Basic Biographical Details

Name: George Penrose Kennedy
Designation:  
Born: 1821
Died: 1898
Bio Notes: George Penrose Kennedy was born in 1821, the son of Lewis Kennedy, subsequently factor of the Drummond Castle estates of Peter Robert Drummond Burrell, Lord Willoughby d'Eresby, who inherited the Grimsthrope, Gwydyr and Drummond estates in 1828.

The Kennedys were an important family of landscape gardeners. Kennedy's great-grandfather Lewis Kennedy (1721-82) had set up the Vineyard Nurseries in Hammersmith c.1745. His son John Kennedy, the architect's grandfather, continued the business there. Of his twelve children, Lewis, the sixth child and the architect's father, was sent to Riga to make contacts for the business in 1804, and was in Paris supplying plants to the Empress Josephine in 1812 when he was taken prisoner. On 24 April 1817 he married Harriet Sewell Mitton, their address being 56 St James's Street, Kensington, by which date he had a career as a landscape gardener separately from the family nursery, notably at Dunkeld (1813) where he designed conservatories for the Duke of Atholl, and at Stow, Norfolk (1812), Oddington (1813), Chiswick House (1814), Trent Park (1815) and Buckhurst Park (1819). During the course of this work Peter Burrell, after 1828 Drummond Burrell, who had married the only surviving child of Lord Perth, invited Lewis to take over the management of the Drummond estates, initially from 5 Alexander Square, Brompton but with a Scottish base at Pitkellony House, Muthill, in or before 1822. There the Kennedys brought up six children, the sons being Lewis Drummond (1818-88) who became a Rector in the Lincolnshire estates, John Eugene (1819-1901), who succeeded his father as factor at Drummond Castle in 1868, George Penrose, and Archibald (1828-51) a civil engineer who died young.

Lewis Kennedy appears to have secured for his son George a place in the office of Sir Charles Barry then engaged in proposals for remodelling Drummond Castle as a neo-Norman pile. From the albums sold by Sotheby's in 1890 (to Weinreb from whom acquired by the Canadian Centre for Architecture) it appears that in addition to other major Barry projects, he was involved in the re-creation of the formal gardens at Drumlanrig in 1840; he probably began the restoration of those at Drummond Castle when still in Barry's employ and made the designs for the banqueting tent erected there for Queen Victoria's visit on 2 September 1842. Thereafter he assisted Francis Cranmer Penrose with his archaeological investigations in Athens, being there in March 1845, and by 1849 he was in practice on his own account at Sussex Chambers, St James's.

Sometime before 1855 Kennedy established an office at 119 Hope Street, Glasgow, perhaps initially only as a branch office, but by 1868 the Glasgow office, now at 160 Hope Street, had become his sole address with Robert Dalglish as partner there from at least 1861; his practice had not, however, been exclusively Scottish as the 'Architect's Engineer's and Building Trades' Directory' of that year refers to at least one residence in Liverpool and 'numerous churches, schools, factories, mills, hotels, &c in Scotland and Wales'. This same directory also lists unspecified 'country seats, residences and villas' at Paisley, Johnstone, Cambuslang, Govan, Coatbridge, Glasgow, Kintyre, Loch Katrine, Largs, Arrochar, Ayr, Dumbarton, Rutherglen, Kincardine and Crieff.

The Drummond Estate connection was lost when Kennedy's brother John was dismissed in 1877 and his family was required to leave Pitkillony. By that date Kennedy does not appear to have been a very active partner. It was perhaps a combination of the dismissal from the Drummond Estate and the sharp decline in business after the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank in the following year that led to the partnership with Dalglish being dissolved c.1879. Kennedy remained at 40 Union Street for a time but subsequently retired to Sunnyside, Lewisham, Kent, and died in 1898.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 108, Alexander Street, London, EnglandBusiness1843  
Item 2 of 1068, St James's Street, London, EnglandBusiness1846  
Item 3 of 10Sussex Chambers, St James's, London, EnglandBusiness1849 *  
Item 4 of 10Sussex Chambers, St James's, London, EnglandBusiness1851 *  
Item 5 of 10119, Hope Street, Glasgow, ScotlandBusiness1855 *  
Item 6 of 10160, Hope Street, Glasgow, ScotlandBusinessBefore 1856After 1868With Dalglish after 1865
Item 7 of 10Yucca Lodge, Mount Vernon, by Tollcross, Glasgow, ScotlandPrivate1862 *1878Given as 'Yercen Lodge, Old Monkland' in 1861 census.
Item 8 of 1043, Bath Street, Glasgow, ScotlandBusiness1871 *1872 
Item 9 of 1040, Union Street, Glasgow, ScotlandBusinessBefore 1875After 1876 
Item 10 of 10Sunnyside, Lewisham, Kent, EnglandPrivateAfter 18791898 

* earliest date known from documented sources.


