Basic Biographical Details Name: | Barclay & Watt | Designation: | | Born: | c. 1854 | Died: | Mid 1860s(?) | Bio Notes: | Hugh Barclay was born on 8 February 1829, the son of Hugh Barclay, sculptor and his wife Margaret Buchanan. He was articled to William Spence c.1845 and around 1854 he and another apprentice at Spence's, Alexander Watt, formed the partnership of Barclay & Watt. They established a reputation very early, first with the remarkable triple-arched cast-iron façade at 60-66 Jamaica Street in 1856-57 which took Baird and Spence's early experiments with cast-iron facades into a more three-dimensional form, and then with the refined and original classicism of the Ewing Place Church in Waterloo Street and the Corinthian Corn Exchange reconstruction on Hope Street, both in 1858. In or about 1857 James Sellars joined the practice as an apprentice, followed on 1 January 1861 by Hugh's much younger brother David, born 1846; both became members of Alexander Thomson's circle, David writing a memoir of him in 1904. The connection with Thomson was clearly a close one: David Barclay was married to Jane Ewing Walker, daughter of John E Walker, stabler and cab-hirer and Alexander Thomson's most important client. During his apprenticeship David started drawing under the painter A D Robertson and at the end of it undertook the continental study tour which was the foundation of his French and German influenced neo classicism.
The early success of the Brown & Watt practice was not sustained. In the mid-1860s it appears to have been seriously short of commissions. James Sellars left for James Hamilton's, although at least for a time some sort of working relationship remained; and at or about the same date Alexander Watt left to re-commence practice on his own account, first of all at 67 Renfield Street and from c.1884 at 131 West Regent Street. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 136, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1856 | 1860 | | | 101, West Nile Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | After 1860 | | |
Employment and TrainingEmployees or PupilsThe following individuals were employed or trained by this (click on an item to view details): | | Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes | | Hugh Barclay | c. 1854 | Mid 1860s | Partner | | | Alexander Watt | c. 1854 | Mid 1860s | Partner | | | James Sellars | 1857 | 1864 | Apprentice | | | David Barclay | 1 January 1861 | | Apprentice | |
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Post Office Directories | | | | | |
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