Basic Biographical Details

Name: Ian G Lindsay & Partners
Designation:  
Born: 1952
Died: 9 March 1984
Bio Notes: The partnership of Orphoot & Lindsay was dissolved in 1952 when Burnett Napier Henderson Orphoot retired. George Hay and another assistant of Orphoot and Lindsay's, Walter Schomberg Scott, were taken into partnership as Ian G Lindsay & Partners, based in the ground floor and basement of 17 Great Stuart Street, which had been Playfair's office, and later Lorimer's, and had been bought by Maysie Lindsay in 1956. A friend of Ian Gordon Lindsay's, D Alan Stevenson, last of the harbour and lighthouse engineering family, lived in the floors above. The Roman Catholic artist and writer Peter F Anson still did Lindsay's presentation perspectives and for a time lived in the basement at Houstoun. The practice expanded rapidly, mainly on church, country house and hydro-electric work, but was not without problems. Lindsay was over-committed as chief investigator of historic buildings and as a member of virtually every body concerned with Scottish heritage; and although most of it was done at weekends he necessarily spent a lot of time visiting and socialising with clients and on researching and writing his books. Hay had more work than he could do and sometimes became stressed; most seriously Scott's clientele was something of a separate entity within the practice and Lindsay and Hay were not always happy with his work, either aesthetically or technically. Like Lindsay, Scott came of a very influential background. Born 14 September 1910 at Monteviot House, Roxburgh, he was the son of James Cospatrick Hepburne Scott, 2nd son of the 7th Lord Polwarth and Lady Isobel Alice Adelaide Kerr, daughter of the 7th Marquess of Lothian. He had studied at Edinburgh College of Art in 1930-35 and had worked in the office of Reginald Fairlie in 1934-35. During these early years he travelled extensively in Italy, Holland, Germany Sweden and France. In 1936 he moved to London to work for T A Darcy Braddell of Deane & Braddell, but returned to Edinburgh to work for Orphoot Whiting & Lindsay in 1937. His home address was then Broomlands House, Kelso. He was admitted ARIBA in that year, his proposers being Fairlie, Braddell and Orphoot. Later he found employment in London with Edward Maufe by whom his work was for a time strongly influenced. In person he was a small and slim man with a military moustache. His marriage on 15 February 1945 to Deborah Castle, a grand daughter of ___ Howard of Castle Howard, extended an already very wide range of social connections.

Although Lindsay was then still serving in Germany, his National Trust (or 'Bute lists') had been adopted by the Department of Health in 1945 as the Town & Country Planning Acts had made it a statutory requirement to compile lists of buildings of special architectural or historic interest. It was quickly realised that the Bute lists were too narrow in scope and in 1947 Sir Robert Russell, who returned from India as an assistant secretary at the Department, decided to have the necessary resurvey carried out by retired or under-employed architects, following the criteria which had been set out by the Maclagan committee in London. For them Lindsay produced 'the child's guide' 'Notes for the Guidance of Investigators' issued in June 1948 which was considerably in advance of the English instructions in respect of Victorian and Edwardian architecture. The recruitment of part-timers, not all of whom proved to be elderly, greatly widened the Lindsay network, by far the most important of the early investigators being the Aberdeen architect Alexander George Robertson Mackenzie whom he had known before the war. Although Mackenzie was much older, he had a similar outlook on contemporary design and Lindsay was considerably influenced by his thinking. Other early investigators were Alan Reiach in Edinburgh; Robert Alison Crighton Simpson in Duns, a friend from his Cambridge days; Roy Carruthers-Ballantyne in Inverness; John Needham in Dundee; Joseph Weekes in Glasgow and Dumbarton; Antony Curtis Wolffe in the south west; and William Murray Jack in Fife; and after Weekes's death Alfred Lochhead was entrusted with Glasgow and Renfrewshire in 1955, while Catherine Holway Cruft took over Edinburgh from Reiach in 1956. Only Lochhead and Cruft carried out any serious research beyond what was strictly necessary for statutory purposes. Nevertheless the survey was the background to his 'Georgian Edinburgh' (1945) and 'The Scottish Parish Kirk' (1960) while the parallel researches of George Hay resulted in his much more comprehensive 'The Architecture of Scottish Post Reformation Churches', published in 1957. Lindsay and Hay both had a particular interest in the Roman Catholic churches of this vintage, restoring St Mahew's Kilmahew in 1953-55 for the traditionalist historian priest Father David McRoberts who was very architecturally minded. He became an important member of Lindsay's circle and was behind the commission for a large church in Greenock which was sadly never built.

