochial AsylumGreenock RenfrewshireScotlandExtension
Item 9 of 32After 1899Headquarters and Drill Hall for 5th Battalion Argyle & Sutherland Highlanders  Renfrewshire?Scotland 
Item 10 of 32After 1899Mid KirkGreenock RenfrewshireScotlandDecoration
Item 11 of 32After 1899Middle Free ChurchGreenock RenfrewshireScotlandDecoration
Item 12 of 32After 1899Mount Pleasant UF ChurchGreenock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 13 of 32After 1899South Parish ChurchGreenock RenfrewshireScotlandAdditions, including new chancel
Item 14 of 32After 1899Town HallPort Glasgow RenfrewshireScotlandDecoration
Item 15 of 32After 1899UF ChurchGreenock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 16 of 32After 1899Villas, Upper AshtonGourock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 17 of 32After 1899Wellpark Parish Church HallsGreenock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 18 of 321903Business premises for Messrs Thomas Mackay & SonsGourock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 19 of 321903Royal Gourock Yacht ClubhouseGourock RenfrewshireScotlandDid not win competition but secured job
Item 20 of 321908RoystonGourock RenfrewshireScotlandAttribution
Item 21 of 321909Church Institute Greenock    
Item 22 of 321909RestaurantGourock  Scotland 
Item 23 of 32c. 1914Gourock Municipal BuildingsGourock RenfrewshireScotlandWon competition to secure job
Item 24 of 321931Masonic TempleGreenock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 25 of 321931Young Women's Christian Association hall and clubroomsGreenock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 26 of 321932Garage and premsies for funeral undertakersGreenock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 27 of 321934Garage for P B Wright & Sons, Motor HirersGreenock Renfrewshire  
Item 28 of 321935Furniture WarehouseGreenock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 29 of 321936Bogston Parish Church, LadyburnGreenock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 30 of 321937Greenock BB cinemaGreenock RenfrewshireScotlandScheme of reconstruction and additions
Item 31 of 321937West Blackhall Street bakeryGreenock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 32 of 32Before 1945Ruthrieston InstituteGreenock RenfrewshireScotlandJohn Tonner as architect, either for Greenock Corporation or for Stewart, Tough & Alexander

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 2Walker, Frank Arneil1986South Clyde Estuary: An Illustrated Architectural Guide to Inverclyde and Renfrew  p139
Item 2 of 2Who's Who in Architecture1926