Basic Biographical Details Name: | Carruthers Ballantyne & Taylor (or Ballantyne & Taylor) | Designation: | | Born: | July 1921 | Died: | c. 1933 | Bio Notes: | Robert (Roy) Carruthers Ballantyne was born in 1891, the son of William Laidlaw Carruthers, assuming the additional surname of Ballantyne c.1920 when he inherited the estate of Holylee in Peeblessshire 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 osteomyetitis 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 (born 1892 or 1893) in July that year, and later by ____ Cox.
In the 1930s the practice of Carruthers Ballantyne, Cox and Taylor built some of the best early modern houses in Scotland. No information is yet available on Cox, and little on 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. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 52, Queensgate, Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland | Business | | | | | 28, Queen's Gate, Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland | Business | Before 1928 | c. 1933 | |
Employment and TrainingEmployees or Pupils
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesArchive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | L no3422 (box 11); F no3194 (box 18) (Carruthers Ballantyne; F no2637 (box 9) (Taylor) |
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