Employment and Training

Employers

The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate fromDate toPositionNotes
Item 1 of 3(Sir) Charles Barryc. 1837After 1842ApprenticeLater assistant
Item 2 of 3Francis Cranmer Penrosec. 1847c. 1848Assistant 
Item 3 of 3Kennedy & Dalglish (sometimes misspelt Kennedy & Dalgleish)Before 18611878Partner 

Employees or Pupils

The following individuals were employed or trained by this (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate fromDate toPositionNotes
Item 1 of 3Robert Dalglish (sometimes misspelt Robert Dalgleish)After 1852Before 1861AssistantMay initially have been apprentice
Item 2 of 3William Gardner Rowan18621867Apprentice 
Item 3 of 3William Gardner Rowan18671868 or 1869Assistant 

Buildings and Designs

This was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):
 Date startedBuilding nameTown, district or villageIslandCity or countyCountryNotes
Item 1 of 331842Drummond Castle  PerthshireScotlandRestoration of tower house and additions to mansion house
Item 2 of 331848Trossachs InnCallander PerthshireScotland 
Item 3 of 331849Callander School and SchoolhouseCallander PerthshireScotland 
Item 4 of 331849Chapel of Ease at TrossachsBrig o' Turk StirlingshireScotland 
Item 5 of 331853Trossachs InnCallander PerthshireScotlandAdditions
Item 6 of 331855Public CemeteryCrieff PerthshireScotland 
Item 7 of 33Before 1855Crieff CourthouseCrieff PerthshireScotland 
Item 8 of 33Before 1855Garden Works at Milliken, RenfrewshireMilliken RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 9 of 33Before 1855Garden works for the Marquess of Lansdowne at Bowood HouseBowood WiltshireEngland 
Item 10 of 331860Pitkellony Lodge   Scotland 
Item 11 of 33c. 1860Pitkellony HouseMuthill PerthshireScotlandWing added
Item 12 of 331861Callander Free ChurchCallander PerthshireScotland 
Item 13 of 331864St Helen’s ChurchTheddlethorpe St Helen LincolnshireEngland 
Item 14 of 33Before 1868Culdees CastleMuthill PerthshireScotlandFormal gardens
Item 15 of 33Before 1868Tulliallan Castle, gardens and lodgeKincardine-on-Forth FifeScotlandFormal gardens
Item 16 of 33Before 1868VillaPaisley RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 17 of 33Before 1868VillaJohnstone RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 18 of 33Before 1868VillaCambuslang LanarkshireScotland 
Item 19 of 33Before 1868VillaGovan GlasgowScotland 
Item 20 of 33Before 1868VillaCoatbridge LanarkshireScotland 
Item 21 of 33Before 1868VillaLoch Katrine Perthshire?Scotland 
Item 22 of 33Before 1868VillaLargs AyrshireScotland 
Item 23 of 33Before 1868VillaArrochar DunbartonshireScotland 
Item 24 of 33Before 1868VillaAyr AyrshireScotland 
Item 25 of 33Before 1868VillaDumbarton DunbartonshireScotland 
Item 26 of 33Before 1868VillaRutherglen LanarkshireScotland 
Item 27 of 33Before 1868VillaCrieff PerthshireScotland 
Item 28 of 331871Reformed Presbyterian ChurchRutherglen LanarkshireScotland 
Item 29 of 331876Rutherglen Town HallRutherglen LanarkshireScotlandAddition of municipal offices - carried out in association with John Thomson
Item 30 of 331881Congregational Church, WardlawhillRutherglen LanarkshireScotland 
Item 31 of 331882Woodlands School  GlasgowScotland 
Item 32 of 331889Caledonian Ironworks  GlasgowScotland 
Item 33 of 331894Woodside Public School  GlasgowScotland 

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 4Architects Engineers and Building Trades Directory1868Architect's, Engineer's and Building Trades' Directory London, Wyman 
Item 2 of 4Post Office Directories     
Item 3 of 4Wedgwood, Alexandra1984Rebuilding the Houses of Parliament: drawings from the Kennedy Albums House of Lords Record Office 
Item 4 of 4Woudstra, Jan1991Lewis Kennedy Landscape Gardner and his Work at Buckhurst Park Apollo 1991 

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
 SourceArchive NameSource Catalogue No.Notes
Item 1 of 3Courtesy of Nick GreenInformation sent via website  
Item 2 of 3Lincoln Record OfficeScott Papers  
Item 3 of 3Professor David M Walker personal archiveProfessor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material Information from R E Pearson, Derbyshire College, per Fiona Jamieson; additional research by Iain Paterson