Larger versions of these images are located at the foot of the page. Basic Biographical Details Name: | Hugh Barclay | Designation: | Architect | Born: | 8 February 1829 | Died: | 25 November 1892 | Bio Notes: | Hugh Barclay was born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire on 8 February 1829, the son of Hugh Barclay, sculptor and his wife Margaret Buchanan (W J Johnston) or Agnes R Marshall (Iain Paterson). He was articled to William Spence in 1845 and around 1854 he and another apprentice at Spence's, Alexander Watt, formed the partnership of Barclay & Watt. They established a reputation very early, first with the remarkable triple-arched cast-iron façade at 60-66 Jamaica Street in 1856-57 which took Baird and Spence's early experiments with cast-iron facades into a more three-dimensional form, and then with the refined and original classicism of the Ewing Place Church in Waterloo Street and the Corinthian Corn Exchange reconstruction on Hope Street, both in 1858. In or about 1857 James Sellars joined the practice as an apprentice, followed on 1 January 1861 by Hugh's much younger brother David, born 1846; both became members of Alexander Thomson's circle, David writing a memoir of him in 1904. The connection with Thomson was clearly a close one: David Barclay was married to Jane Ewing Walker, daughter of John E Walker, stabler and cab-hirer and Alexander Thomson's most important client. During his apprenticeship David started drawing under the painter A D Robertson and at the end of it undertook the continental study tour which was the foundation of his French and German influenced neo classicism.
The early success of the Barclay & Watt practice was not sustained into the next decade. By the mid-1860s they appear to have been seriously short of commissions. James Sellars left for James Hamilton's, although at least for a time some sort of working relationship remained, Dr Colin Sinclair (who joined the firm some years after Sellars's death) being uncertain as to its extent; and at or about the same date Alexander Watt left to re-commence practice on his own account with an office at 67 Renfield Street. But by January 1871 Hugh's business had picked up sufficiently for David to become a partner, their first joint work being the very sophisticated Italian Romanesque Duke Street United Presbyterian Church. The Convalescent Home at Kilmun followed in 1873 and in 1875 the firm made its name for a second time with the Albany Academy in Ashley Street which established their reputation for educational buildings and set a pattern for a long series of rather Germanic Italianate-profiled board schools with sophisticated neo-Schinkelesque banded rustication, pilastrades, architrave frames spanning several bays, unfluted Ionic columns and herms were their favourite motifs. Considerable numbers of their schools were built for the Glasgow area school boards throughout the later 1870s and earlier 1880s: Melville Street (1878), Pollokshields (two blocks, 1879 and 1882), Abbotsford Place, (two blocks again, 1879 and 1893), Springfield (1881), Harmony Row and Rutland Crecent (1883) and Hillhead High (1884), all in Glasgow, and Jean Street (1883) and Clune Park (1886) in Port Glasgow, the grandest of them being the privately funded new building for Glasgow Academy at Kelvinbridge (1878). Of these Rutland Crescent was virtually indistinguishable from the work of James Sellars.
In 1879 Charles Barry, Junior, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, awarded the Barclays the commission for the new Municipal Buildings at Greenock. It was then by far the most ambitious project of the kind undertaken in Scotland, with a central public hall and an internal carriage drive closely modelled on English precedents, and one which escalated during construction when the Municipal Buildings in Glasgow threatened to put it in the shade. In deference perhaps to the assessor's known preferences, its facades were more Renaissance than Greek with domed corner towers, pedimented attic pavilions, and a 250-foot tower crowned by a Corinthian peristyle, all liberally enriched with granite-shafted columns and caryatid figures. It took the firm into the premier league and enabled it to ride out not only the severe recession of the 1880s but the professional disaster of David's arrest on a charge of culpable homicide (of which he was acquitted) following the collapse of a playshed at Pollokshields in 1882. The brothers won the competition for the unbuilt municipal buildings opposite the Clark Town Hall in Paisley in 1883 and secured the commission for the giant Sellarsesque Greek Ionic temple of St George-in-the -Fields in 1885, clearly designed as a challenge to Thomas Lennox Watson's Roman Corinthian Wellington UP Church of 1882.