Problems with Schomberg Scott's restoration work for the National Trust for Scotland at The Sandhaven, Culross, and a church with roof problems at Barrow-in-Furness led to the dissolution of the partnership with Schomberg Scott. His place was taken by John Herdman Reid, principally to deal with the new-build side of the business and bring it more in tune with the times. Symptomatic of the change was the laying up of Lindsay's Rolls Royce coupe (its top speed was only 55mph) and its replacement by a Jaguar coupe. But John Reid and George Hay were very different people: and in 1960 Hay regretfully withdrew to return to the Office of Public Works to be sure of retaining Lindsay's friendship which had begun to seem increasingly at risk. Hay's decision was deeply regretted by Lindsay who more than once observed 'Can't say I miss Scott but I miss Wee Doddie (Hay) dreadfully'. Fortunately by that date the main work on the drawings for Iona and Pluscarden had been done.

In 1962-63 Lindsay undertook a study tour of Australia to advise the Government of Australia on listing and conservation. He was invalided off the return voyage with glandular fever, and shortly afterwards broke a leg struggling with a ram while trying to get it into a boat in Mull. He never recovered properly from either of these mishaps; Hodgkin's disease set in and was not at first recognised for what it was. His last years were also clouded by the loss of the National Trust for Scotland as a client, the work being taken over by the Trust's surveyor under Robert Crozier with Schomberg Scott as consultant, an appointment which particularly upset him. Eventually he became bed-ridden at Houstoun. Although in great discomfort he sat up in bed, received clients and visitors, many of them from the conservation world, and generally did as much as he could. Eventually he had to be moved to Bangour Hospital where he died on 28 August 1966. His funeral was at St John's Church, Princes Street where he had remained a member, and in accordance with his wishes his ashes were scattered to a piper's lament from a boat in Iona Sound. His great book on Inveraray, for which Mary Cosh was initially the researcher, was unfinished at his death. It had grown out of his restoration work of the town of Inveraray for the Ministry of Public Building and Works and on Inveraray Castle for the 11th Duke of Argyll. It eventually appeared in their joint names in 1973.

The practice was formally dissolved by mutual consent on 9 March 1984. John Herdman Reid pratised on his own from 29 Mansionhouse Road and Crichton Lang, David Willis and Rognvald Galloway practised as Crichton Lang, Willis & Galloway from 3 Walker Street.

N.B. In 1975 the practice was a member of the Dalgleish Lindsay Group with offices in NAirobl, Athens and Lusaka.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 117, Great Stuart Street, Edinburgh, ScotlandBusiness19521966 

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 12Richard Thomas St John Avery  Architect 
Item 2 of 12Rognvald Galloway 1984Partner(?) 
Item 3 of 12David Willis 1984Partner 
Item 4 of 12Hubert Walter Wandesford FenwickAfter 1945   
Item 5 of 12Ian Gordon Lindsay1952 Partner 
Item 6 of 12Walter Schomberg Hepburne Scott19521956Partner 
Item 7 of 12George Hay19521960Partner 
Item 8 of 12John Herdman Reid1958After 1975Partner 
Item 9 of 12James Ian Haig Marshall1970 * Partner 
Item 10 of 12Crichton Walker LangBefore 19751984Partner 
Item 11 of 12Peter John AllamLate 1970s Architect 
Item 12 of 12Graham T SmithBefore 1984 Architect 

* earliest date known from documented sources.

