Basic Biographical Details
| Name: | David Raeside |
| Designation: | |
| Born: | 1882 |
| Died: | Early 1930 |
| Bio Notes: | David Raeside was born about 1882 in Prestwick in Ayrshire, the son of John Raeside, keeper of the Red Lion Hotel, Main Street, Prestwick and his wife Mary. He had two brothers, one who became a railway clerk and the other a joiner and two sisters who ran a stationery shop. By 1891 his mother was a widow and was running the hotel in her husband's place, the hotel by that date being known as the Temperance Hotel'. Nothing is known of David Raeside's training as he never joined the RIBA. He was an architect's apprentice in 1901 probably in Ayrshire as he was still living in the parental home, Ravenscrag (or Ravenserag), Manswell Road, Prestwick. He certainly spent some time in Sir John Burnet’s Glasgow office as Alfred Lochhead remembered him there, transferring to Burnet’s London office sometime before the First World War mainly in the role of office manager. During the Frist World War Raeside served in the Middle East and was commissioned as a Lieutenant. After Burnet was appointed one of the Principal Architects to the Imperial War Graves Commission, provisionally with responsibility for Palestine and the Middle East, Raeside was offered the commission for the Indian War Memorial on the Suez Canal at Port Tewfik while still a serving officer. This brought a complaint from Lorimer as Egypt was within the territories allocated to him and caused Burnet some embarrassment, but the Commission adhered to its offer. On his release Raeside returned to Burnet’s London office and was taken into partnership along with Thomas Smith Tait, being nominated Burnet’s sub-architect for Imperial War Graves work in February 1919, his remuneration being fixed at £300 p.a. Although in the event Tait took on at least some of the responsibility for Port Tewfik, Raeside must have been heavily involved in the execution of Burnet’s designs for the major memorials in Palestine, Cape Helles and Gallipoli up to May 1926 when his salary was reduced to £200 p.a.: most of the projects were by then approaching completion. Raeside probably designed some of the smaller cemeteries himself. His appointment ended with Burnet’s in September 1928. By that date Burnet’s design role in the practice had diminished. Although he received the Royal Gold Medal in 1923 and was elected RA in 1925, he was now much more limited in what he could do and his role became much more supervision of the office and the contribution of ideas to work in hand. Financial anxiety during the war and after it as a result of the disasters in the Glasgow office aggravated his eczema, forcing him to wear skullcap and gloves, and limiting his ability to draw. Tait took over the design work completely at the Daily Telegraph Building and at Lloyds Bank on Cornhill, even although these still had marked Burnetian elements: only in the partial redesign the exterior of Lomax Simpson's Unilever House did Burnet have a direct hand, having been asked to deal with the commission himself. Raeside’s role as office manager correspondingly increased as the War Graves work wound down, Burnet's infirmities perhaps making that role more important than it would otherwise have been. Frederick McManus remembered him as being 'a good-looking city gent sort of chap' who was good with corporate clients. Raeside died prematurely in early 1930 in Rochford, Essex. His role in the office was taken over by Francis Lorne whose approach was much more entrepreneurial. |
Private and Business Addresses
| The following private or business addresses are associated with this : | |||||
| Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | |
 | Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland | Private | 1882 | Before 1914 | Place of birth |
| Montague Place, London, England | Business | Before 1914 | 1928 | |
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 | |
| (Sir) John James Burnet | Before 1914 | c. 1914 | Office Manager | |
| (Sir) John Burnet & Partners | 1918 | 1928 | Partner | |
References
Archive References
| The following archives hold material relating to this : | ||||
| Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | |
| Census records online | Censuses | ||
| England and Wales | Births, marriages and deaths | ||