In the later 1880s the Barclays abandoned pure neo-Greek detail in favour of straightforward Italian palazzo treatments first seen at Annette Street School in Govanhill in 1886, but best exemplified at Lorne Street, Govan (1892) which has Ionic aedicules, fluted dwarf attic pilasters and diamond panels. These buildings were still very chaste in design but after Hugh's death in 1892, uninhibited competition with the Northern European early Renaissance forms of architects such as James Thomson and his sons became the norm: indeed David set the pace for it in his competition win for J & P Coats Central Thread Agency Buildings on Bothwell Street in 1891, a long façade of thickly crowded aedicules, gables, turrets and chimneys which completely outdid the pioneer Glasgow examples of the genre, Thomas Lennox Watson's Citizen Building of 1889 on St Vincent Street Place and Alfred Waterhouse's Prudential Building on West Regent Street of 1890. Much more impressive as architecture than the Central Thread Agency was the giant Cumming and Smith warehouse of 1892 on Sauchiehall Street with its towering façade of deep giant arched recesses, extruded bay windows and dwarf-colonnaded eaves gallery, the arched recesses being enlarged and enriched red sandstone variants of those of his brother's cast-iron façade in Jamaica Street of thirty-five years earlier.
Hugh Barclay married Helen Thomson who was born c1836 or 1837 and they had three children: Hugh M, born c.1867, David born c.1874 and Flora, born c1878. In person Hugh Barclay was a man of impressive presence with a full beard. Unlike his brother, he never sought membership of the RIBA. He died intestate in Glasgow on 25 November 1892. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this architect: | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes |  | 136, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1856 | 1857 | |  | 101, West Nile Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1858 | c. 1865 | |  | 29, Houston Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | 1859 | 1861 | |  | Sackville Place/136, Stirling's Road, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | 1865 or 1866 | | |  | 112, West Regent Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1867 | 1876 or 1877 | |  | 2, Maule Terrace, Partick, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1871 | 1872 | |  | 136, Wellington Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1880 | 1891 | |  | 6, Buckingham Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | 1880 | 1891 | |  | 6, Buckingham Street, Hillhead, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | 1888 | | |  | 245, St Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1892 | | |
Employment and TrainingEmployersThe following individuals or organisations employed or trained this architect (click on an item to view details): | | Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes |  | William Spence | c. 1845 | c. 1850 | Apprentice | |  | Barclay & Watt | c. 1854 | Mid 1860s | Partner | |  | H & D Barclay | 1871 | 1892 | Partner | |
Employees or PupilsThe following individuals were employed or trained by this architect (click on an item to view details): | | Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes |  | David Barclay | 1 January 1861 | | Apprentice | |
Buildings and DesignsThis architect 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 |  | 1855 | Old Balgray Road development | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | c. 1856 | Business premises | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1857 | Colliseum | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1858 | Corn Exchange | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Reconstruction |  | 1858 | Ewing Place Church | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1865 | McLeod Memorial Church | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1865 | Working Men's Club | Bridgeton | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1867 | Balinakill House | Clachan, North Kintyre | | Argyll | Scotland | From 1867 onwards: alterations to original house |  | 1868 | Bryden Memorial Mission Hall and Home | Saltcoats | | Ayrshire | Scotland | Begun part now called Byers House |  | 1869 | Campbell's Music Salon | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Alterations - vestibule and stairs |  | 1869 | Craigrownie UP Church | Cove | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | |  | 1872 | City of Glasgow Bank | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Refronting |  | 1872 | Convalescent Home | Kilmun | | Argyll | Scotland | |  | 1872 | Duke Street UP Church | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Alterations |  | 1872 | Houses for North British Railway Company | Cowlairs | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1873 | Mission Sanatorium | Saltcoats | | Ayrshire | Scotland | |  | 1874 | 13, 15 Turnberry Road | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1874 | 5-11 Turnberry Road | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1874 | Bryden Memorial Mission Hall and Home | Saltcoats | | Ayrshire | Scotland | Addition |  | 1874 | Corner tenement, Turnberry Road and Hyndland Road | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Joint