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 94 Grandstand  DubaiUnited Arab EmiratesWith RMJM as Engineers
Item 2 of 941948North Leith Parish ChurchNorth Leith EdinburghScotlandRestoration of Burn's original scheme for pulpit etc
Item 3 of 941952Baltilly HouseCeres FifeScotlandAddition of new wing containing smoking room, bedrooms and bathroom - begun by Lindsay under previous partnership
Item 4 of 941952Canongate Parish Church  EdinburghScotlandAlterations and restoration - begun by Lindsay under previous partnership
Item 5 of 941952Cathedral Church of St Nicholas  Newcastle upon TyneEnglandAlterations - begun by Lindsay under previous partnership
Item 6 of 941952Colinton Mains Church and hall  EdinburghScotlandBegun by Lindsay under previous partnership
Item 7 of 941952Iona Abbey IonaArgyllScotlandRestoration of monastic buildings - begun by Lindsay under earlier partnership
Item 8 of 941952St Andrew's ChurchGreenock RenfrewshireScotlandRedevelopment of grounds - begun by Lindsay under previous partnership
Item 9 of 941952Town's Churches, St Mary's Church and church hall  DundeeScotlandReseating, oak screen etc - begun by Lindsay under previous partnership
Item 10 of 94After 1952Free High Church and Free Church College  EdinburghScotlandRestoration? Alterations?
Item 11 of 941953Mertoun HouseMertoun BerwickshireScotlandScheme of reduction: house returned to its original proportions (Burn and Gibson & Gordon extensions removed)
Item 12 of 941953St Mahew's RC ChurchCardross DunbartonshireScotlandReconstruction
Item 13 of 941953United Free Church Offices  EdinburghScotlandChapel (and Shop to east)
Item 14 of 94c. 1953ShelterStraiton AyrshireScotland 
Item 15 of 941954Houses, Cathedral StreetDunkeld PerthshireScotlandRestoration of houses on north side - except 7 which is a replica and 12-14 and 17 which filled gaps
Item 16 of 941954Wemyss St Mary's-by-the-Sea Parish ChurchWemyss FifeScotland 
Item 17 of 94195515 High StreetDunkeld PerthshireScotlandRestoration
Item 18 of 941956Airlie CastleAirlie AngusScotlandRepairs
Item 19 of 941956Arniston House, Sundial  MidlothianScotlandPedestal
Item 20 of 941956Mayfield Established churchMayfield EdinburghScotlandAlterations including gallery at E and chancel at W.
Item 21 of 941956Spittal TowerHawick RoxburghshireScotlandConversion to flats
Item 22 of 941957Culross Town HallCulross FifeScotlandRefurbishment
Item 23 of 941957Town's Churches, Old St Paul's  DundeeScotlandFont, lectern and screen
Item 24 of 941958Bakehouse Close and Reids CloseHigh Street EdinburghScotlandRestoration
Item 25 of 941958Balmanno CastleGlenfarg PerthshireScotlandExtension to service wing
Item 26 of 941958Canongate Manse  EdinburghScotlandRestoration
Item 27 of 941958Druminnor Castle  AberdeenshireScotlandRestoration
Item 28 of 941958Inveraray TownInveraray ArgyllScotlandRestoration
Item 29 of 941958Oban Episcopal Cathedral of St John the DivineOban ArgyllScotlandDesign which included lntern tower over central altar - not executed
Item 30 of 941959Bemersyde HouseBemersyde BerwickshireScotlandWest wing reduced in height again
Item 31 of 941959Cottage, SmyrtonGlenapp AyrshireScotland 
Item 32 of 941959Cramond VillageCramond EdinburghScotlandRestoration
Item 33 of 941959Tulliebole Castle  PerthshireScotlandRestoration
Item 34 of 941960sAlexander Hall's Office  EdinburghScotland 
Item 35 of 941960sHousingNewhaven EdinburghScotland 
Item 36 of 941960sOrmiston HallOrmiston East LothianScotlandRestoration?
Item 37 of 941960sTankerness HallKirkwallMainlandOrkneyScotlandRestoration/alterations?
Item 38 of 941960sThe Mound/Lawnmarket area  EdinburghScotlandDevelopment plan
Item 39 of 941960sWhitehillRosewell MidlothianScotlandResidential and teaching block added
Item 40 of 941960Aldie Castle  PerthshireScotlandFurther restoration
Item 41 of 941960Ardchattan Priory, the Conventual buildingsLoch Etive ArgyllScotlandRestoration
Item 42 of 941960Cawdor Castle  NairnshireScotlandMeasured survey drawings
Item 43 of 941960Duart CastleCraignure (near)MullArgyllScotlandMinor restoration works
Item 44 of 941960Houses, Dean Path  EdinburghScotlandRestoration of old buildings and some new insertions
Item 45 of 941960Inveraray CastleInveraray ArgyllScotlandMinor restoration work
Item 46 of 941960Little housesCulross FifeScotlandRestoration
