Basic Biographical Details Name: | Stuart Russell Matthew | Designation: | | Born: | 27 June 1912 | Died: | 13 May 1996 | Bio Notes: | Stuart Russell Matthew was born on 27 June 1912, the youngest son of architect John Fraser Matthew and his wife Annie Broadfoot Hogg, at 30 Mayfield Terrace in Edinburgh. He was educated at the Edinburgh Institution, his schooldays being marred by pneumonia, diphtheria and a golfing accident, all of which permanently damaged his health. He attended Edinburgh College of Art (from October 1930 to 1937) and, according to his obituary, the Royal College of Art in London. He assisted in his father's practice of Lorimer & Matthew in 1934-35 and continued to assist there after passing the qualifying exam in June 1937. During these early years he travelled in northern Italy (September 1931 for three weeks) and in England, including Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Cambridge, Oxford, Wells, Bath and the Cotswolds. He was admitted ARIBA on 4 April 1938, his proposers being Frank Charles Mears, John Wilson and Leslie Grahame-Thomson.
Stuart Russell Matthew shared his father's interest in fine craftsmanship; much of his practice was concerned with small-scale armorial work. He became his partner in January 1946.
While working together in 1950, both Stuart and his father suffered nervous breakdowns. For John Fraser Matthew, this was his second breakdown (the first being in 1926 as a result of the stresses of the Scottish National War Memorial project), and it sent him into semi-retirement. While working on a stressful project for a hotel at Bridge of Lochay in 1949-50, Stuart, in turn, had his own ‘collapse’, leaving Robert and Douglas (without any arch training) to try to help their father keep the firm afloat. Stuart’s partnership with his father was dissolved shortly thereafter, when John Fraser Matthew, having taken over the design work Stuart had done on the Thistle Foundation’s housing for severely disabled ex-servicemen, insisted on changing Stuart’s design. Stuart subsequently merged his practice with that of David Carr, the office being within Stuart Matthew's house at 14 Lynedoch Place. For about a year his father practised independently, finally retiring completely in 1952 when Stuart Matthew again took over his practice and completed such work as was still in hand. Matthew was elected FRIAS in 1958.
The partnership of Carr & Matthew was not an unqualified success because of Stuart Matthew's deteriorating health and was closed in 1959 when David Carr set up his own practice at 43 Manor Place. With his own practice ebbing away, Stuart Matthew took in work farmed out by his elder brother, Robert Hogg Matthew (born 1906), who had founded his own practice in 1953. After failing to make an effective contribution on larger projects, including development plans for Dundee University and Glasgow Royal College (later Strathclyde University), Robert provided Stuart with less urgent, small-scale or family-related projects, including work on Robert’s office and flat at 31 Regent Terrace and the modest job of designing a modern front elevation for a rebuilding scheme for the Army and Navy Club at St James Square, Westminster.
In August 1963, Stuart suffered his most devastating nervous breakdown while working with Robert on the design for the reconstruction of Loretto School Chapel. This was followed by a period of voluntary confinement and electric-shock treatment in the Crichton Royal Hospital, Dumfries in 1963. After 1963, Robert effectively took over Stuart’s office and most of his staff, and thereafter kept Stuart supplied with a succession of small jobs.
Alongside architectural odd-jobs, Stuart maintained a wide variety of interests. In 1963, he and Robert founded Keith Ingram Furniture, for which Stuart designed the shop in Rose Street, and with Robert, was initially responsible for designing ranges of prototype objects. In his later years, Stuart's interests became more varied, aiding in the establishment of St Mary’s Music School, and by the late 1960s, setting up his own pop group and running a large antique shop from a property he owned in Belford Road, for a time in partnership with Nigel Coates. His last important undertaking was a book, 'The Knights and the Chapel of the Thistle', published in 1988. He died on 13 May 1996, survived by his wife Joan, leaving an estate of £1,743 5s 9d; his brother Robert had died much earlier, on 21 June 1975.
| Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 43, Minto Street, Edinburgh, Scotland | Private | 1938 * | | | | 14, Lynedoch Place, Edinburgh, Scotland | Private/business | Before 1950 | After 1964 | | | 3, Randolph Cliff, Edinburgh, Scotland | Private | 1958 * | | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployersThe following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details): | | Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes | | Lorimer & Matthew | 1934 | 1935 | Assistant(?) | | | Lorimer & Matthew | c. 1937 | c. 1950 | Assistant | | | Carr & Matthew | 1950 | 1959 | Partner | |
RIBARIBA Proposers
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 | | 1930s | University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, Students' Union | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | As assistant in family firm | | 1931 | Earl Haig Memorial Homes | Saughton | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Original buildings and later alterations - as assistant in firm | | 1933 | The Wheatsheaf | Saughton | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Working in family firm - as assistant in firm | | 1937 | Kirkcaldy Town Hall | Kirkcaldy | | Fife | Scotland | Competiton design - placed 2nd | | 1937 | University of Edinburgh, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Additions (including alterations to Hope Park UF Church for Dick Vet ) - as assistant | | 1938 | Falkirk Royal Infirmary Nurses' Home | Falkirk | | Stirlingshire | Scotland | Competition design - placed second | | 1945 | Thistle Foundation scheme with houses, hostel and medical centre | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Won the competition independently of his father in November 1945 with the assistance of his brother Robert | | 1948 | Linburn House Estate, Housing for the Blind | Wilkieston | | Midlothian | Scotland | Job continued by Carr & Matthew | | 1949 | Braille Printing Works, Craigmillar Park | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | | | 1950(?) | Pinkie House | Musselburgh | | Midlothian | Scotland | Additions and alterations | | 1950 | Strathyre Cottage | Callander | | Perthshire | Scotland | Alterations and additions | | 1951 | Broomridge SSHA housing | Stirling | | Stirlingshire | Scotland | | | After 1951 | Hopetoun cottages, Hopetoun estate | | | West Lothian | Scotland | Refurbishment? | | After 1951 | Hopetoun House | Abercorn | | West Lothian | Scotland | Alterations? | | After 1951 | Hopetoun Mausoleum | | | West Lothian | Scotland | Repairs? | | After 1951 | Kirkcaldy Town Hall | Kirkcaldy | | Fife | Scotland | Further work? | | After 1951 | Linburn House and other buildings on site | Wilkieston | | Midlothian | Scotland | Further work - job taken over from his father | | After 1951 | R W Forsyth Ltd Department Store | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Alterations | | After 1951 | Thistle Foundation, Robin Chapel | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Job continued by Carr & Matthew | | 1952 | 5 Western Terrace, Corstorphine Road | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Plans for conversion into two and three separate flats | | 1952 | Meadowfield Housing Estate | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | | | 1953 | Astley Ainslie Hospital | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Alterations and additions | | 1954 | Duddingston Primary School | Duddingston | | Edinburgh | Scotland | | | 1954 | University of St Andrews Observatory | St Andrews | | Fife | Scotland | New Observatory? | | 1956 | Warriston Crematorium | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | [Glendinning, 2008] | | 1957 | Astley Ainslie Hospital School | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Also alterations to St Roque and Tyne Lodges | | 1959 | Nairn Street and Boquhanran Road Housing | Clydebank | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | | | Early 1950s | Crawford's Restaurant | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Conversion | | Early 1950s | Farm cottages | Winchburgh | | West Lothian | Scotland | | | 1960 | Army and Navy Club House | | | London | | Consultant | | 1962 | Loretto School Chapel | Musselburgh | | Midlothian | Scotland | Stuart Matthew began the designs for the new enlargement, working with Robert Matthew, however due Stuart's poor health the project was taken over by RMJM in 1963. |
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Glendinning, Miles | 2008 | Modern architect: the life and times of Robert Matthew | | RIBA Publishing | | | Municipal Annual | 1964 | Scottish Municipal Annual | 1964-1965 | | |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this : | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Scotsman | 25 May 1996 | | | Obituary |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | RIAS, Rutland Square | Records of membership | | | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | A no6730 (combined box 156) |
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