Basic Biographical Details Name: | C & L Ower | Designation: | | Born: | May 1874 | Died: | 1898 | Bio Notes: | Charles Ower Junior was born in Dundee c.1849, the son of Charles Ower Senior and his wife Mary Fleet. He was educated at Dundee High School and articled to his father c.1864-69 as a civil engineer. He was then sent to the South Kensington Schools to study architecture. He returned to Dundee to join his father's practice as a partner in 1873, probably after a period as an assistant. His father withdrew from private practice shortly thereafter, enabling him to take his brother into partnership.
Leslie Ower was born in 1851 (christened on 28 April), educated at Dundee High School and articled to his father in September 1866. In 1872 he moved to Glasgow as assistant to the railway engineer James Fairie Blair for eighteen months which enabled him to study engineering at the Andersonian University. He returned to join his father as assistant early in 1874, the practice becoming Charles & Leslie Ower in May 1874, a date which probably marked their father's retirement.
Although both brothers practised as architects and civil engineers, they had separate professional memberships. Charles sought admission only as AMICE while Leslie sought admission only as FRIBA. He was admitted on 16 June 1890, his proposers being William Mackison, John Macvicar Anderson, London, and John Holden, Manchester, the last of these also being an engineer-architect. Nevertheless it was Charles who wrote to the RIBA on 10 February 1892 setting out his views on architectural education, compulsory examination and registration, describing the current debate on whether the profession was a science or an art as 'Practical Architects versus Fancy men and Faddists.'
The Ower partnership was successful enough from the outset both as architects and engineers and it became an important teaching office. Both brothers were kindly employers by the standards of the time but in physical appearance and personality they were very different. Charles was a bigger-built bearded man, good with clients but difficult and somewhat excitable with a tendency to over-react within the office and at meetings of the Dundee Institute of Architects of which he was effectively the founder in June 1884: at the close of the meeting called by James Maclaren on the measurement of quantities he proposed a local professional body on the lines of the Architectural Association. Leslie was slim and, at least in later years, clean-shaven with a much more equable temperament. Tensions were evident from the beginning and by the 1890s, in the words of those who worked there, 'they couldn't pull together at all.' Although the architectural side of the practice seems to have been at its most prosperous between 1896 and 1898 when William Gillespie Lamond was their head draughtsman and had taken over much of the design work, the partnership was dissolved in the latter year.
Although both brothers retained a significant domestic practice the institutional and commercial clientele was largely lost following the break-up. Charles Ower continued in practice on his own account, gifting an important collection of architectural books to Dundee Public Libraries in 1900 to commemorate the relief of Mafeking which he believed would ensure an imperial future for aspiring architects and provided an endowment from which to buy more; but his own practice gradually faded and he isolated himself from the rest of the profession by his resignation from the Dundee Institute of Architects in 1903 on the trivial issue of its objection to the Dundee Wine Spirits and Beer Association seeking competitive tenders for licensing court plans. By 1914 he was practising only as a valuator from a backwater office in unfashionable Gellatly Street. He died unmarried at Benora, the large house he had built for himself in Broughty Ferry on 25 November 1921, leaving a moveable estate of £6,841 12s 0d.
After the dissolution of the partnership Leslie's blander style became more apparent, although a few works showed the more lively hand of Charles Geddes Soutar, who returned to his office in 1900 and remained with him until 1902 after a spell with John Murray Robertson. In 1908 Ower merged his practice with that of Blackadder and Allan on Robert Blackadder's retirement: there was a long-standing relationship between the Owers and the Blackadders as they had been neighbours in Craigie Terrace from 1866 to 1877. The combined practice of Leslie Ower & Allan was located in Ower's office at 5 Whitehall Street and now presented a considerably more up-to-date image. Born in 1874 and educated at Dundee High School David Lindsay Allan had been an apprentice with John Murray Robertson from 1890 to 1894, remaining with him as assistant, and had studied at the RA Schools while in the office of Niven & Wigglesworth in London.
