Basic Biographical Details

Name: Kinnear & Peddie
Designation:  
Born: 1879
Died: 1894 or 1895 or 1896(?)
Bio Notes: The firm of Kinnear & Peddie was a continuation of the practice originated by John Dick Peddie (born 1824). Peddie had worked in partnership with Charles George Hood Kinnear (born 1830) from 1 January 1856 as Peddie & Kinnear, the firm becoming Peddie, Kinnear & Peddie in 1878 when Peddie's son John More Dick Peddie (born 1853) was taken into partnership. In the same year Peddie's fifth son Walter Lockhart Dick Peddie (born 1865) had also joined the firm.

The firm became Kinnear & Peddie in 1879 when the elder Peddie withdrew from the practice at the age of fifty-five. He did not become a retired Academician, thereby blocking the election of both Kinnear and his eldest son, and retained his membership by exhibiting old projects. He entered politics and was particularly active in the campaign for Disestablishment, but although it has been stated that the aim of his early retirement was to become Liberal MP for Kilmarnock Burghs, in reality it was at least as much for the purposes of repairing the family fortunes and providing for his unmarried sisters and daughters by becoming a fund manager. His sisters were a particular problem to him as his unmarried brother James had never had a particularly successful business and his father had somehow lost his money, probably through acting as a 'cautioner', which compelled him to sell the house his son built for him in Lansdowne Crescent in 1867 and become his son's tenant and pensioner in Chalmers Street.

The reputation of the practice and financial circumstances of the entire Peddie family were further compromised by John Dick Peddie's chartered accountant uncle Donald Smith Peddie who fled to the USA in November 1882 as a result of the divorce action by one of his clients, and was found to have liabilities of £75,000 and realisable assets of £4,565, chiefly represented by the house the elder Peddie had built for him in Trinity. Peddie's £800 bond on that property was amongst those 'left out of view' and the Peddie family had to subscribe heavily towards the £25,940 missing from the accounts of the Friendly Society of Dissenting Ministers which he had been raiding since at least 1845. Still more seriously Peddie's property, hydropathic and hotel companies all became insolvent from 1880 onwards with frequent calls for more capital. Making money thus became even more important than it had been, and the elder Peddie devoted the rest of his life to developing his international business interests and investments. It was on a voyage encompassing Australasia and the United States to inspect some of these operations in 1885 that Euphemia died and her body was brought home for burial in Dean Cemetery on 31 December. The elder Peddie himself died on 12 March 1891, leaving moveable assets of £26,432 2s 10d, liabilities of £10,002 13s 0d, his houses in Buckingham Terrace and Chalmers Street and the heavily mortgaged office building at 122 George Street. His net moveable estate was calculated at £16,429 9s 10d but because of bonds the net worth of his heritable property interests is difficult to guess.

As senior partner of Kinnear & Peddie, Kinnear initially tended to retain the larger public and commercial commissions: or at least that is what contemporary references seem to suggest in relation to Longmore Hospital and Craiglockhart Hydropathic, the Germanic classicism of which is a simplified continuation of the elder Peddie's Alexander Thomson-inspired work of the 1870s. The more ambitious country houses, particularly Drygrange, also followed well-tried Kinnear formulae but John More Dick Peddie and the younger members of staff must have done much of the detailing which had become more academically neo-Jacobean with Aesthetic Movement influences.

Like every other practice Kinnear & Peddie's was affected by the recession following the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank. But although the banks had lost money in the Donald Smith Peddie frauds, they remained loyal. The Bank of Scotland's George Street branch, designed by J M Dick Peddie in 1883-4, was the finest the practice built, still very much in the tradition of his father's bank and insurance buildings but with subtly updated details. Its style was reproduced in a simplified form for some provincial branches but his relatively few urban buildings of the 1880s tended to be more free Renaissance or Jacobean. For the Caledonian Station, 1890, a number of very French Beaux-Arts schemes were produced, the variety of draughtsmanship suggesting that outside help may have been brought in. Some of the details suggest the hand of George Washington Browne even if the arched forms were reminiscent of the St Enoch Station proposals of thirty-five years earlier. In the smaller domestic commissions 'Old English' half-timbered gables were adopted from the mid-1880s and at Redholme, North Berwick, 1889, with which Browne's name has been linked, 'Queen Anne' was adopted, in red sandstone rather than red brick.

