Basic Biographical Details

Name: Neil Macara
Designation:  
Born: 20 April 1850
Died: 4 March 1915
Bio Notes: Neil Macara was born in Blair Atholl (or Stirlingshire - sources vary) on 20 April 1850, the son of Duncan Macara, innkeeper, Dalnacardoch and his wife Elizabeth Forbes. He seems to have moved to Darlington serve his articles. He was elected an associate member of the Northern Architectural Association in 1870. He was an 'architect pupil lodger' in Darlington in 1871. His first recorded work in Darlington being in 1874. He was admitted ARIBA in 1878, his proposers being Geroge Gordon Hoskins, Robert Lamb and John Ross, all local Darlington men. Macara appears in the Darlington Sanitary Committee Planning Records from 1875 to 1889 as he had designed at least twenty different schemes of terraced houses. Census records tell us that he lived in Darlington with his younger unmarried brother and sister and with an 'architect pupil' Peter Taylor who was a native of Dunfermline and seventeen in 1881.

Apart from terraced houses Macara designed a number of Presbyterian churches in the north east of England - Jarrow (1874-75), Stockton (1874-76), the Wesleyan Chapel, Skelton-in-Cleveland in 1876, Seaham Harbour (1883), Wallsend (1886-77), Bedlington (1891-92). In 1884 he won the commission for Peter Turnbull Memorial Presbyterian Church in Sunderland, of which only the hall was built, owing to financial difficulties. The project was completed in 1900-01 and by that date Macara had returned to Scotland and was living at Rumbling Bridge, Stirlingshire where his father was innkeeper by then.

In early 1900 he married Louisa Turnbull in Tynemouth, Northumberland. In 1901 he is recorded as architect and hotel priprietor of the Rumbling Briodge Hotel, having presumably inherited the business from his father.

Macara died on 4 March 1915 in a nursing home in Edinburgh.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 3Darlington, County Durham, EnglandBusiness   
Item 2 of 35, Langholm Crescent, Darlington, County Durham, EnglandPrivate1881  
Item 3 of 3Rumbling Bridge Hotel, Rumbling Bridge, Perthshire, ScotlandPrivate/business18911915 

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 21876Dollar UP ChurchDollar ClackmannanshireScotland 
Item 2 of 21879St Michael's ChurchCrieff PerthshireScotlandAwarded second premium

References

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
 SourceArchive NameSource Catalogue No.Notes
Item 1 of 4Census records onlineCensuses  
Item 2 of 4Courtesy of Neil Macara BrownInformation sent via 'Contact Us' on website Sent April 2013. See also http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=cache:w8d1eITVHOgJ:http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bandl.danby/Skelton1877_1877.html%2BSkelton+in+Cleveland+Neil+Macara&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&hl=en&ct=clnk for information about Skelton Chapel
Item 3 of 4Courtesy of Sally OlsenInformation sent via 'Contact Us' on website Sent February 2013
Item 4 of 4Professor David M Walker personal archiveProfessor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material Information from Neil Brown.