Basic Biographical Details

Name:	James McKissack
Designation:
Born:	1875(?)
Died:	24 June 1940
Bio Notes:	James McKissack was born in 1875, the son of John McKissack of the Glasgow practice McKissack & Rowan and his first wife Helen Ronald. He was educated at Allan Glen's School, and entered his father's practice in 1889 as an apprentice. After the dissolution of the McKissack & Rowan partnership early in 1890 James completed his apprenticeship with his father, attending Glasgow School of Art (from 1890 to 1894) and the Glasgow & West of Scotland Technical College under Professor Charles Gourlay. He remained with his father as assistant and was taken into partnership in 1900, the practice title becoming John McKissack & Son. About this time he made a study tour in Italy and France. James was a member of the Glasgow Institute of Architects from 1907 and was admitted LRIBA in the mass intake of 20 July 1911. His father, who never sought membership of the RIBA, had a major operation in 1912 and died in 1915. James continued the practice under the same name thereafter, and from about that date specialised almost exclusively in cinema work, mainly for George Singleton. In August 1986 Professor McKean recorded his recollections of the younger McKissack: 'McKissack was a distinguished camera man who exhibited in New York. Because of his knowledge of photography, McKissack was used as a film booker for Cranston's Picture House. He was gentlemanly, and rather remote. He travelled a lot to Germany and Northern Europe, from which the inspiration of the Cosmo clearly derived. He did some other work notably an electricity substation at the bottom of Hope Street. He was a man of taste and refinement. The faience of the frontages of cinemas before the Cosmo was largely due to the influence of George Singleton, since it was good for wear and tear. Frontages always had to be clean and attractive. McKissack's office was in West Regent Street, an absolute dump, but with a large empty room at the front with a gigantic chest in the middle of the floor, into which he threw all the drawings without any order, and from which he had to retrieve them when necessary.' Bruce Peter has established that he visited Hilversum to see the work of Dudok, from which the design of the Cosmo was derived. In his last years McKissack worked in partnership with William James Anderson II, 'a quiet unassuming man who was not in the least commercial' and was an extremely accomplished designer. The practice title remained unchanged as John McKissack & Son. McKissack married Isabella Somerville, daughter of the lithographic artist Thomas Somerville, at Burlington House, Glasgow on 30 October 1928; she died before 1938. McKissack died of heart failure on 24 June 1940 at 9 St Andrew's Drive; William James Anderson II on 18 January 1950.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	79, South Portland Street, Glasgow, Scotland	Private	1891 *
	344, St Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland	Private	1893 *
	68, West Regent Street, Glasgow, Scotland	Business	Before 1899	1940(?)
	9, St Andrew's Drive, Pollokshields, Glasgow, Scotland	Private	Before 1911	24 June 1940
	65, Renfield Street, Glasgow, Scotland	Private	Before 1923	After 1939

* earliest date known from documented sources.

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
	McKissack & Rowan	1889	Early 1890	Apprentice
	John McKissack	Early 1890	c. 1894	Apprentice
	John McKissack	c. 1894	1900	Assistant
	John McKissack & Son	1900	1940	Partner

RIBA

RIBA Proposers

The following individuals proposed this for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):
	Name	Date proposed	Notes
	John Bennie Wilson	20 July 1911	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects

