Basic Biographical Details Name: | George Colvill Nairne | Designation: | | Born: | 14 November 1884 | Died: | 23 April 1953 | Bio Notes: | George Colvill Nairne was born in Inverness on 14 November 1884, the son of David Nairne, sub-editor of the 'Northern Chronicle'. He was articled to the Inverness architect John Squair, taking classes at the local technical college, and at the end of his apprenticeship took a job in Cardiff. He emigrated in 1906 to New York where he found employment with Alexander Mackintosh, who had been born in London but trained and commenced his career in Scotland. In 1909 Nairne moved to Seattle to work for Blackwell & Baker and in 1911 to Vancouver as assistant to Thomas Hooper.
In 1913 Nairne entered into a partnership with John MacMillan in Nanaimo but it was dissolved because of the difficult economic conditions then prevailing early in the following year. The official title of their practice has not been established but is assumed to have been MacMillan & Nairne. After its dissolution Nairne spent 18 months with H H Johnson in Great Falls, Montana, in 1914-15, but then had to prospect for gold in Alaska and the Yukon until he enlisted in the Royal Canadian engineers in 1917.
After the war Nairne found work with the theatre architect B Marcus Priteca in Seattle until 1921 when he was taken into partnership by the well-established Vancouver architect John Young McCarter whom he had known in Hooper's office before the war. McCarter had good political, business and military contacts, and the practice flourished right up to the time of Nairne's retirement in 1951: their architecture was an impressive American modern of the Raymond Hood school.
Nairne died on 23 April 1953, his partner McCarter continuing the practice under its existing title of McCarter & Nairne until his own retirement in 1956. Thereafter it was continued by Ronald S Nairne (born 1923 and presumably George Colvill's son), William Leithead and other partners as McCarter Nairne & Partners. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland | Private | | | | | Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada | Business | | | | | Scotland | Business | | | | | Cardiff, Wales | Business | c. 1905 | 1906 | | | Alaska, United States of America | Private | 1915 | Before 1917 | |
Employment and TrainingEmployers
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 | | 1928 | Marine Building | Vancouver | | British Columbia | Canada | | | 1928 | Medical-Dental Building | Vancouver | | British Columbia | Canada | | | Late 1920s | Vancouver Exhibition Association | Vancouver | | British Columbia | Canada | |
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Luxton, Donald (ed.) | 2003 | Building the West: the early architects of British Columbia | | Vancouver: Talon Books | pp 272-7 | | www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com | 2005 | www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com | | The Canadian Encyclopedia website (Historica [sic] Foundation of Canada) | Entry on McCarter Nairne |
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