Basic Biographical Details

Name:	Arnott & Inch Morrison
Designation:
Born:	1936
Died:
Bio Notes:	James Alexander Arnott was born in 1871, the son of George Arnott, builder and Ann Soutar Mackintosh. In 1886 he was articled to John Russell Walker but transferred in 1888 to the office of Kinnear & Peddie: according to Ebenezer James MacRae he 'never ceased to acknowledge the influence of Peddie in his training'. He remained with Peddie as an assistant until 1898 when he transferred to Dunn & Findlay, then under pressure with the commission for the Scotsman buildings on North Bridge; later he was to have a hand in their Wesleyan Halls at Tollcross, but in 1904 he moved to the office of Hippolyte Jean Blanc. During those years he attended the University of Edinburgh, the classes at the Edinburgh School of Design in the Royal Institution, Heriot-Watt College and the School of [Applied?] Art, and travelled in France and Germany. The outcome of his studies in France was the folio volume on the Petit Trianon published in 1907: this he had surveyed and drawn with John Wilson who had become a close friend while in Peddie's office. In the following year he established his own practice at 21 York Place, sharing it with a former colleague at Dunn & Findlay's, James Inch Morrison, with a partnership in view. Although the obituaries of neither Arnott nor Morrison mention a formal partnership at this time, between 1907 and 1910, they did win the competition for the Charlotte Street Baptist Chapel together in 1908. If a partnership did exist, clearly for Arnott the attraction of taking over Sydney Mitchell's practice and the ability of Ernest Arthur Auldjo Jamieson to fund it was too great for the Arnott/Morrison alliance to last, and he was again a sole practitioner by 1911. Surprisingly, given his background, Arnott did not take the qualifying exam but was admitted LRIBA in 1910, his proposers being Blanc, Dunn and John Watson. In later years, according to Macrae, 'Norway was to cast a spell over him'. Morrison merged his practice with that of Arnott after the retirement of Arnott's partner Ernest Arthur Auldjo Jamieson in 1936, the practice becoming Arnott & Inch Morrison as planned more than thirty years earlier. Morrison was six years younger than Arnott, born in 1878. He was articled to the obscure W H Greig of Edinburgh in 1893 and attended Heriot-Watt College. At the end of his apprenticeship he joined first Dunn & Findlay and then Cooper & Taylor as an assistant for some years before moving to Inverness as chief assistant to William Laidlaw Carruthers. At some point before setting up his own practice in 1907 at 21 York Place he travelled in France, Belgium and Holland. he was admitted LRIBA in the mass intake of 20 July 1911. Morrison died 25 September 1944. He was then living at 93 Ravelston Dykes and was survived by his wife Daisy Jane Cownie. He left £3,538 1s 10d. Arnott, who had become a widower in 1939, continued the practice alone thereafter and worked right up to his death at 7 Mansionhouse Road on 2 September 1950, assisted by John Denoon (Ian) Carnegie who then inherited the practice. He left £14,114 2s 4d. No work has yet been traced by Arnott & Morrison.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	24, Duke Street, Edinburgh, Scotland	Business	c. 1936

Employment and Training

Employees or Pupils

The following individuals were employed or trained by this (click on an item to view details):
	Name	Date from	Date to	Position	Notes
	James Inch Morrison	1936	1944	Partner
	James Alexander Arnott	1936	1950	Partner
	John Denoon Carnegie	1936	1950	Assistant
	John Denoon Carnegie	1950		Partner

References

Currently, there are no references for this . The information has been derived from: the British Architectural Library / RIBA Directory of British Architects 1834-1914; Post Office Directories; and/or any sources listed under this individual's works.