Basic Biographical Details Name: | Cowan & Watson | Designation: | | Born: | c. 1902 | Died: | | Bio Notes: | Joseph Cowan began practice c.1874 at 147 West Graham Street, Glasgow, his house being at 58 Hill Street, Garnethill, close to St Aloysius College with which he was closely associated. He was architect to the archdiocese of Glasgow but received only such commissions as Peter Paul Pugin was either too busy or unwilling to undertake. By the 1890s his sons, variously given as James Cowan and J L Cowan (not to be confused with James Lymburn Cowan, who had an essentially Protestant practice in Glasgow), were in the business.
Around 1902 the Cowans took into partnership Walter Robert Watson. Watson had been born in Melbourne, Australia c. 1873, the son of Walter Robert Watson (sic), commission agent and his wife Sarah Jane Clark. His father had died young and his mother had returned by 1881 to her native Glasgow where she and her father-in-law, also Walter Watson, had brought him up. In 1891 the family had been based in Rothesay where Watson had been articled to an as yet unidentified local architect. He had been a student at Glasgow School of Art from 1892 to 1894 and again in 1896-7, probably while an assistant with Cowan & Sons.
At the time of the formation of the partnership of Cowan & Watson the surviving Cowan son was J L Cowan who lived at 14 Myrtle Park, Crosshill. By that date the practice had moved to 95 Bath Street.
Watson married Lillian Clifton. He practised until his death of angina on 1 October 1932 at Boquhan, Killearn, at the age of fifty-nine, his usual residence being 22 Dowanside Road, Glasgow. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 95, Bath Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | c. 1902 | | |
Employment and TrainingEmployees or PupilsThe following individuals were employed or trained by this (click on an item to view details): | | Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes | | J L Cowan | c. 1902 | | Partner | | | Walter Robert Watson | c. 1902 | 1932 | Partner | |
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Post Office Directories | | | | | | | Walker, Frank Arneil | 1986 | South Clyde Estuary: An Illustrated Architectural Guide to Inverclyde and Renfrew | | | p78, p99 |
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