Basic Biographical Details

Name:	Ebeneezer Simpson
Designation:
Born:	1854
Died:	26 December 1934
Bio Notes:	Ebeneezer Simpson was born in 1854, the son of William Simpson, architect (born c1811) and his wife Catherine. His older brother William was also an architect (born 1843) but he moved south and was living in Suffolk by 1911. Ebenezer Simpson practised from 16 King Street, Stirling from c.1885. He was a keen volunteer as early as the 1890s and was a captain by 1892 with the 4th Stirlingshire Volunteer Battalion. He was promoted to Major in 1900 and by at least 1905 he had reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and by 1907 Colonel and was the commanding officer of the Stirlingshire Rifle Volunteers. He served with the battalion in the First World War. He had retired from the Volunteer Force by the end of the War. In the Valuation Roll of 1905 Simpson is shown as owning a significant number of properties in Stirling, incuding houses, shops and offices. This is presumably an indication of the success of his practice. Simpson married late in life in 1918 in Hartlebury, Kidderminster to Mary Jean Hodges from the Weal. He planned to move to England after his marriage and was presented with a gift from local subscribers (manufacturers and contractors) shortly after his marriage. His marriage and intended move to England may have been the reason that he entered into partnership with George MacCallum Davidson in 1920 and later that year assumed Alistair Marshall McMichael into partnership as well. He may not in fact have moved permanently to England as he would appear to have retained his house in Abercromby Place. He was a somewhat idiosyncratic: although his Museum Hall at Bridge of Allan is Italian Romanesque his later work is mainly free Jacobean. He retired c.1924 and died on 26 December 1934, leaving moveable estate of £10,352 11s 6d. His home address was then 14 Abercromby Place, Stirling.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	16, King Street, Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland	Business	c. 1885	1924	Information from 1905 Valuation Roll 1 1905 Tenant SIMPSON EBENEZER GREEN 6 BAKER STREET STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 393 2 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER HOUSE 33 FRIARS STREET STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 395 3 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER HOUSE 33 FRIARS STREET STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 395 4 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER OFFICE 33 FRIARS STREET STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 395 5 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER WORKSHOP 33 FRIARS STREET STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 395 6 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER SHOP 35 FRIARS STREET STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 395 7 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER SHOP 37 FRIARS STREET STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 395 8 1905 Tenant SIMPSON EBENEZER OFFICE 16 KING STREET STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 414 9 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER SHOP AND BAKEHOUSE 43 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 10 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER STORE 47 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 11 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER STORE 47 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 12 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER STORE 47 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 13 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER SHOP 49 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 14 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER WORKSHOP 51 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 15 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER STORE 51 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 16 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER LAUNDRY AND STABLE 51 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 17 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER HOUSE 53 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 18 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER HOUSE 53 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 19 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER STORE 55 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 20 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER STORE 55 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 21 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER STABLE 55 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 22 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER ADVERTISING 55 UPPER CRAIGS STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 436 23 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER HOUSE AND GARDEN 16 ABERCROMBY PLACE STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 478 24 1905 Owner Occupier SIMPSON EBENEZER HOUSE AND GARDEN 14 ABERCROMBY PLACE STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 478 25 1905 Owner SIMPSON EBENEZER HOUSE AND GARDEN 6 ABERCROMBY PLACE STIRLING STIRLING BURGH VR80 / 26 / 478
	61, King Street, Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland	Business	1897		Address given in Post Office directories
	14, Abercromby Place, Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland	Private	1934 *

* 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
	Simpson, McMichael & Davidson	1920	1924	Partner

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
	George MacCallum Davidson	1897	1902	Apprentice
	George MacCallum Davidson	1902	1905	Assistant
	Thomas Spiers Fraser	After 1905	Before 1911	Chief Assistant
	Gordon Grant	c. 1906		Apprentice
	Alastair Marshall McMichael	1920	1920	Assistant(?)

