Basic Biographical Details

Name:	Smith & Hardy
Designation:
Born:	c. 1860
Died:	c. 1875
Bio Notes:	George Smith was born in Aberdeen on 2 February 1733, the son of George Smith and Jean Watson. In 1808 he was appointed to David Hamilton for five years and spent four 'seasons' (summers?) lining out their new streets in Aberdeen. In 1818 he advertised his services as an architect there and opened a drawing academy, but finding it impossible to compete with John Smith and Archibald Simpson he moved to Edinburgh to work for William Burn as principal clerk in 1823. At that stage his lack of actual building experience showed; Burn sacked him at the end of 1826 as 'ignorant and useless' and Smith set up practice on his own account in Edinburgh on 1 January 1827 with David Rhind as a pupil, Smith's 'Elements of Architecture' for the students at the Edinburgh School of Arts being published in that same year. It was followed by a second related publication 'Essay on the Durability of Scottish Building Stones' and as a further piece exhibited a picture of Egyptian ruins and a design for a new infirmary at the RSA. Following the dismissal of Thomas Hamilton he applied for the salaried post of architect to the Edinburgh Improvement Commissioners on 1 April 1833 and was appointed in 1834. From about 1860 Smith was in partnership with Henry Hardy. Hardy was born in 1831, the son of Thomas Hardy and Robina Forrester. Whether he was a pupil of Smith is not yet known but he appears in the RSA catalogues as landscape painter as well as architect. On the retirement of Smith in the mid-1870s Hardy took into partnership John Rutherford Wight who was two years older, born in 1829 the son of the Rev James Wight.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	7, St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, Scotland	Business	Before 1868	c. 1875

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
	George Smith	c. 1860	c. 1875	Partner
	Henry Hardy	c. 1860	c. 1875	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
	1861	46-55 George IV Bridge			Edinburgh	Scotland
	1862	Houses, 1-13 Johnston Terrace			Edinburgh	Scotland	The first three bays to left at Johnston Terrace
	1864	16 Johnston Terrace and houses on Castle Wynd			Edinburgh	Scotland	Perhaps overall reponsibility as Hardy & Smith were the architects to the City Improvement Trust, who controlled the feus
	1869	Rosehill			Dumfriesshire	Scotland	Hardy responsible
	1869	Villa, Kilgraston Terrace			Edinburgh	Scotland	Hardy responsible
	1870	Hotel interior					Hardy responsible

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.