Late in 1912 or early in 1913 Leslie Ower was 'laid aside' by a serious illness but recovered. With business at a very low ebb because of the war, Ower retired at the beginning of 1916, the practice being taken over by Thoms & Wilkie, whereupon, in Frank Thomson's words, Allan 'simply gave up'. Late in February of the same year, Ower became ill again and he died on 1 April 1916 at Belfield, Rosemount, Blairgowrie, a substantial mansion he had built for himself some years earlier, leaving a widow who was a daughter of the Dundee Corn Exchange merchant George Hill. His moveable estate amounted to the then very substantial sum of £16,801 14s 5d, more than twice as much as his brother had left. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | Dundee, Scotland | Business | | | | | 32, Bank Street, Dundee, Scotland | Business | 1871 | 1876 | | | 104, Commercial Street, Dundee, Scotland | Business | 1880 | | From 1880 onwards |
Employment and TrainingEmployees or Pupils
Buildings and DesignsThis was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details): | | Date started | Building name | Town, district or village | Island | City or county | Country | Notes | | | People's Journal Office | Stirling | | Stirlingshire | Scotland | Date unknown | | 1872 | Dundee Courier and Dundee Advertiser Offices | | | Dundee | Scotland | 2nd western extension of 4 storeys | | 1875 | Boase & Co premises | | | Dundee | | Addition
| | 1875 | Jute Warehouse | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1875 | Tenement with North of Scotland Bank below | Lochee | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1876 | West End UP Church Hall | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | c. 1876 | Ryehill Congregation Hall | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1877 | Dundee Courier and Dundee Advertiser Offices | | | Dundee | Scotland | Proposed completion by addition of tower | | 1877 | Houses at Loftus House | Broughty Ferry | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1877 | Houses on Broughty Ferry Road | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1877 | Properties, Ramsay Place | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1877 | Tay Ferries Booking Office, shops and boathouse | | | Dundee | Scotland | Offices and waiting room | | 1877 | Wallacetown Church | | | Dundee | Scotland | Addition of large tower and other alterations | | 1878 | Jute Warehouse | | | Dundee | Scotland | Addition of storey to warehouse | | 1878 | Stewart & Son's Whisky Bond | | | Dundee | Scotland | Top floor added | | c. 1878 | Ferry Station | Newport-on-Tay | | Fife | Scotland | | | c. 1878 | Row of single storey shops, Boat Brae | Newport-on-Tay | | Fife | Scotland | | | 1879 | 10 Dudhope Terrace | | | Dundee | Scotland | Addition | | 1879 | Dundee Courier and Dundee Advertiser Offices | | | Dundee | Scotland | Alterations | | 1879 | Dundee Perth & London Shipping Company Offices | | | Dundee | Scotland | Alterations | | 1879 | Houses on Ellen Street for William Benvie | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1879 | Tay Ferries Booking Office, shops and boathouse | | | Dundee | Scotland | Lodge, barrow shed and luggage room | | 1880s | Murroes Parish Church | Murroes | | Angus | Scotland | Probably designed stained glass windows | | 1880 | 2 Roseangle | | | Dundee | Scotland | Alterations and additions | | 1880 | 57 Magdalen Yard Road | | | Dundee | Scotland | Remodelling and enlargement to west | | 1880 | 8 Roseangle | | | Dundee | Scotland | Oriels added | | 1880 | Cottage for Henry McGrady | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1880 | Scottish Banking Company | | | Dundee | Scotland | Major reconstruction with new elevations | | 1880 | Seymour Lodge | | | Dundee | Scotland | Original house and additions | | 1880 | Tenement with Shops on Blackness Road and Watson Lane | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | c. 1880 | Warehouses, Shop and Dwelling House for Mr Hynd | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1881 | Carnoustie Young Men's Christian Association Building | Carnoustie | | Angus | Scotland | | | 1881 | Houses for James Gentle | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1881 | Newburgh Public Hall | Newburgh | | Fife | Scotland | Reading room and coffee house | | 1881 | Royal Exchange, Merchants' Shelter | | | Dundee | Scotland | Competition design - not successful | | 1881 | Terrace of houses, Airlie Place | | | Dundee | Scotland | Alterations to No 1, including addition of mansard attic | | 1881 | Terraced houses, South Tay Street | | | Dundee | Scotland | Remodelling to form YWCA | | 1881 | Trinity UP Church | Newport-on-Tay | | Fife | Scotland | | | 1881 | Villa for W G Thomson | | | | Scotland | | | 1882 | Blackness Home Farmhouse | | | Dundee | Scotland | Alterations | | 1882 | Dundee Courier and Dundee Advertiser Offices | | | Dundee | Scotland | Extension to west end | | 1882 | Glasgow Municipal Buildings | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Exhibited design for municipal buildings and public offices - unspecified but probably for the second competition - not successful | | 1882 | Hilltown Free Mission Church and School | Hilltown | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1882 | Ladywell Calender Works | | | Dundee | Scotland | Alterations | | 1882 | Offices and Warehouses for Bailie Philips | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1882 | Polepark Works | | | Dundee | Scotland | Additions | | 1882 | Warehouse, Seagate | | | Dundee | Scotland | Alterations | | 1883 | 4 Gowrie Street, Houses for David Gemmell | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1883 | Balmerino Parish Church | Balmerino | | Fife | Scotland | Gothic remodelling | | 1883 | Dundee Harbour Office | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1883 | J Carmichael & Co Premises | | | Dundee | Scotland | Warehouse and new moulding shop | | 1883 | Panmure Street Mission | Hilltown | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1883 | Pitlochry West Church | Pitlochry | | Perthshire | Scotland | | | 1883 | Terraced Houses, 2, 4 and 6 Hyndford Street | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1883 | Villas for Bailie Gentle | | | Dundee | Scotland | Villas | | c. 1883 | Shipping Offices | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1884 | Dundee Custom House and Harbour Chambers | | | Dundee | Scotland | Enlargement of Harbour Chambers section | | 1885 | Kirriemuir Town Hall and library | Kirriemuir | | Angus | Scotland | | | c. 1885 | Terraced Houses, 3, 5 and 7 Rockfield Street | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | c. 1885 | Terraced houses, Rockfield Street and Shaftesbury Road | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1886 | Villas for Bailie Gentle | | | Dundee | Scotland | Further villas | | 1887 | Balmerino Parish Church hall | Balmerino | | Fife | Scotland | | | 1887 | Young Men's Christian Association Building | | | Dundee | Scotland | Additions - cost £1,400 | | 1888 | J Carmichael & Co Premises | | | Dundee | Scotland | Additions to foundry | | c. 1888 | Tircarra | Barnhill | | Dundee | Scotland | Addition of west wing | | 1889 | Carnoustie Young Men's Christian Association Building | Carnoustie | | Angus | Scotland | Further work | | 1889 | Downfield Free Church | Downfield | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1889 | Dundee Courier and Dundee Advertiser Offices | | | Dundee | Scotland | Further enlargement - cost c. £3,300 - and tunnel under Bank Street. | | 1889 | Villa on Norwood Crescent | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1890 | Ann Street Works, Engine House | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1890 | Ardvorlich House | Comrie | | Perthshire | Scotland | | | 1890 | Constable Works Engine House | | | Dundee | Scotland | Reconstruction | | 1890 | Duncraig | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1890 | Edward Street Mill, Logie Works | | | Dundee | Scotland | Engine House | | 1890 | Free St Paul's Overgate Mission | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1890 | Masonic Hall | Ladybank | | Fife | Scotland | | | 1890 | Model tenements, Broughty Ferry Road | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1890 | St Mary's Manse | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | c. 1890 | House for Leng on Blackness Road (Redcroft) | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | c. 1890 | House for Watson on Blackness Road | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | c. 1890 | House on Blackness Terrace | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | c. 1890 | House on Perth Road for Peter Kerr | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | c. 1890 | Semi-detached villas, Somerville Place | | | Dundee | Scotland | Alterations and additions - raised from single- to two-storey villas | | c. 1890 | Villas, Albany Terrace | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1891 | Ward Foundry drawing office | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1892 | Home House | Broughty Ferry | | Dundee | Scotland | Addition | | 1892 | Linda | Broughty Ferry | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1894 | Woodknowe | Broughty Ferry | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1895 | Tenements on Lyon Street | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1895 | The Anchorage | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1896 | Craigmount House | Kirkton of Strathmartine | | Angus | Scotland | William Gillespie Lamond (as draughtsman in this office) mainly responsible | | 1896 | Inglis Memorial Hall and Library | Edzell | | Angus | Scotland | Won competition and secured job | | 1896 | Lochee Road UP Church | | | Dundee | Scotland | | | 1896 | Pearl Assurance Building | | | Dundee | Scotland | Design mainly by Lamond | | 1897 | Bannatyne House | Newtyle | | Angus | Scotland | Alterations and additions to form Bannatyne Home of Rest (additions since demolished, original house survives) | | 1897 | British Linen Bank | | | Dundee | Scotland | Design mainly by W G Lamond | | 1899 | Ferryport-on-Craig Parish Church | Ferryport-on-Craig | | Fife | Scotland | Alterations at installation of organ |
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Architecture in Manuscript 1601-1906 | | Architecture in Manuscript 1601-1906, 1022 | | | p303 | | Post Office Directories | | | | | | | Pride, Glen L | 1999 | The Kingdom of Fife | 2nd Edition | The Rutland Press | p180, p182, p187 | | Walker, Bruce and Gauldie, W Sinclair | 1984 | Architects and Architecture on Tayside | | Dundee: Dundee Institute of Architects | p173 et seq. |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this : | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Dundee Courier and Advertiser | 3 April 1916 | | | Obituary of Leslie Ower |
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 | | Personal information from Joseph Johnston, Frank Thomson, and W Sinclair Gauldie (relayed from his father William Gauldie) |
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