Basic Biographical Details
| Name: | Malcolm Murchison |
| Designation: | |
| Born: | 1895 |
| Died: | 1960 |
| Bio Notes: | Born in Edinburgh in 1895 to David Malcolm Murchison, Draper and Clothier and his wife Agnes Scott (d.1945). He was awarded a bursary from the Heriot’s Trust. On 28 April 1923 he married Mary Marshall Binnie in Morningside, and is described as a draughtsman on the marriage certificate. He gave a talk on air raid precautions for an ill Macrae in 1939 when he is described in the Scotsman as being MacRae’s Chief Assistant. By 1949 he was the City Council’s Housing Executive Officer, and in this role commented on proposals to provide two new recreation areas within the West Pilton housing scheme, one of which involved the draining of the old reservoir. That same year he commented on plans to convert White Horse Close by Frank Mears, repeating the advice of MacRae that a block on Canongate should not have a third storey. In 1939 he is described as MacRae’s chief assistant and by 1943 he was a Senior Principal Assistant. He contributed a section on Edinburgh Corporation to Stanley Gale’s book on Modern Housing Estates, a guide to their planning, design and development. (1949), where he is described as the Housing Executive Housing Architect. This may be analogous with Housing Director. In 1949-50 he was living at 7 Barnton Gardens, Davidson’s Mains, Edinburgh, and may have been the Malcolm Murchison who was Chairman of the National Opera Company. He died in Edinburgh in 1960 and is remembered by a commemorative bench at Lauriston Castle. His daughter Agnes Scott Murchison married James Mercer Ritchie in July 1950. |
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 | |
 | Ebenezer James MacRae | Architect | in Edinburgh City Architect's Office | ||
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 | |
| 1926 | Leith Public Washhouse, Junction Place | Leith, Edinburgh | Edinburgh | Scotland | ||
| 1935 | Piershill Council Housing | Edinburgh | Scotland | |||
References
Bibliographic References
| The following books contain references to this : | ||||||
| Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | |
| Steven Robb | 2017 | Ebenezer MacRae and Interwar Housing in Edinburgh | Vol.13 | The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club | |
Archive References
| The following archives hold material relating to this : | ||||
| Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | |
| Steven Robb | Information from Steven Robb (from Scotland's People website and other sources) | ||