Basic Biographical Details

Name:	Stuart Russell Matthew
Designation:
Born:	27 June 1912
Died:	13 May 1996
Bio Notes:	Stuart Russell Matthew was born on 27 June 1912, the youngest son of architect John Fraser Matthew and his wife Annie Broadfoot Hogg, at 30 Mayfield Terrace in Edinburgh. He was educated at the Edinburgh Institution, his schooldays being marred by pneumonia, diphtheria and a golfing accident, all of which permanently damaged his health. He attended Edinburgh College of Art (from October 1930 to 1937) and, according to his obituary, the Royal College of Art in London. He assisted in his father's practice of Lorimer & Matthew in 1934-35 and continued to assist there after passing the qualifying exam in June 1937. During these early years he travelled in northern Italy (September 1931 for three weeks) and in England, including Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Cambridge, Oxford, Wells, Bath and the Cotswolds. He was admitted ARIBA on 4 April 1938, his proposers being Frank Charles Mears, John Wilson and Leslie Grahame-Thomson. Stuart Russell Matthew shared his father's interest in fine craftsmanship; much of his practice was concerned with small-scale armorial work. He became his partner in January 1946. While working together in 1950, both Stuart and his father suffered nervous breakdowns. For John Fraser Matthew, this was his second breakdown (the first being in 1926 as a result of the stresses of the Scottish National War Memorial project), and it sent him into semi-retirement. While working on a stressful project for a hotel at Bridge of Lochay in 1949-50, Stuart, in turn, had his own ‘collapse’, leaving Robert and Douglas (without any arch training) to try to help their father keep the firm afloat. Stuart’s partnership with his father was dissolved shortly thereafter, when John Fraser Matthew, having taken over the design work Stuart had done on the Thistle Foundation’s housing for severely disabled ex-servicemen, insisted on changing Stuart’s design. Stuart subsequently merged his practice with that of David Carr, the office being within Stuart Matthew's house at 14 Lynedoch Place. For about a year his father practised independently, finally retiring completely in 1952 when Stuart Matthew again took over his practice and completed such work as was still in hand. Matthew was elected FRIAS in 1958. The partnership of Carr & Matthew was not an unqualified success because of Stuart Matthew's deteriorating health and was closed in 1959 when David Carr set up his own practice at 43 Manor Place. With his own practice ebbing away, Stuart Matthew took in work farmed out by his elder brother, Robert Hogg Matthew (born 1906), who had founded his own practice in 1953. After failing to make an effective contribution on larger projects, including development plans for Dundee University and Glasgow Royal College (later Strathclyde University), Robert provided Stuart with less urgent, small-scale or family-related projects, including work on Robert’s office and flat at 31 Regent Terrace and the modest job of designing a modern front elevation for a rebuilding scheme for the Army and Navy Club at St James Square, Westminster. In August 1963, Stuart suffered his most devastating nervous breakdown while working with Robert on the design for the reconstruction of Loretto School Chapel. This was followed by a period of voluntary confinement and electric-shock treatment in the Crichton Royal Hospital, Dumfries in 1963. After 1963, Robert effectively took over Stuart’s office and most of his staff, and thereafter kept Stuart supplied with a succession of small jobs. Alongside architectural odd-jobs, Stuart maintained a wide variety of interests. In 1963, he and Robert founded Keith Ingram Furniture, for which Stuart designed the shop in Rose Street, and with Robert, was initially responsible for designing ranges of prototype objects. In his later years, Stuart's interests became more varied, aiding in the establishment of St Mary’s Music School, and by the late 1960s, setting up his own pop group and running a large antique shop from a property he owned in Belford Road, for a time in partnership with Nigel Coates. His last important undertaking was a book, 'The Knights and the Chapel of the Thistle', published in 1988. He died on 13 May 1996, survived by his wife Joan, leaving an estate of £1,743 5s 9d; his brother Robert had died much earlier, on 21 June 1975.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	43, Minto Street, Edinburgh, Scotland	Private	1938 *
	14, Lynedoch Place, Edinburgh, Scotland	Private/business	Before 1950	After 1964
	3, Randolph Cliff, Edinburgh, Scotland	Private	1958 *

* 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
	Lorimer & Matthew	1934	1935	Assistant(?)
	Lorimer & Matthew	c. 1937	c. 1950	Assistant
	Carr & Matthew	1950	1959	Partner

