Basic Biographical Details Name: | Robert Carruthers-Ballantyne (or Robert Ballantyne Carruthers; or Roy Carruthers Ballantyne) | Designation: | | Born: | 14 September 1891 | Died: | 9 March 1981 | Bio Notes: | Robert (Roy) Carruthers-Ballantyne was born on 14 September 1891, the son of William Laidlaw Carruthers and his wife Katherine Turner. he assumed the additional surname of Ballantyne c.1920 (which was hyphenated) when he inherited the estate of Holylee in Peeblesshire from William Laidlaw Ballantyne (presumably an uncle), who was factor at Abbotsford. While at school he had to have a foot amputated as a result of osteomyelitis following a kick in a rugby game. He refused to wear an artificial foot and had a peg leg throughout adult life. He trained at the Architectural Association and with Sir Guy Dawber, and spent part of 1914 acting as Clerk of Works for James Ransome. Later the same year, at the early age of 23, he inherited his father's practice in Inverness in partnership with Samuel Grant Alexander.
Ballantyne was on war service from 1916 to 1919, and was employed as a draughtsman by W C Lucas in 1920, resuming independent practice in 1921. He was joined in partnership by his father's former apprentice and assistant William John Taylor in July that year, and later by ____ Cox. Meanwhile Alexander appears to have continued the practice of Carruthers & Alexander alone.
In the 1930s the practice of Carruthers Ballantyne, Cox & Taylor built some of the best early modern houses in Scotland. No information is yet available on Cox and little is known of Taylor, the key figures in the office being Donald Fowler and William Allen. Ballantyne himself is said to have been ill-at-ease building these modern houses, probably for technical as much as aesthetic reasons, although he did design at least one himself.
The partnership had split by 1936, Taylor continuing in the existing offices at 28 Queens Gate as W J Taylor & Co until at least 1940, and Ballantyne & Cox practising separately elsewhere in Inverness. By 1940 Cox had also left Ballantyne, who had apparently changed the order of his original and adopted surnames to become Robert Ballantyne Carruthers and continued to practise from offices in the British Linen Bank Buildings, High Street.
Carruthers-Ballantyne died on 9 March 1981 at Hillside Hospital, Perth. His wife Isabella Catherine Stewart had predeceased him but he was survived by his son, J C Ballantyne of Inchoonans, Errol. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 28, Queen's Gate, Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland | Business | Before 1928 | c. 1936 | | | Ardarroch, Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland | Private | Before 1930 | After 1934 | | | 11, Queen's Gate, Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland | Business | 1934 * | | | | 41A, High Street, Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland | Business | c. 1939 | | | | British Linen Bank Buildings, High Street, Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland | Business | Before 1940 | After 1950(?) | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployersEmployees or PupilsThe following individuals were employed or trained by this (click on an item to view details): | | Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes | | Donald Alexander Fowler | 1921 | July 1921 | Apprentice | |
RIBARIBA ProposersRIBA Proposals
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | McKean, Charles | 1987 | The Scottish Thirties: An Architectural Introduction | | Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press | p193 | | RIBA | 1930 | The RIBA Kalendar 1930-1931 | | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | | | RIBA | 1939 | The RIBA Kalendar 1939-1940 | | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | Professor David M Walker personal archive | Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material | | Letter from Malcom McEwan to Charles McKean, 29 June 1987 | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | L no3422 (box 11); F no3194 (box 18) |
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