Basic Biographical Details

Name:	William Delmé-Evans
Designation:
Born:	1920
Died:	2003
Bio Notes:	William Delmé-Evans was a distillery specialist. He was born in Wales but his family had French connections. He was educated at Wellingborough College but often went to Scotland on holiday. He studied estate management and bought a farm in Northamptonshire. He contracted TB and was therefore unable to undertake war service and any sort of manual labour but through his convalescence he studied the manufacture of whisky. In 1947 he bought an old distillery in Perthshire and began renovating it. In 1953 he sold it to Brodie Hepburn, a whisky broking firm. He was then approached by two landowners on Jura who sought his assistance in reviving the local economy. There he built the airfield as well as the distillery and houses for workmen and expanded the hotel. He remained as distillery manager until he retired in 1975. Meanwhile in the 1960 he was appoached by Scottish & Newcastle to designs a distillery in Speyside. Aberlour was the chosen site and he had the water piped in from Benrinnes as he was very concerned about obtaining the correct texture of water. After his retirement he bought a farm in Herefordshire and took up golf, always eager to play on the courses in Speyside when he travelled north. He died in 2003. He was in the forefront of Scotland's whisky revival in the post-war years. He was very concerned with efficiency and conservation and was ahead of many of his colleagues.

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
	1961	Isle of Jura Distillery		Isle of Jura	Argyll	Scotland	'Buildings of Scotland' gives Delme-Evans as the architect but the RIBA Directory (which gives information supplied by architects themselves) and Barclay's Nomination Papers state Lothian Barclay Jarvis & Boys.
	1966	Glenallachie Distillery	Aberlour		Banffshire	Scotland	In an advisory role in initial stages.

The following periodicals contain references to this :
	Periodical Name	Date	Edition	Publisher	Notes
	Building	29 April 1966			p.187
	Scotsman	21 August 2003