RIBA

RIBA Proposers

The following individuals proposed this for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):
	Name	Date proposed	Notes
	(Sir) Frank Charles Mears	4 April 1938	for Fellowship
	Leslie Grahame Thomson (or Leslie Grahame-Thomson; later Leslie Grahame MacDougall)	4 April 1938	for Fellowship
	John Wilson	4 April 1938	for Fellowship

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
	1930s	University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, Students' Union			Edinburgh	Scotland	As assistant in family firm
	1931	Earl Haig Memorial Homes	Saughton		Edinburgh	Scotland	Original buildings and later alterations - as assistant in firm
	1933	The Wheatsheaf	Saughton		Edinburgh	Scotland	Working in family firm - as assistant in firm
	1937	Kirkcaldy Town Hall	Kirkcaldy		Fife	Scotland	Competiton design - placed 2nd
	1937	University of Edinburgh, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons			Edinburgh	Scotland	Additions (including alterations to Hope Park UF Church for Dick Vet ) - as assistant
	1938	Falkirk Royal Infirmary Nurses' Home	Falkirk		Stirlingshire	Scotland	Competition design - placed second
	1945	Thistle Foundation scheme with houses, hostel and medical centre			Edinburgh	Scotland	Won the competition independently of his father in November 1945 with the assistance of his brother Robert
	1948	Linburn House Estate, Housing for the Blind	Wilkieston		Midlothian	Scotland	Job continued by Carr & Matthew
	1949	Braille Printing Works, Craigmillar Park			Edinburgh	Scotland
	1950(?)	Pinkie House	Musselburgh		Midlothian	Scotland	Additions and alterations
	1950	Strathyre Cottage	Callander		Perthshire	Scotland	Alterations and additions
	1951	Broomridge SSHA housing	Stirling		Stirlingshire	Scotland
	After 1951	Hopetoun cottages, Hopetoun estate			West Lothian	Scotland	Refurbishment?
	After 1951	Hopetoun House	Abercorn		West Lothian	Scotland	Alterations?
	After 1951	Hopetoun Mausoleum			West Lothian	Scotland	Repairs?
	After 1951	Kirkcaldy Town Hall	Kirkcaldy		Fife	Scotland	Further work?
	After 1951	Linburn House and other buildings on site	Wilkieston		Midlothian	Scotland	Further work - job taken over from his father
	After 1951	R W Forsyth Ltd Department Store			Edinburgh	Scotland	Alterations
	After 1951	Thistle Foundation, Robin Chapel			Edinburgh	Scotland	Job continued by Carr & Matthew
	1952	5 Western Terrace, Corstorphine Road			Edinburgh	Scotland	Plans for conversion into two and three separate flats
	1952	Meadowfield Housing Estate			Edinburgh	Scotland
	1953	Astley Ainslie Hospital			Edinburgh	Scotland	Alterations and additions
	1954	Duddingston Primary School	Duddingston		Edinburgh	Scotland
	1954	University of St Andrews Observatory	St Andrews		Fife	Scotland	New Observatory?
	1956	Warriston Crematorium			Edinburgh	Scotland	[Glendinning, 2008]
	1957	Astley Ainslie Hospital School			Edinburgh	Scotland	Also alterations to St Roque and Tyne Lodges
	1959	Nairn Street and Boquhanran Road Housing	Clydebank		Dunbartonshire	Scotland
	Early 1950s	Crawford's Restaurant			Edinburgh	Scotland	Conversion
	Early 1950s	Farm cottages	Winchburgh		West Lothian	Scotland
	1960	Army and Navy Club House			London		Consultant
	1962	Loretto School Chapel	Musselburgh		Midlothian	Scotland	Stuart Matthew began the designs for the new enlargement, working with Robert Matthew, however due Stuart's poor health the project was taken over by RMJM in 1963.

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
	Author(s)	Date	Title	Part	Publisher	Notes
	Glendinning, Miles	2008	Modern architect: the life and times of Robert Matthew		RIBA Publishing
	Municipal Annual	1964	Scottish Municipal Annual	1964-1965

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this :
	Periodical Name	Date	Edition	Publisher	Notes
	Scotsman	25 May 1996			Obituary

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
	Source	Archive Name	Source Catalogue No.	Notes
	RIAS, Rutland Square	Records of membership
	RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum	RIBA Nomination Papers		A no6730 (combined box 156)