Architects

Name:

Thomas Graham Abercrombie

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Year Only

Exact DOB:

22/03/1926

Year of Birth :

1862

Circa Year of Birth :

Date of Birth Before (Year):

Date of Birth After (Year):

DOB (1st 'Or' Year):

DOB (2nd 'Or' Year):

Date of Death:

Exact Date

Exact DOD:

16/02/1926

Year of Death:

Circa Year of Death:

Date of Death Before (Year):

Date of Death After (Year):

DOD (1st 'Or' Year):

DOD (2nd 'Or' Year):

Town of Birth :

Bio Notes :

Thomas Graham Abercrombie was born in Paisley, the son of a well-connected banker, William Abercrombie, who was of the family of Abercrombie of Tullibody, Clackmannan and his wife Robina Andrews Graham. He was articled to John Hutchison of Glasgow, an architect with Paisley connections, in 1876 and at the end of the apprenticeship he emigrated to the USA, location not known. By 19 May 1886 he had returned to Paisley and set up practice with £19 10s advanced by his father. The first year he is said to have had little or no work but in 1887 he took on an assistant, his brother-in-law Robert S Symington who became a partner in 1888. In that year the practice won a competition for Greenlaw Church, Paisley, but in July the following year Symington emigrated to the USA as manager of Clark's Thread Mills at Newark. The Greenlaw church design was modelled on Burnet's Barony Church and in or about 1890 Abercrombie took on as his chief assistant William Kerr (1866-1940) from the office of Burnet Son and Campbell, the work of the practice taking on a still more Burnetian character with the Clark Memorial Church, Largs (1892) which in several respects derives from Burnet's competition design for the Coats Memorial Church in Paisley.

Kerr was not invited to become a partner in the practice and in 1902 he left to become a partner in the practice of John Melvin and Son at Alloa. Thereafter Abercrombie continued with well-selected assistants until 1923 when he took into partnership James Steel Maitland (1887-1982), a pupil of Leiper who had worked for Brown and Vallance in Montreal. The partnership was brief as Abercrombie died suddenly at his home, Redholme, Castlehead, on 16 February 1926, Maitland continuing the practice alone thereafter under the existing name of Abercrombie & Maitland.

Abercrombie developed close links with the Coats, Clark and Stewart families and was an enthusiastic volunteer, first in the 2nd Renfrewshire Rifles and then in the Argyll and Southern Highlanders, reaching the rank of Captain.

Bio Notes continued...

Additional Notes

The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:

Private Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From Char	Date From Type	Date To Char	Date To Type	Notes
Redholme Castlehead Paisley Renfrewshire Scotland	Private

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date To
97 High Street Paisley Renfrewshire Scotland	Business	1886	1893
13 Gilmour Street Paisley Renfrewshire Scotland	Business	1893	1900
1 County Place Paisley Renfrewshire Scotland	Business	1900	1926

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The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this person (click on an item to view details):

Employers2 classic

Name	Name Link	Date From	Date To	Position
John Hutchison	200059	In year 1876		Apprentice
Abercrombie & Symington	203323	In year 1888	1889/07	Partner
Abercrombie & Maitland	100127	In year 1923	In year 1926	Partner

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The following individuals were employed or trained by this person (click on an item to view details):

Employees or Pupils2 classic

Name	Name Link	Date From	Date To	Position	Notes
John (Ian) Shaw Boyd	200429	1906/05	1911/05	Apprentice
John (Ian) Shaw Boyd	200429	1911/05	1911/09	Junior draughtsman
Hugh Smith	205304	1920/05/04	In year 1923	Apprentice
James Christopher Rogerson	205271	1921/02/01	In year 1923	Assistant
James Maitland	204576	1921/09	In year 1923	Apprentice
James Steel Maitland	100087	Early 1920s	In year 1923	Principal Assistant
Robert Stevenson Symington	203324	In year 1887	In year 1888	Assistant
John Galt Mitchell	202698	In year 1889	In year 1891	Apprentice
William Kerr	201772	In year 1890	c. 1902	Assistant	Later principal assistant
Andrew Hamilton	200475	In year 1891	In year 1916	Draughtsman	Latterly Principal Assistant
John Galt Mitchell	202698	In year 1891	In year 1892	Assistant
Henry ('Harry') Cook	200474	In year 1897	Before 1904	Apprentice
Alfred George Lochhead	200297	In year 1906	In year 1910	Apprentice
James Craig Barr	200372	c. 1899	In year 1904	Apprentice

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This person was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):

Buildings and Designs2 classic

Building Name	Date Started	Town, District or Village	City or County	Country	Notes
Greenlaw Free Church	In year 1887	Paisley	Renfrewshire	Scotland	Successful competition design, modelled on Burnet's Barony Church - in collaboration with Robert S Symington prior to partnership
25-26 Canal Street	In year 1888	Paisley	Renfrewshire	Scotland	Alterations
Redholme	In year 1889	Paisley	Renfrewshire	Scotland	Original building - listed as 'cottage, Castlehead' in Paisley Dean of Guild, but likely to be same building
67 Causeyside	In year 1889	Paisley	Renfrewshire	Scotland	Alterations
Tenement, 10 Broomlands	In year 1889	Paisley	Renfrewshire	Scotland
Cricket pavilion, Meikleriggs	In year 1889	Paisley	Renfrewshire	Scotland
UP Church	In year 1890	Largs	Ayrshire	Scotland	With William Kerr as assistant
Burgh Sawmills	In year 1890	Paisley	Renfrewshire	Scotland	Additions
Thornly Park House	In year 1890	Paisley	Renfrewshire	Scotland
House, Meikleriggs	In year 1890	Paisley	Renfrewshire	Scotland	Additions and alterations
Cottage and byre, Lylesland	In year 1890	Paisley	Renfrewshire	Scotland
Abbey Poorhouse	In year 1890	Paisley	Renfrewshire	Scotland	Addition of hospital block, and alterations
Broadlie House	In year 1891	Dalry	Ayrshire	Scotland
Roneil	In year 1891	Paisley	Renfrewshire	Scotland	With William Kerr as assistant
John Neilson Endowment School and entrance lodge	In year 1891	Paisley	Renfrewshire	Scotland	Lavatories

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Part	Notes
MacLean, Allan	Abercrombie and Maitland Architects 1886-1963	1986	B. Arch University of Strathclyde		Dissertation
Davis, Michael C	The Castles and Mansions of Ayrshire	1991	Ardrishaig, Argyll: privately published		Broadlie House, Curlinghall, Noddsdale
Johnston, W T	Artists of Scotland	2003	Officina Publications CDROM
MacLean, Allan	Thomas Graham Abercrombie: eclectic patterns in Paisley	1986	Charles Rennie Mackintosh Newsletter	43, Summer	p5-7
Walker, Frank Arneil	South Clyde Estuary: An Illustrated Architectural Guide to Inverclyde and Renfrew	1986			p14, p15, p17, p21, p22, p23, p24, p29, p30, p32, p33, p34, p35, p58, p98, p99

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
Paisley Daily Express	1926/02/17	*	Obituary
Paisley and Renfrewshire Gazette	1897/12/04	*	Obituary of J D Symington
Paisley and Renfrewshire Gazette	1926/02/20	*

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

Employment and Training

Employers2 classic

Employees or Pupils

Employees or Pupils2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Bibliographic References

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Periodical References

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