Basic Biographical Details

Name: John Scott Lawson
Designation:  
Born:  
Died:  
Bio Notes: John Scott Lawson was articled to A Scobie & Son of Dunfermline on 27 January 1908. He passed the RIBA preliminary exam in June 1912 and completed his apprenticeship on 30 September that year, moving to Edinburgh to attend day classes at Edinburgh College of Art and Heriot-Watt College. In June the following year he passed and was awarded second place in the RIBA Intermediate Exam, and received a National Scholarship in Architecture from the Board of Education, amounting to £60 for three years' study at the Royal College of Art, London. Prior to taking up the scholarship, he spent six months as draughtsman to Alexander Nisbet Paterson of Glasgow.

His scholarship was interrupted by war service, following which he was admitted ARIBA under the war exemption scheme on 3 March 1919, his proposers being John Watson, James Cumming Wynnes, and Beresford Pite, who wrote of him in his supporting statement: 'having studied under me at the Royal College of Art I can testify to his high abilities as a designer and architect, his work having always attained to an artistic and practical issue.' His nomination papers list his travels prior to that date as follows: three weeks at Lincoln Minster in August 1912; seven weeks studying medieval ecclesiastical and domestic architecture in Somerset and Dorset in 1914; and ten weeks studying fifteenth-, sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Scottish baronial architecture in 1915.

It seems probable that he subsequently worked in Aberdeen as he was listed in the RIBA Kalendar of 1939-40 as an Associate of the Aberdeen Society of Architects. By that time he was living in Florida. In 1950 his address is recorded as being in Aberdeen and he has ARCA after his name.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 51, Castle Blair Park, Dunfermline, Fife, ScotlandPrivate1919 *  
Item 2 of 5Aberdeen, Scotland(?)Business(?)After 1919(?)Before 1939(?) 
Item 3 of 5PO Box 1046, West Palm Beach, Florida, United States of AmericaPrivate/business1939 *  
Item 4 of 511, Albert Terrace, Aberdeen, ScotlandBusiness1950 *  
Item 5 of 57, Winton Drive, Skelmorlie, Ayrshire, ScotlandPrivate/business1958 Lawson was living at and working from this address in 1958.

* earliest date known from documented sources.


Employment and Training

Employers

The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate fromDate toPositionNotes
Item 1 of 2Scobie & Son27 January 190830 September 1912Apprentice 
Item 2 of 2Alexander Nisbet PatersonJune 1913November 1913Draughtsman 

RIBA

RIBA Proposers

The following individuals proposed this for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate proposedNotes
Item 1 of 3Arthur Beresford Pite3 March 1919for Associateship
Item 2 of 3John Watson3 March 1919for Associateship
Item 3 of 3James Cumming Wynnes3 March 1919for Associateship

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 11959DunholmSkelmorlie AyrshireScotlandRebuilding to new design

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 2RIBA1939The RIBA Kalendar 1939-1940 London: Royal Institute of British Architects 
Item 2 of 2RIBA1950The RIBA Kalendar 1950-1951 London: Royal Institute of British Architects 

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
 SourceArchive NameSource Catalogue No.Notes
Item 1 of 1RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert MuseumRIBA Nomination Papers A v24 no2733 (microfilm reel 23)