Item 47 of 941960Newhaven Core Development AreaNewhaven EdinburghScotlandRestoration and redevelopment, including flats to south of Main Street
Item 48 of 941961Loch Gair Power StationLoch Gair ArgyllScotland 
Item 49 of 941961Old Breachacha Castle CollArgyllScotlandRestoration
Item 50 of 941962Fourteen (14) houses and a hall, 70-80 Canongate  Edinburgh, MidlothianScotland 
Item 51 of 941962Huntly House  EdinburghScotlandRestoration of adjacent 17C. tenement and incorporation of it in Museum
Item 52 of 941963Terrace of cottages, 43-57 Union StreetLochgilphead ArgyllScotland 
Item 53 of 941964LangleesBiggar LanarkshireScotlandAdditions
Item 54 of 941964New Lanark villageNew Lanark LanarkshireScotlandRestoration
Item 55 of 941965Carberry TowerInveresk, Musselburgh MidlothianScotlandChapel
Item 56 of 941965St Machar's CathedralOld Aberdeen AberdeenScotlandConservation and re-ordering
Item 57 of 941965University of Edinburgh, Old College  EdinburghScotlandInterior alterations
Item 58 of 941966Milne's (Mylne's) Court  EdinburghScotlandRestoration
Item 59 of 941966Old ChurchPeterhead AberdeenshireScotlandRestoration and oak pulpit
Item 60 of 941966St Cecilia's Hall  EdinburghScotlandRebuilding
Item 61 of 941968Oban Episcopal Cathedral of St John the DivineOban ArgyllScotlandConsolidation of foundations, raising of nave floor level, new narthex screenand rooflights along S edge of nave above new screen.
Item 62 of 941969St Mary's ChurchHaddington East LothianScotlandRestoration from ruinous condition. Gallery in North transept inserted. Job architect Crichton W Lang.
Item 63 of 941970sGlebelandLivingston West LothianScotland 
Item 64 of 941970sHotel  ShetlandScotland 
Item 65 of 941970sHouse type design and layout for Walker Homes   Scotland 
Item 66 of 941970sKirkwall Grammar SchoolKirkwallMainlandOrkneyScotlandConversion to Local Authority offices
Item 67 of 941970sOffice accommodation for Crown Estate Commissioners  EdinburghScotland 
Item 68 of 941970sOffice block for Aberdeen Service Co (North Sea) Ltd  AberdeenScotland 
Item 69 of 941970sOffices for the Faculty of Advocates  EdinburghScotland 
Item 70 of 941970sReid School of Music  EdinburghScotlandOrgan case
Item 71 of 941970sSheltered housing for Royal British Legion  EdinburghScotland 
Item 72 of 941970sState Guest Palace  DubaiUnited Arab Emirates 
Item 73 of 941970sSurgeons' Hall  EdinburghScotlandRestoration? additions?
Item 74 of 941970sUniversity of Edinburgh, Old College  EdinburghScotlandConservation
Item 75 of 941970Colinton Mains Church and hall  EdinburghScotlandAddition of halls
Item 76 of 941970Makerston (or Makerstoun) HouseKelso RoxburghshireScotlandRestoration after fire.
Item 77 of 941971Barscobe Castle  KirkcudbrightshireScotlandRestoration
Item 78 of 941971Block of buildings, Chambers Street  EdinburghScotland 
Item 79 of 941971Villa, 14 Kevock RoadLasswade MidlothianScotland 
Item 80 of 941972Fearn Abbey Church (and manse)Fearn Ross and CromartyScotlandAlterations
Item 81 of 941972Great YewOrmiston East LothianScotland 
Item 82 of 941972Newhaven Core Development AreaNewhaven EdinburghScotlandExtension to Phase I
Phase II reconstruction
Item 83 of 941975Inveraray CastleInveraray ArgyllScotlandRestoration after 1973 fire.
Item 84 of 941976Cambusnethan PrioryWishaw LanarkshireScotlandConverted to hotel
Item 85 of 941976Isaac S Mackie housingElie FifeScotland 
Item 86 of 941976Thirlestane CastleLauder BerwickshireScotlandRestoration.
Item 87 of 941977Tenements, Mound Place  EdinburghScotlandRestoration
Item 88 of 941978David Marshall Lodge and IndicatorAberfoyle PerthshireScotlandAdditions to N
Item 89 of 941979Inveraray Courthouse and PrisonInveraray ArgyllScotlandRestoration
Item 90 of 941979Terrace of houses, Braxfield RowNew Lanark LanarkshireScotlandRestoration
Item 91 of 94Early 1970s(?)Shop and flat, Lanark Road  EdinburghScotlandUpper floor converted to offices
Item 92 of 941980Sempill's Close, Castlehill  EdinburghScotlandRestoration
Item 93 of 941982Chapel House  EdinburghScotlandInterior gutted when converted to mosque
Item 94 of 941983Iona Abbey IonaArgyllScotlandInstallation of heat pump

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 1Glendinning, Miles1997Rebuilding Scotland: The Postwar Vision, 1945-75  Tuckwell Press Ltdp8 Iona Abbey; 'Little Houses' programme
p9 Image of Iona Abbey