architect with John Baird the Second, but not in partnership |  | 1874 | Mansion House for Charles Connell | Whiteinch | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1874 | Village of Dwellings for Steel Company of Scotland, Hillside | Cambuslang | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | |  | 1875 | Albany Academy | | | Glasgow | Scotland | David Barclay mainly responsible |  | 1875 | Bank at East Kilbride | East Kilbride | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | |  | 1875 | Church at Ballantrae | Ballantrae | | Ayrshire | Scotland | |  | 1875 | Tenement of mansion flats, Hamilton Crescent | Partick | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1876 | Bank at Kilsyth | Kilsyth | | Stirlingshire | Scotland | |  | 1876 | Wellington Place Baptist Church | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Competition design |  | 1877 | City of Glasgow Bank, New Street | Dalry | | Ayrshire | Scotland | |  | 1877 | Established Church | Cleland | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | |  | 1877 | Glasgow Academy | Kelvin Bridge | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1877 | Partick Academy | Partick | | Glasgow | Scotland | David Barclay mainly responsible |  | 1877 | Regent Place UP Church | Dennistoun | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1878 | Abbotsford School | | | Glasgow | Scotland | David Barclay mainly responsible |  | 1879 | Greenock Municipal Buildings | Greenock | | Renfrewshire | Scotland | Won competition and secured job |  | 1879 | St Andrew's Free Church | Greenock | | Renfrewshire | Scotland | |  | 1880 | Polmadie Public School | Polmadie | | Glasgow | Scotland | David Barclay mainly responsible |  | c. 1880 | Grove Street School | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1881 | 1-7 Hughenden Terrace, Hughenden Road and 6 Montague Lane | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1882 | Albert Road Academy | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1882 | Pollokshields School | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Melville Street building |  | 1882 | Springfield School | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1883 | 10-20 Hyndland Road and 1 Montague Lane | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1883 | 17-45 Cleveden Road and 1-98 Beaconsfield Road | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1883 | Govan High School | Govan | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1883 | Harmony Row School | Govan | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1883 | Paisley Municipal Buildings | Paisley | | Renfrewshire | Scotland | Scheme only |  | 1883 | Rutland Crescent School | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1884 | Hillhead High School | Hillhead | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1884 | Jean Street School | Port Glasgow | | Renfrewshire | Scotland | |  | 1885 | Hartwood Asylum | Shotts | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | Competition design, selected but not successful |  | 1886 | Clune Park School | Port Glasgow | | Renfrewshire | Scotland | |  | 1886 | Govanhill School Annette Street | Govanhill | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1886 | Lamlash and Kilbride Parish Church | Lamlash | Arran | Bute | Scotland | |  | 1886 | St Georges in the Fields Church | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1888 | Clydesdale Paint, Colour and Oil Works | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1889 | Bryden Memorial Mission Hall and Home | Saltcoats | | Ayrshire | Scotland | |  | 1889 | City of Glasgow District Asylum for Pauper Lunatics | Gartcosh | | Glasgow | Scotland | Second premiated competition design (£100 premium) |  | 1889 | Hillhead Congregational Church | | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1890 | Stewartville School | Partick | | Glasgow | Scotland | |  | 1891 | Cumming & Smith's warehouse | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Completed by David Barclay after Hugh's death |  | 1891 | Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum | Kelvingrove | | Glasgow | Scotland | Competition design - unplaced |  | 1891 | J & P Coats Offices | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Won competition and secured job (completed by David Barclay after Hugh's death) |  | 1891 | Renton Parish Church | Renton | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | |
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this architect: | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes |  | Post Office Directories | | | | | |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this architect: | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes |  | Builder | 1892 | v63 | | p446 (Obituary) |  | Building Industries | 15 December 1892 | | | Obituary |  | Building News | 4 July 1890 | | | Article With portraits, pp10, 30 Nisbet;s Glasgow Sculpture website gives 4 April 1890) |  | Glasgow Herald | November 1892 | | | Exact date to be checked |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this architect: | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes |  | New Register House | Wills and Testaments | | |
Images © All rights reserved. Building News 4 July 1890 |