Basic Biographical Details | Name: | Stewart & Menzies | | Designation: | | | Born: | c. 1864 | | Died: | c. 1881 | | Bio Notes: | James W Stewart was primarily a civil engineer and surveyor. He commenced practice from his house at 17 Dublin Street in the early 1850s, moving his office to a more central address at 73 George Street by 1860. In about 1863 he merged his practice with that of Duncan Menzies who had inherited Robert Bell's practice in 1859, and moved into the Bell & Menzies office at 13 Young Street, initially in his own name only, the partnership adopting the style of Stewart & Menzies possibly late 1863 or early 1864. At that date Stewart was living at East Viewfield Street, Trinity, but in or about 1867 he moved to The Craigs at Corstorphine, making a final move to Stoneypath House, Musselburgh in or about 1874.
In the years around 1870, Stewart was involved in the unfortunate Dundee water supply scheme. In 1869 the Town Council obtained an act authorising it to take over the Dundee Water Company, whose engineer was James Leslie, formerly Dundee's harbour engineer. The town's water commissioners secured reports from Stewart, who recommended drawing water from the River Isla, from Leslie who recommended the Loch of Lintrathen as providing a better and purer supply, and from the burgh engineer John Fulton, and presented them to appointed John Frederic Bateman whom they had appointed as their engineer. Bateman concurred with Leslie's recommendation and produced a scheme which received the royal assent in 1871; but the commissioners then obtained a further report from Stewart who recommended substituting a direct line of cast-iron pipes instead of the gentler fall achieved by a combination of pipes, reservoirs and aqueducts proposed by Bateman. At a meeting of the commissioners in October Stewart's direct line was approved, although William Robertson, its mill engineer convener, strongly dissented. In an unsolicited report of January 1872 Bateman set out the problems of the unprecedented pressures which would arise from Stewart's scheme and proposed a direct line of his own with lesser gradients: he also refuted allegations of extravagance. Leslie then proposed a partial modification of Stewart's scheme but Stewart declined to change it, as did the Commissioners. The pipes burst and the joints leaked as Bateman and Robertson predicted and the scheme had to be modified under powers obtained in the Dundee Water (Additional Powers) Act of 1874.
The practice moved from Young Street to 39 York Place in 1877 or early 1878. Stewart appears to have died or retired about 1881 or 1882, his last appearance in the directories being in 1881. Thereafter Menzies practised in his own name only. | Private and Business Addresses| The following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes |  | Scotland | Business | | | | | 13, Young Street, Edinburgh, Scotland | Business | c. 1863 | c. 1875 | | | 39, York Place, Edinburgh, Scotland | Business | c. 1875 | c. 1881 | |
Employment and TrainingEmployees 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 | | James W Stewart | Before 1868 | After 1886 | Partner | | | Duncan Menzies | Before 1868 | After 1886 | Partner | |
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic References| The following books contain references to this : | | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Architects Engineers and Building Trades Directory | 1868 | Architect's, Engineer's and Building Trades' Directory | | London, Wyman | | | Post Office Directories | | | | | |
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