Basic Biographical Details Name: | G P K Young & Son | Designation: | | Born: | 1921(?) | Died: | After 1955 | Bio Notes: | George Penrose Kennedy Young was born in 1858, the son of Perth architect John Young. He was articled to his father in 1875, and after a short period as his father's assistant he spent a year in London, studying architecture under Professor T Roger Smith at University College and drawing under Alphonse Legros at the Slade School. He was prizeman in construction in 1881. He passed the qualifying exam in 1885 and in the same year was taken into partnership by his father. He was admitted ARIBA on 8 June of that year, his proposers being John Honeyman, Thomas Lennox Watson and John Burnet Senior; his nomination papers indicate that prior to that time he had spent several brief periods travelling and studying in Italy, France, Holland and Belgium. Shortly thereafter he married Charlotte Anne Conacher.
That Burnet Senior was a proposer for Young's Associateship of the RIBA, and that other signatories - who probably signed at Burnet's request - were Glaswegians was a measure of the friendship between the Burnets and the Youngs at that time. It is not yet known how this came about but from the late 1890s the more important works of the practice were almost indistinguishable from the work of John James Burnet. By that time George had become sole partner following his father's death in Perth on 2 December 1895.
In 1907 George's elder son Cedric John Mathison Young, born on 4 June 1890 and educated at Merchiston Castle School, commenced his apprenticeship in his father's office. Two years later he moved to Glasgow to study full-time at Glasgow School of Architecture, working in the office of John Burnet & Son during his holidays. Whilst there he married, his son Kenneth Mathison Young being born on 23 November 1910. In 1911 he returned to Perth to join his father's practice as an assistant, but the following year he went to Canada where he found employment in the offices of E & W S Maxwell and Nobbs & Hyde, both of Montreal. He joined the Territorial Army in 1908 and enlisted in the Black Watch in 1914.
Young's second son Graham Conacher Young, born on 29 March 1892 and educated at Merchiston like his brother, was articled to James Miller in 1909-13, studying at Glasgow School of Architecture. After a brief period with Peter Macgregor Chalmers he returned to his father's office in 1913.
George was admitted FRIBA in June 1914, proposed by the RIBA Council. In the same year Graham Conacher entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, enlisting in the 1st Seaforth Highlanders; he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps and RAF between 1916 and 1919, rising to the rank of Flight Commander in 1918. He remained in active service after the end of the First World War, being seconded to the Royal Tank Corps from 1920 to 1923 and serving with No 2 Armoured Car Company in the Arab rebellion in Mesopotamia in 1920 and 1921. Through the course of his military career he served in France, Egypt, Persia and Iraq. He left the army in 1923, rejoining his father in the following year, although an illness contracted during his military service forced him temporarily to withdraw from practice on various occasions over the course of the ensuing years.
Meanwhile Cedric was in active service until 1920 when he returned to Perth, and he was taken into partnership by his father in 1921, the firm becoming G P K Young & Son. He was admitted ARIBA under the war exemption scheme late that year, his proposers being Patrick Hill Thoms, John James Burnet and William Brown Whitie. Four years later he returned to Canada and worked for McCarter & Nairne in Vancouver, designing the details and art work of the Medical-Dental Building and the Marine Building in Vancouver in 1928-30. McCarter & Nairne's design for the Vancouver Exhibition Association has marked Burnetian characteristics, suggesting that he had a hand in it. He appears to have returned by 1930 or 1931, however, as the RIBA Kalendars for those years give his address as 42 Tay Street, the office of the family firm. A year or two previously, in 1929, Graham Conacher had been taken into partnership, his health having recovered fully by that time.
George Penrose Kennedy Young was President of the RIAS 1926-28, and served on the Council of the Dundee Institute of Architects. He died on 28 October 1933 and was buried at Wellshill Cemetery. His wife had predeceased him on 13 December 1929. Graham Conacher - who had been admitted LRIBA on 1 May 1933, his proposers being William Salmond, Charles Geddes Soutar and Patrick Hill Thoms - continued the practice alone, under the existing name of G P K Young & Son. At the time of George's death, Cedric was again in Canada, but he later returned. Cedric's son Kenneth Mathison Young, had also joined the firm by that time as an assistant, having studied at Edinburgh School of Architecture from 1928 until 1931. Whilst in the office, he continued to attend classes part-time for a further year in Dundee. In 1934 he moved to Edinburgh where he spent a year with James Robertson before moving again to Thurso to work as assistant to Sinclair Macdonald & Son for a year. He returned to the family firm in 1936 and remained there thereafter.