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
	After 1889	Established church	Bridgeton		Glasgow	Scotland	Alterations - as assistant with his father
	After 1889	Wireworks for W Riddell & Co			Glasgow	Scotland	Initially as apprentice and latterly as partner of his father
	1893	Two warehouses, King Street			Glasgow	Scotland	As assistant with his father
	1898	City Improvement Trust warehouse			Glasgow	Scotland	Won competition (£100 premium) and secured job
	c. 1898	Dunoon Sheriff Court and County Buildings	Dunoon		Argyll	Scotland	Won competition and secured job (initially as assistant in his father's practice and then as partner)
	1899	Redhurst	Dunoon		Argyll	Scotland	As assistant to his father, shortly before being taken into partnership
	1900	Muslin Factory			Glasgow	Scotland
	1900	Restaurant and tea rooms	Largs		Ayrshire	Scotland
	After 1900	Clydebank West UF Church	Clydebank		Dunbartonshire	Scotland
	After 1900	Shop, Kilmarnock Road			Glasgow	Scotland
	After 1900	Warehouse and offices	Bridgeton		Glasgow	Scotland
	c. 1900	London Road UF Church hall			Glasgow	Scotland
	1902	City Improvement Trust warehouse			Glasgow	Scotland
	1903	Langavat	Kilmacolm/Kilmalcolm		Renfrewshire	Scotland
	1903	Strathclyde Public School			Glasgow	Scotland
	1904	4th VBSR Headquarters			Glasgow	Scotland
	1905(?)	Eastern Co-operative Drapery Building	Parkhead		Glasgow	Scotland
	1906	Boden Street Factory			Glasgow	Scotland	Addition
	1907	Boden Street Factory			Glasgow	Scotland	Block on the corner of Nuneaton Street
	1908	Dunoon District Cottage Hospital	Dunoon		Argyll	Scotland	New hospital
	1908	Sawmill for A Bowie & Co			Glasgow	Scotland
	1909	Parkhead Congregtional Church Halls	Tollcross		Glasgow	Scotland
	1911	Eastbank Public School	Shettleston		Glasgow	Scotland
	1912	Business premises for J T Whitelaw's Trust			Glasgow	Scotland	With Duff. Conversion to cinema
	c. 1912	Electricity Substation			Glasgow	Scotland
	Before 1914	SCWS buildings	Shettleston		Glasgow	Scotland
	Before 1914	SCWS buildings	Barrhead		Renfrewshire	Scotland
	Before 1914	Wellshot Road School			Glasgow	Scotland	Additional block on Altyre Street
	1916	Eglinton Electreum	Laurieston		Glasgow	Scotland
	1919	Picture House	Cowdenbeath		Fife	Scotland
	1921	La Scala Cinema	Hamilton		Lanarkshire	Scotland
	1928	Caley Picture House			Edinburgh	Scotland	Stained glass, mansard roof, palazzo wing and adjacent shops added
	1929	Broadway Cinema	Shettleston		Glasgow	Scotland
	1929	Kingsway Cinema			Glasgow	Scotland
	1930	Cinema for Renfrew Pictures Ltd	Renfrew		Renfrewshire	Scotland	Rebuilding
	1930	Cinema for Riddrie Cinema Ltd	Riddrie		Glasgow	Scotland
	1930	Ross Dairy Ltd premises			Glasgow	Scotland
	1931	Cinema, 19 Lawn Street	Paisley		Renfrewshire	Scotland	Reconstruction and addtions
	1931	Hillhead Picture House			Glasgow	Scotland	Reconstruction
	1931	Picture House	Stranraer		Wigtownshire	Scotland
	1932	Boulevard Cinema	Knightswood		Glasgow	Scotland	on 'Gushet corner' - this probably relates to a different site
	1932	Commodore Cinema	Scotstoun		Glasgow	Scotland
	1932	La Scala Cinema	Greenock		Renfrewshire	Scotland	Reconstruction
	1932	Regal cinema	Paisley		Renfrewshire	Scotland	Perhaps submitted scheme which was not executed?
	1932	Vogue Cinema			Dundee	Scotland
	1933	Cinematograph House	Gorgie		Edinburgh	Scotland	Rebuilding incorporating parts of old Cinematograph House
	1933	Empire Cinema			Dundee	Scotland	Reconstruction
	1933	Mecca Cinema	Possil		Glasgow	Scotland
	1935	Carlton Cinema	Dickson's Park, Piershill		Edinburgh	Scotland
	1935	Cinema near Granton Road	Granton		Edinburgh	Scotland
	1935	Cranston's Picture House and Tea Rooms, Renfield Street			Glasgow	Scotland	Reconstruction, including alterations to rake of floor
	1935	Embassy Cinema			Glasgow	Scotland
	1935	Embassy Cinema	Troon		Ayrshire	Scotland
	1935	Picture House	Shawlands Cross		Glasgow	Scotland
	1935	St Roch's RC School			Glasgow	Scotland	Extension
	1935	Vogue Cinema	Rutherglen		Lanarkshire	Scotland
	1936	Cinema	Inveresk		Midlothian	Scotland
	1936	Cinema	Springburn		Glasgow	Scotland	Although 'Mackintosh' is given in 'Builder' it seesm much more likely that it is McKissack given that their address was 68 West Regent Street.
	1936	Cinema, Hawthorn Street			Glasgow	Scotland
	1936	Kyle Cinema	Irvine		Renfrewshire	Scotland
	1936	Picture House	Springburn		Glasgow	Scotland
	1936	Regal Cinema	Musselburgh		Midlothian	Scotland
	1936	Vogue Cinema	Govan		Glasgow	Scotland
	1937	Aldwych Cinema	Cardonald		Glasgow	Scotland
	1937	Tudor Cinema	Stockbridge		Edinburgh	Scotland
	1938	Baths, Leslie Street	Pollokshields		Glasgow	Scotland	Proposal to convert baths into cinema
	1938	Boulevard Cinema	Knightswood		Glasgow	Scotland	Reconstruction as Vogue Cinema
	1938	Cinema	Renfrew		Renfrewshire	Scotland
	1938	Cinema, Links Street	Kirkcaldy		Fife	Scotland
	1938	Cosmo cinema			Glasgow	Scotland
	1938	Riddrie Picture House			Glasgow	Scotland

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
	Author(s)	Date	Title	Part	Publisher	Notes
	Post Office Directories
	RIBA	1930	The RIBA Kalendar 1930-1931		London: Royal Institute of British Architects
	RIBA	1939	The RIBA Kalendar 1939-1940		London: Royal Institute of British Architects
	Scottish Biographies	1938			E J Thurston (pub.)

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this :
	Periodical Name	Date	Edition	Publisher	Notes
	Scotsman	26 June 1940			p11

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
	Source	Archive Name	Source Catalogue No.	Notes
	Professor David M Walker personal archive	Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material		Additional research (death location and addresses) by Iain Paterson
	RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum	RIBA Nomination Papers		L v19 no 1435