Basic Biographical Details
| Name: | Cecil John William Simpson |
| Designation: | |
| Born: | 1867 |
| Died: | |
| Bio Notes: | Cecil John William Simpson was born in 1867 and articled to the London and North Western Railway's Estate Department c.1883. Thereafter he taught in Manchester Municipal School of Art and Wigan School of Mines. In 1897 he was appointed as assistant in the Office of Works, and in 1906 he was posted to Shanghai as Architect to H M Office of Works Far Eastern Division. While based there he was admitted LRIBA on 20 March 1911 his proposer being the Chief Architect Sir Henry Tanner. He had returned to the Westminster Office of Works by 1914 when he replaced William Thomas Oldrieve as architect in the charge at the Edinburgh office, remaining there until 1922 when he was succeeded by John Wilson Paterson. In 1921 he carried out a tour of the Far East legation buildings and sites and in the winter of 1923-24 he carried out a tour of South American embassy and consulate buildings with authority to but suitable sites. These resulted in a considerable programme of buying and building but Simpson did not actually design any of them. |
Private and Business Addresses
| The following private or business addresses are associated with this : | |||||
| Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | |
 | Manchester, England(?) | Business | |||
| Shanghai, China | Business | 1906 | After 1911 | |
| London, England | Business | Before 1914 | 1922 | |
Employment and Training
Employers
| The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details): | |||||
| Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes | |
| London and North Western Railway's Estate Department | c. 1883 | c. 1888(?) | Apprentice | |
| H M Office of Works (later Ministry of Works, Department of the Environment and Property Services Agency) | 1897 | 1906 | Assistant | In Edinburgh office, working under William Thomas Oldrieve |
| William Thomas Oldrieve (sometimes William Thomas Oldgrieve) | 1897 | 1906 | Assistant | In H M Office of Works, Edinburgh |
| H M Office of Works Far Eastern Division | 1906 | Before 1914 | Architect | |
| H M Office of Works (later Ministry of Works, Department of the Environment and Property Services Agency) | After 1911 | 1914 | Assistant(?) | In London office |
| H M Office of Works (later Ministry of Works, Department of the Environment and Property Services Agency) | 1914 | 1922 | Chief Architect | In Edinburgh office |
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 | |
| Andrew Duncan Kellock | 1914 | After 1919 | Assistant | With the exception of war service; in H M Office of Works |
RIBA
RIBA Proposers
| The following individuals proposed this for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details): | |||
| Name | Date proposed | Notes | |
| (Sir) Henry Tanner | 20 March 1911 | for Licentiateship |
Buildings and Designs
| This 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 | |
| 1914 | Glasgow General Post Office | Glasgow | Scotland | Addition of side blocks (steel and reinforced concrete) - commenced by W T Oldrieve, completed by C J W Simpson, as successive Architects for Scotland in H M Office of Works | ||
| 1915 | Garden City housing | Crombie | Fife | Scotland | With C J W Simpson as architect for Scotland | |
| 1919 | Post Office | Edinburgh | Scotland | As architect for Scotland in the Office of Works | ||
| 1921 | St Oran's Chapel | Iona | Argyll | Scotland | Consolidation - as architect for Scotland in the Office of Works | |
| c. 1922 | Telephone Exchange | Edinburgh | Scotland | As Architect for Scotland in H M Office of Works | ||
| 1924 | Post office | Alloa | Clackmannanshire | Scotland | As architect of Scotland in the Office of Works | |
| 1926 | Blackness Castle | West Lothian | Scotland | Major repairs | ||
| 1934 | Anstruther Easter post office | Anstruther Easter | Fife | Scotland | As chief architect in H M Office of Works | |
References
Bibliographic References
| The following books contain references to this : | ||||||
| Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | |
| Bertram, Mark | 2011 | Britian's Diplomatic Buildings Overseas, 1800-2000 | Reading: Spire Books | p173-175 | |
| British Architectural Library, RIBA | 2001 | Directory of British Architects 1834-1914 | |||
| Who's Who in Architecture | 1914 | ||||