Basic Biographical Details

Name:	Robert Blackadder
Designation:
Born:	1833
Died:	6 February 1914 or 20 March 1913
Bio Notes:	Robert Blackadder was born in 1833 at Ninewells Mains, Berwickshire, the son of Robert Blackadder, tenant farmer, who died in 1840. Around 1847 he was articled to his uncle William Blackadder, factor and civil engineer at Glamis Castle. Like his uncle Robert was primarily a civil engineer engaged principally on local railway work, road bridges and farm steadings. In the later 1850s and 1860s they were in partnership at Glamis as W & R Blackadder. On the death of his uncle Robert closed the Glamis practice and entered the office of Lindsay Howe & Co., WS, presumably attending to the factorial aspects of that firm. There he met Thomas Thornton, later Sir Thomas, and Dundee's Town Clerk. In 1866 or 1867, Robert re-opened his Angus practice at 46 Reform Street, Dundee again primarily as a civil engineer, specialising particularly in legal and parliamentary cases. Notable amongst those who trained in his practice at this period was Charles Putter Hogg who left in 1870 to attend Glasgow University and who went on to form the practice of Crough & Hogg. Blackadder's business flourished in Dundee, moving to 29 Bank Street in 1876 and then back to Reform Street., this time to no 41 where it remained for the remainder of its existence. Blackadder's increasing prosperity can be charted by his frequent changes of address to ever-larger houses: from Craigie Terrace where he was neighbour of the harbour engineer Charles Ower Senior, to 20 Windsor Street in 1876, 7 Duntrune Terrace, West Ferry in 1880, Bellvue, West Ferry in 1890 and finally to Edrom in Albany Road in 1901. He took little part in public life but he was secretary of St Mary Magdalene's Episcopal Church, leading to several Episcopal church commissions. In 1900 Robert Blackadder's practice became more orientated towards architecture. This development appears to have been related to his sons David and Henry. In 1899 Henry was articled to Thomas Martin Cappon, attending Patrick H Thoms's evening classes in architecture at Dundee Technical Institute, and in 1900 David Lindsay Allan joined the practice as an architectural draughtsman. Born in 1874, Allan was probably a relative of the Allan who subsequently became David Blackadder's partner: initially David practised as a solicitor from the same address as his father, 41 Reform Street. Allan was educated at Dundee High School and articled to John Murray Robertson 1890-94, remaining as assistant and studying at Dundee Technical Institute. In 1897 Allan obtained a place in the office of Niven & Wigglesworth in London which enabled him to study at the RA Schools from 1898. After three years with Blackadder, Allan was taken into partnership in 1903, but the practice could not be said to have flourished architecturally despite its influential connections. Henry Blackadder never seems to have joined the practice, moving from Cappon's office to the London office of Ernest George & Yeates, from which he passed the qualifying exam in 1906 and was admitted ARIBA on 3 December his proposers being George, Yeates and Cappon. On Robert Blackadder's retirement in 1908 Allan merged the practice with Leslie Ower's as Ower & Allan, at Ower's 5 Whitehall Street office, probably to preserve the civil engineering side of the business, Ower being civil engineer as well as architect. David Blackadder then moved his practice to 32 Castle Street. Robert Blackadder died on 20 March 1913, leaving a widow, Agnes Sturrock, three further sons and two daughters. Allan was admitted LRIBA on 24 June 1912 but because of his war service the practice did not survive Leslie Ower's death in 1916, being sold to Thoms & Wilkie. In Frank Thomson's words, Allan 'simply gave up'. By 1926 he had recommenced practice from The Shieling, Fryston Avenue, East Croydon, which was home as well as office. Death date to be checked.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	46, Reform Street, Dundee, Scotland	Business	1866(?)	1869
	29, Bank Street, Dundee, Scotland	Business	1876
	20, Windsor Street, Dundee, Scotland	Private	1876
	Craigie Terrace, Dundee, Scotland	Private	Before 1876
	7, Duntrune Terrace, West Ferry, Dundee, Scotland	Private	1880
	41, Reform Street, Dundee, Scotland	Business	Before 1887	After 1889
	Bellevue, West Ferry, Dundee, Scotland	Private	1890
	Edrom, Albany Road, Dundee, Scotland	Private	1901

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
	William Blackadder	c. 1847	c. 1853	Apprentice
	W & R Blackadder	After 1853	c. 1866(?)	Partner
	Blackadder & Allan	1903	1908	Partner

Employees or Pupils

The following individuals were employed or trained by this (click on an item to view details):
	Name	Date from	Date to	Position	Notes
	Robert Sibbald			Apprentice
	Charles Pullar Hogg	c. 1864	Before 1870	Apprentice	Initially at Glamis and subsequently in Dundee
	James Lowe	1887	1889	Assistant
	David Lindsay Allan	1900	1903	Assistant	Later partner

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
		Imperial Hotel	Arbroath		Angus	Scotland	Date unknown
		St Mary Magdalene's Episcopal Church			Dundee	Scotland	Alterations - date unknown
		St Salvadors Episcopal Church and Hall			Dundee	Scotland	Additions - date unknown
	1866	North Bridge over Dean Water	Glamis		Angus	Scotland
	1867	Stewart & Son's Whisky Bond			Dundee	Scotland	Architect given in 'Buildings of Scotland'
	1870(?)	Trades Lane Calender			Dundee	Scotland
	1878	All Saints Episcopal church	Glencarse		Perthshire	Scotland	Design of building? As executant architect? (Conflict of information with 'Buildings of Scotland')
	1880	Auchterhouse Parish Church	Kirkton of Auchterhouse		Angus	Scotland	Interior recast
	1887	Whitehall Street, north-west corner			Dundee	Scotland
	1900	Forfar Parish Church	Forfar		Angus	Scotland	Pews and pulpit
	1903	Gray Lodge Settlement			Dundee	Scotland
	1903	St Mary Magdalene's Episcopal Church	Hawkhill		Dundee	Scotland	Unexecuted proposals for new church
	After 1903	Corn Exchange			Dundee	Scotland	Alterations
	After 1903	Forbes Court	West Ferry		Dundee	Scotland	West wing
	After 1903	House(s)	Broughty Ferry		Dundee	Scotland
	After 1903	House(s)	Invergowrie		Perthshire/Angus	Scotland
	After 1903	House(s)	Auchtermuchty		Fife	Scotland
	After 1903	Tenement(s)			Dundee	Scotland
	After 1903	Tenement(s)	Lochee		Dundee	Scotland

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
	Author(s)	Date	Title	Part	Publisher	Notes
	Dundee Post Office Directories
	Johnston, W T		Scottish Engineers and Shipbuilders

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this :
	Periodical Name	Date	Edition	Publisher	Notes
	Dundee Advertiser	February 1914			Obituary

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
	Source	Archive Name	Source Catalogue No.	Notes
	National Library of Scotland	Manuscript Collection		MS 19981 (acc no 3355) Blackadder's business notebook, 1854-1908
	Professor David M Walker personal archive	Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material		Information from Margaret Lye and Frank Thomson, a colleague of Allan's at Niven & Wigglesworth's.