Basic Biographical Details

Name: Local Government Board for Scotland
Designation:  
Born:  
Died:  
Bio Notes: The Local Government Board for Scotland was constituted by the Earl of Rosebery’s Liberal government in 1892, replacing the Board of Supervision. Its powers were originally concerned mainly with public health and poor relief. Its members comprised three ex-officio members, The Secretary for Scotland, the permanent secretary and the solicitor general, together with three others, a chairman, an advocate and a physician who were responsible for the administration of its staff.

In 1909 Asquith’s Liberal government brought in legislation which required local authorities to assume the power to build rate-financed working-class housing and technical staff i.e. architects, were appointed to set the standards required and supervise its design. In the same year the Secretary for Scotland Lord Pentland received a deputation from the Scottish Miners’ Federation and instructed the Board to instigate a study on miners’ housing, and in October 1912 the succeeding Secretary of State Mackinnon Wood set up a Royal Commission to report on all Scottish working class housing.

Late in 1914 Raymond Unwin was appointed Chief Town Planning Inspector for the English Local Government Board and took charge of the planning and building of the housing developments required for the war effort. In parallel the Local Government Board for Scotland’s ‘technical staff’ moved from a supervisory role to designing and building industrial villages sometimes in a form of partnership with the local authorities. By that date the Board had a staff of some 300 people.

The Board’s building programme ended in 1918, when its role again became supervisory. In 1919 the Board became the Department of Health for Scotland following the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service chaired by Lord MacDonnell in 1912.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 1125, George Street, Edinburgh, ScotlandBusinessBefore 1915After 1930 

Employment and Training

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 2John WilsonMay 1910Before 1928Chief Architect 
Item 2 of 2George Donaldson Macniven19151918Depute Chief Architect 

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 8 Workers' housingMossend LanarkshireScotland 
Item 2 of 8 Workers' housingHolytown LanarkshireScotland 
Item 3 of 8c. 1915Workers' housingCambuslang LanarkshireScotland 
Item 4 of 81916Beardmore Cottages for airship workersInchinnan RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 5 of 81916(?)Cottages for Admiralty civiliansInvergordon Ross & CromartyScotland 
Item 6 of 81916HousingGlengarnock/Kilbirnie AyrshireScotland 
Item 7 of 8c. 1916(?)Houses at LevendaleAlexandria DunbartonshireScotland 
Item 8 of 81918Housing for munitions workersClydebank DunbartonshireScotlandDesigned by the Local Government Board's architectural staff built under the supervision of the Office of Works

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 2Gibson, John1985The Thistle and the Crown: a History of the Scottish Office   
Item 2 of 2Rosenburg, Lou2016Scotland's Homes fit for Heroes: Garden City Influences on the Development of Scottish Working Class Housing, 1900-1939 Scottish Centre for Conservation Studies: The Word Bank