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
		Monksford				Scotland	Date unknown
	c. 1881	Macfarlane Museum and Art Gallery	Bridge of Allan		Stirlingshire	Scotland
	1890	Bridge of Teith Church	Bridge of Teith, Doune		Perthshire/Stirlingshire	Scotland	Renovation
	c. 1890	Dollarbeg House and lodge	Dollar		Clackmannanshire	Scotland
	1894	Adam Smith Memorial and Beveridge Halls and Library	Kirkcaldy		Fife	Scotland	Competition design - placed third
	1897	Viewfield and lodge building	Stirling		Stirlingshire	Scotland	Lodge - with William Leiper
	1898	Schools, West Carron	Carron		Stirlingshire	Scotland	Competition design - placed third
	1900	Argyle Street and James Watt Street corner			Glasgow	Scotland	Alterations
	1900	Glendelvine			Perthshire	Scotland	Rebuilding - date unknown
	1900	Tenement, 58-70 Port Street	Stirling		Stirlingshire	Scotland
	1900	Wolfs Craig Building	Stirling		Stirlingshire	Scotland
	1901	52-56 Port Street	Stirling		Stirlingshire	Scotland	Dean of Guild drawings show that Simson was architect
	1901	Auchentroig House	Drymen		Stirlingshire	Scotland	Remodelling and enlargement
	1901	Stirling Combination Hospital, Raploch	Stirling		Stirlingshire	Scotland
	1902	National Bank of Scotland, Kilsyth Branch	Kilsyth		Stirlingshire	Scotland
	1902	Tenement	Stirling		Stirlingshire	Scotland
	1903	Clackmannan Town Hall	Clackmannan		Clackmannanshire	Scotland	Refronted
	1905	Bannockburn Hospital, Convalescent Home	Bannockburn		Stirlingshire	Scotland
	1906	Grangehill, farm steading	Kinghorn (near)		Fife	Scotland	Alterations
	1908	Police Station	Denny		Stirlingshire	Scotland
	1909	Caputh Village Hall	Caputh		Perthshire	Scotland
	1910	Parish Council Offices	Denny		Stirlingshire	Scotland
	1910	Tenement and shops	Aberfeldy		Perthshire	Scotland
	1910	West Fife Infectious Diseases Hospital	Dunfermline		Fife	Scotland	Additional pavilions to west and north
	1912	Model Village for Messrs J G Stein & Co Ltd, Castlecary Way	Falkirk		Stirlingshire	Scotland
	1914	Port Street and Upper Craigs corner building	Stirling		Stirlingshire	Scotland
	After 1920	Allan Water Hydropathic	Bridge of Allan		Stirlingshire	Scotland	Additions?
	After 1920	Bridge House	Westfield			Scotland	Involved if within this period
	After 1920	Crianlarich Hotel	Crianlarich		Perthshire	Scotland	Involved if within this period
	After 1920	Dreadnought Hotel	Callander		Perthshire	Scotland	Alterations
	After 1920	Dunblane Cathedral	Dunblane		Perthshire	Scotland	Alterations - involved if before 1924
	After 1920	Glencairnaig	Callander		Perthshire	Scotland	Involved if built within this period
	After 1920	Housing for Callander Burgh Council	Callander		Perthshire	Scotland	Involved if before 1924
	After 1920	Housing for Doune Burgh Council	Doune		Perthshire	Scotland	Involved if before 1924
	After 1920	Housing for Dunblane Burgh Council	Dunblane		Perthshire	Scotland	Involved if before 1924
	After 1920	Housing for Perthshire County Council			Perthshire	Scotland	Involved if the date is before 1924
	After 1920	Kingshouse Hotel	Balquhidder		Perthshire	Scotland	Involved if within this period
	After 1920	Longcroft House	Linlithgow		West Lothian	Scotland	Involved if work dates from this period
	After 1920	Macfarlane Museum and Art Gallery	Bridge of Allan		Stirlingshire	Scotland	Involved if before 1924. Alterations?
	After 1920	Royal Hotel	Tyndrum		Stirlingshire	Scotland	Involved if within this period
	After 1920	The Gart	Callander		Perthshire	Scotland	Involved if built in this period
	After 1920	Trossachs Inn	Callander		Perthshire	Scotland	Alterations?

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
	Author(s)	Date	Title	Part	Publisher	Notes
	Measurers\' Companion	1911	The Scottish Architects' and Measurers' Companion

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this :
	Periodical Name	Date	Edition	Publisher	Notes
	Falkirk Herald	20 September 1905
	Falkirk Herald	29 June 1907
	Falkirk Herald	22 January 1908
	Falkirk Herald	25 January 1908
	Falkirk Herald	25 January 1908
	Stirling Observer	23 April 1918

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
	Source	Archive Name	Source Catalogue No.	Notes
	Courtesy of Morag Cross	Information sent to DSA		Sent November 2015