On 10 July 1949 Graham Conacher was elevated to FRIBA, proposed by Donald Alexander Stewart, Robert Matthew Mitchell and another. In the same year, at the outbreak of the Second World War, Kenneth joined the armed forces and served in the Middle East, South East Asia and Europe. He returned to practise at the end of the war and was taken into partnership in April 1946. His later work was principally concerned with hospital buildings in Perthshire and housing for Perth County Council. He was admitted FRIBA in 1955. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 42, Tay Street, Perth, Perthshire, Scotland | Business | 1921(?) | After 1955 | |
Employment and TrainingEmployees or Pupils
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 | | 1924 | Perth Theatre | Perth | | Perthshire | Scotland | Restoration after fire | | After 1929(?) | Alterations and additions to business premises | Tunbridge Wells | | Kent | England | May have been done by Graham Conacher Young in 1925, before he was taken into partnership by his father | | After 1929(?) | House and Tea Rooms | Lochearnhead | | Perthshire | Scotland | May have been done by Graham Conacher Young in 1925, before he was taken into partnership by his father | | After 1929 | Kinfauns Parish Church | Kinfauns | | Perthshire | Scotland | Font and lectern - may have been done by Graham Conacher Young in 1925, before he was taken into partnership by his father (thought to be for this church but possibly for Kinfauns Old Parish Church) | | 1931 | Alterations to business premises | | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1931 | General Accident Building | Leicester | | Leicestershire | England | | | 1932 | Head Office of the General Accident, Fire and Life Assurance Corporation Ltd | Perth | | Perthshire | Scotland | Extensions | | 1932 | Sports pavilion and layout of grounds, Rochay Lodge | Perth | | Perthshire | Scotland | | | 1934 | Auchraw Hotel | Lochearnhead | | Perthshire | Scotland | | | 1934 | Business premises | | | Liverpool | England | Alterations | | 1934 | City and County Infirmary | Perth | | Perthshire | Scotland | New operating theatre block and extensions to kitchen block | | 1935 | Alterations to business premises | Tunbridge Wells | | Kent | England | | | 1936 | Business premises | Plymouth | | Devon | England | Alterations | | After 1936 | Housing for Perth County Council | | | Perthshire | Scotland | | | 1937 | Alterations to business premises | Exeter | | Devon | England | | | 1937 | Block of office buildings, Middle Row | Maidstone | | Kent | England | | | 1938 | Alterations to business premises | Southampton | | Hampshire | England | | | 1938 | Hattonbrae | Kinnoull | | Perthshire | Scotland | Kenneth Mathison Young responsible - designed and built house for himself | | 1938 | House for H J Fraser Esq | Perth | | Perthshire | Scotland | | | 1938 | House for J L Fraser Esq | Perth | | Perthshire | Scotland | | | 1938 | House for William Brown | Kinross | | Kinross-shire | Scotland | | | 1946 | Bridge of Earn Hospital | Bridge of Earn | | Perthshire | Scotland | New orthopoedic outpatients' department | | 1946 | Perth Royal Infirmary, outpatients' clinic | Perth | | Perthshire | Scotland | | | 1946 | Ten houses for Perth County Council | Aberdalgie | | Perthshire | Scotland | | | 1955 | Head Office of the General Accident, Fire and Life Assurance Corporation Ltd | Perth | | Perthshire | Scotland | Large additions to insurance office | | c. 1955 | Housing scheme | Guildtown | | Perthshire | Scotland | | | c. 1955 | Married officers' quarters and soldiers' quarters for Territorial and Auxiliary Armed Forces | | | Perthshire | Scotland | | | 1965 | Office block, Perth Road | | | Dundee | Scotland | |
ReferencesArchive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | National Monuments Record of Scotland/NMRS, RCAHMS | GPK Young newscutting file (copy of file comp. Mrs Elsie Young, Union Mount, Glasgow Rd, Perth) | | |
|