Basic Biographical Details

Name:	Gordon, Son, Dobson & Sturrock
Designation:
Born:	1903
Died:	c. 1904
Bio Notes:	John Gordon was born in Paisley in 1835, the son of John Gordon, a wine merchant's agent, and his wife Jessie Young. In 1853 he was in the office of Black & Salmon as an articled apprentice, but when that partnership was dissolved he remained with James Salmon as principal assistant. Subsequently he moved to the office of William Spence where he worked in the same capacity until he set up practice on his own account some time prior to 1857 when he designed Grove Park Mills. In his earlier years Gordon was strongly influenced by Alexander Thomson's Romanesque church school and villa designs which he perhaps knew at first hand from Thomson's office. His large commercial buildings in West Nile Street and Renfield Street of 1876 show the influence of Thomson's neo-Greek commercial architecture but the giant Wool Exchange in Basinghall Street, London, his largest project, was elaborately Romanesque with Byzantine touches, a style also adopted at 28-32 St Enoch Square as originally built. His practice was otherwise predominantly industrial. Gordon married Catherine Isabella Graham; the date of their marriage is unknown. In 'Building Industries' 17 December 1917 (re: alterations to the Alexandra Hotel) Thomas Baird who had been an apprentice 1876-81 was described as having been with the practice for twenty-five years, presumably largely as a partner, though his name was not included in the practice title. That he was a partner is confirmed by their joint names appearing on the Dean of Guild drawings for Strathbungo Public School of 1893-95 but he must have left by 1903. In the latter year one of Gordon's sons, J Graham Gordon, became a partner along with David Woodburn Sturrock as Gordon Son & Sturrock. Sturrock had been born at 12 Dunlop Street, Kilmarnock on 15 February 1860, the son of Robert Sturrock, grocer, and Annie Douglas. His original forename was Woodburn: that of David was added a month after his birth. His birthplace suggests that he was related to David Sturrock, later of Bruce & Sturrock - either a nephew or a cousin - but it may be coincidence as he was articled to David Thomson rather than Bruce & Sturrock in 1875 and remained with him as a draughtsman after completing his apprenticeship. Thereafter he spent over five years in Spain, France, Holland and Germany. He commenced independent practice in 1898 and married Margaret Nicol in 1902. Later in 1903, the skilful Art Nouveau designer D Bennet Dobson was taken into partnership and his name acknowledged in the practice title as Gordon, Son, Dobson & Sturrock. Dobson had been born at 292 St George's Road, Glasgow on 8 September 1871, the son of Robert Dobson, a mason with the North British Railway from Tranent, and his wife Catherine Bennet from Inverkeithing. He had been a student at Glasgow School of Art in 1887-8 and had joined Gordon's firm in or before 1894, probably as an assistant. In or around the following year, 1904, Sturrock withdrew to continue in independent practice, and the firm became Gordon, Son & Bennet Dobson.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	261, West George Street, Glasgow, Scotland	Business	1903	c. 1904

Employment and Training

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
	John Gordon	1903	c. 1904	Partner
	David Woodburn Sturrock	1903	c. 1904	Partner
	David Bennet Dobson	1903	c. 1904	Partner
	John Graham Gordon	1903	c. 1904	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
	1903	Miller and Lang Art Publishers Offices			Glasgow	Scotland
	1903	Miller and Lang's Warehouse			Glasgow	Scotland
	1903	Tenements and terraced houses, Dungoyne Street, Barra Street and Crosbie Street	Maryhill		Glasgow	Scotland
	1904	Buildings in Garscube Road			Glasgow	Scotland

References

Currently, there are no references for this . The information has been derived from: the British Architectural Library / RIBA Directory of British Architects 1834-1914; Post Office Directories; and/or any sources listed under this individual's works.