Basic Biographical Details Name: | Leadbetter & Fairley | Designation: | | Born: | 1895 | Died: | 1909 | Bio Notes: | The practice of Leadbetter & Fairley was formed in 1895 when Thomas Greenshields Leadbetter took James McLellan Fairley into partnership.
Leadbetter (b. 1859), the son of James Greenshields Leadbetter (1827-1897) of Stobieside, Lanarkshire and Margaret Macpherson, daughter of Hugh Macpherson of Blantyreferme, had commenced independent practice c. 1884 renting chambers at 122 George Street, Edinburgh - an address which suggests some kind of link with Peddie and Kinnear as Peddie owned it. Information on his training is as yet lacking but the precocious neo-Tudor vernacular of Dundhu, comparable with W L Carruthers's early houses at Inverness suggests a similar London background as do his RA exhibits. On 28 August 1890 Leadbetter married Mary Anne Usher of Norton and Wells, substantially extending the family connections which were the basis of the practice. Although some commentators have found his work bland his understated unturreted early-17th-century Scots style reflected J J Stevenson's advocacy of such an idiom in 'House Architecture' (1880) and paralleled Rowand Anderson's Allermuir and Glencoe.
Fairley was born in 1860, the son of a US army officer, Captain Alexander Fairley and had served his apprenticeship with Hippolyte Jean Blanc from 1875, subsequently working in the offices of Wardrop & Reid, Archibald Macpherson, Walter Wood Robertson of the Office of Works and Arthur George Sydney Mitchell, before founding his practice c. 1885. He passed the qualifying exam in 1886 and was admitted ARIBA on 21 June of that year his proposers being Arthur Cates, George Washington Browne, John Kinross, ___ Berry (?) and, rather oddly, Leadbetter who does not seem to have been a fellow of the institute: his inclusion suggests that he had already been assisting Leadbetter's practice for some time.
Leadbetter seems to have lived chiefly at Spittal Tower, Hawick from 1903 onwards, but his name appears in the directories along with the firm at 17 Young Street until his semi-retirement in 1909, following which Fairley took into partnership Robert Stirling Reid (b. 1883) - the practice becoming Leadbetter, Fairley & Reid (see separate entry). | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 17, Young Street, Edinburgh, Scotland | Business | 1895 | 1909 | |
Employment and TrainingEmployees or Pupils
Buildings and DesignsThis 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 | | 1887 | Bothwell Parish Council Chambers | Bellshill | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | | | 1895 | 52 Garscube Terrace | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Alterations | | 1895 | Airlie Lodge | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | | | 1895 | Carnegie Public Library | Wick | | Caithness | Scotland | Drew up design - with Sinclair MacDonald as executant architect | | 1895 | Johnstounburn | Haddington | | East Lothian | Scotland | Improved garden front | | 1895 | Sandeman Public Library | Perth | | Perthshire | Scotland | Competition design - unplaced | | After 1895 | Grandtully Castle | | | Perthshire | Scotland | Restoration | | 1896 | Airlie Lodge | | | Angus | Scotland | Alterations | | 1896 | Arthur Lodge | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Additions and alterations | | 1896 | Coach house and stables for John Usher | Roseburn | | Edinburgh | Scotland | | | 1896 | Rowallan Castle and Rowallan House | Kilmaurs | | Ayrshire | Scotland | Rebuilding and additions -'proposed addition to old Scots mansion' - not executed | | 1897 | Broxburn Public School | Broxburn | | West Lothian | Scotland | Additions and alterations | | 1898 | 22 Belgrave Crescent | Dean | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Additions | | 1898 | Border mansion house | | | | Scotland | Design exhibited | | 1898 | Chapel of St Kentigern | | | Argyll | Scotland | | | 1898 | Eccles House | | | Berwickshire | Scotland | | | 1898 | Edinburgh Academy, Library | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Centre block | | 1899 | 4 Belford Park | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Conversion of stables to flats | | 1899 | Burntisland Golf Clubhouse | Burntisland | | Fife | Scotland | Design exhibited | | 1899 | Fitzgerald Memorial Hall | Torphichen | | West Lothian | Scotland | Design exhibited | | 1899 | Lodge and gates | | | | | Design exhibited | | 1899 | Summerhill | Kirkcudbright | | Kirkcudbrightshire | Scotland | Design exhibited | | 1900 | Blairhoyle House | | | Perthshire | Scotland | Alterations | | 1900 | Edinburgh Academy, Library | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Drawing for carved panel dated | | 1900 | Edinburgh Academy, Main Building | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Site plan showing arrangement of covered ways | | 1900 | Parkhill | Dalry | | Ayrshire | Scotland | Addition of wings | | c. 1900 | 22 Moray Place | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Light installed | | 1901 | Bonded Store | Queen's Park, St Leonard's | | Edinburgh | Scotland | | | 1901 | Mansion house | Slateford | | Edinburgh | Scotland | | | 1901(?) | University of Edinburgh, John Usher Institute of Public Health | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | | | 1902 | 16 Gillespie Road | Colinton | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Additions | | c. 1902 | 7-8 Moray Place | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Alterations and subdivision into 5 dwellings | | 1903 | New Parish Church (St Paul's) | Milngavie | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | Won competition to secure job | | 1904 | Dalveah | Loch Ard, Aberfoyle | | Perthshire | Scotland | Design exhibited | | 1904 | Lee Castle | Carnwath | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | New lodge, gate, large dairy | | c. 1904 | Glenpark | Balerno | | Midlothian | Scotland | New build/alterations? (Plans dated) | | 1905 | 9 Lennox Street Lane | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Conversion of stable and coachhouse to garage | | 1905 | Carlung House | West Kilbride | | Ayrshire | Scotland | Design for rebuilding after fire (not executed) | | 1905 | Queenshill | Ringford (near), Kirkcudbright | | Kirkcudbrightshire | Scotland | Design exhibited | | 1905 | Swinton Manse | Swinton | | Berwickshire | Scotland | Alterations? Repairs? | | 1905 | Swinton Parish Church | Swinton | | Berwickshire | Scotland | Alterations? | | c. 1905 | Simprin Church and Manse | | | Berwickshire | Scotland | | | 1906 | Wells House | | | Roxburghshire | Scotland | | | 1907 | Low Drumclog | | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | HS Attribution | | 1908 | Dean Cemetery, Leadbetter Memorial | Dean | | Edinburgh | Scotland | | | 1908 | Stobieside | Drumclog | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | | | 1909 | The Abbey | North Berwick | | East Lothian | Scotland | Design exhibited |
ReferencesArchive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | DMW Archive | Small, G P: The Leadbetters' Victorian Legacy, Unpublished paper, 21 September 1994 | | Research on Leadbetter by Sam Small |
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