Basic Biographical Details Name: | Dunn & Watson | Designation: | | Born: | 1890 | Died: | 1912 | Bio Notes: | William Dunn was born in 1859 and articled to Duncan McNaughtan, Glasgow, in 1876. Around 1881 he secured a place in the office of William Flockhart, followed by a spell with James Marjoribanks MacLaren and another with Thomas Chatfield Clark, and apparently passed the qualifying exam in 1886 although precise record is missing. He commenced independent practice in London in 1889. In his youth he was bandy-legged: as soon as he could afford it he had his legs surgically broken and straightened.
The partnership with Robert Watson had its origin in James Marjoribanks MacLaren's death in October 1890. Dunn had assisted MacLaren on a fee-paid basis, particularly during MacLaren's final illness, and MacLaren's brother-in-law Dugald Sutherland MacColl had to find financial provision for his widow and children. A meeting was arranged with Sir Donald Currie, MacLaren's most important client and a guarantee of his continuing support secured a partnership agreement that made provision for them. Initially the practice operated from 35 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. By temperament Dunn was a mathematician and structural engineer rather than an architect, with a particular flair for design in concrete; the decorative aspects of the partnership's work fell more to Watson.
Watson was born in 1865 and was educated at the Edinburgh Institution. He was articled to Robert Paterson and Son in Edinburgh in October 1881. From there he progressed to the offices of Hippolyte Blanc (1884-February 1887) and Robert Rowand Anderson and then to James Marjoribanks MacLaren in London, passing the qualifying exam in 1887 and being admitted ARIBA on 11 June 1888, his proposers being Rowand Anderson, J J Stevenson and J McKean Brydon. Both partners were admitted FRIBA on 5 December 1904, by which date the practice had become extremely successful. Shortly after the partnership of was formed Archibald Campbell Dickie joined the firm as a senior assistant. Whilst there he also carried out independent work, aided by his own assistant, Alexander Symon, and he left around 1906 to form a partnership with Claude Kelly.
The practice became Dunn, Watson & Curtis Green in 1912 when the English architect William Curtis Green (born 1875) accepted Dunn's invitation to join the partnership. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 35, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, England | Business | Before 1895 | 1900 | |
Employment and TrainingEmployees or Pupils
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Borland, Maureen | | D S MacColl: Painter, Poet, Art Critic | | Harpenden: Lennard Publishing | | | Calder, Alan | 2003 | James MacLaren: Arts and Crafts Pioneer | | Donington: Shaun Tyas | | | Calder, Alan | 2008 | Dunn & Watson : the Scottish Commissions | 6 | James M MacLaren Society Journal | | | Gray, A Stuart | 1985 | Edwardian Architecture: A Biographical Dictionary | | | |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this : | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Builder | 1 April 1916 | | | Obituary of Green | | RIBA Journal | 19 February 1916 | v23 | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | pp142-3 - obituary of Robert Watson by William Dunn | | RIBA Journal | 24 February 1934 | v41 | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | p418 - obituary of William Dunn by William Curtis Green | | RIBA Journal | 10 March 1934 | v41 | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | p475 - obituaries of Dunn by D S MacColl and P J Waldram |
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