Kinnear's design role gradually declined after he became Colonel of the Midlothian Coast Artillery Volunteers on 29 June 1884. But as soon as Peddie died he sought admission as FRIBA, his proposers being John Burnet Senior and two eminent Londoners, Professor T Roger Smith and his partner Charles Forster Hayward. He was admitted on 8 June 1891, and in the following year the Royal Scottish Academy elected him associate, an honour which 'at the time considerably astonished him and which it is doubtful if he ever fully appreciated'. He did not live to become an Academician, dying suddenly of heart failure after a normal day at the office on 5 November 1894.

John More Dick Peddie continued the practice alone for a time before taking George Washington Browne (born 1853) into partnership in late 1895 or early 1896.

(See separate entries on Peddie & Washington Browne and on the individual partners for later practice history.)

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 13, South Charlotte Street, Edinburgh, ScotlandBusiness18791896 

Employment and Training

Employees or Pupils

The following individuals were employed or trained by this (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate fromDate toPositionNotes
Item 1 of 17John Squair c. 1896Assistant 
Item 2 of 17James Anderson Williamson18791880Assistant 
Item 3 of 17Peter Stalker1879After 1883Draughtsman 
Item 4 of 17Charles George Hood Kinnear18795 November 1894Partner 
Item 5 of 17John More Dick Peddie18791894 or 1895 or 1896Partner 
Item 6 of 17Walter Lockhart Dick Peddie18791894 or 1895 or 1896Apprentice(?) 
Item 7 of 17John Bryan Nisbet1881c. 1887Assistant 
Item 8 of 17George Duncan Nicoll1883 * Assistant 
Item 9 of 17George JohnstoneAfter 1883 Clerk of Works 
Item 10 of 17Alexander Brown WilsonAfter 1883Before 1884Assistant 
Item 11 of 17Alexander Mackintosh18851886Assistant 
Item 12 of 17James Alexander Arnott1889c. 1890Apprentice 
Item 13 of 17William Brown Whitie18901891Assistant 
Item 14 of 17David Suttie McIlroy18901891Improver 
Item 15 of 17Thomas Reid PeacockAfter 1890Before 1896Assistant 
Item 16 of 17James Alexander Arnottc. 1890c. 1895Assistant 
Item 17 of 17John Walker Smart18921893Assistant 

* earliest date known from documented sources.


Buildings and Designs

This was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):
 Date startedBuilding nameTown, district or villageIslandCity or countyCountryNotes
Item 1 of 16218791-37 Drumsheugh Gardens  EdinburghScotlandRevised Lessels's elevations; designs executed by builders John Watherston & Sons
Item 2 of 162187930, 32, 34 Palmerston Place  EdinburghScotland 
Item 3 of 1621879Callander HydropathicCallander PerthshireScotlandWith Francis Mackison & Son
Item 4 of 1621879Chalmers Street  EdinburghScotlandCompletion of street
Item 5 of 1621879Lochgilphead District Asylum for the InsaneLochgilphead ArgyllScotlandAddition of West House, East House and Firgrove (villa)
Item 6 of 1621879Longmore Hospital for IncurablesNewington EdinburghScotland 
Item 7 of 1621879Scottish Amicable and Scottish American Trust buildings  EdinburghScotland 
Item 8 of 1621879St John's Episcopal Church  EdinburghScotlandAddition of chancel and north porch
Item 9 of 162188041-42 Princes Street  EdinburghScotlandAlterations?
Item 10 of 162188094 George Street  EdinburghScotland 
Item 11 of 1621880House at 10 Salisbury Road  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 12 of 1621880Kinloch HouseCollessie FifeScotlandRemodelling and rebuilding - second phase
Item 13 of 1621880Langlands House and StablesKirkcudbright KirkcudbrightshireScotlandUnclear if this is a new build or alterations
Item 14 of 1621880Langlands with East Langlands LodgeHawick RoxburghshireScotlandEast Lodge - attribution of this because of plans in Dick Peddie & McKay Collection in HES. Work on main house and other work on the estate dated 1880
Item 15 of 1621880New Edinburgh Theatre  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 16 of 1621880Premises for British Public House CompanyLeith EdinburghScotland 
Item 17 of 1621880Shop at 133 Princes Street  EdinburghScotland 
Item 18 of 1621880Shops and Tenements at 503-509 St Vincent Street  GlasgowScotlandAlterations to ground floor shops
Item 19 of 1621880Veitch's Hotel, 120-124 George Street  EdinburghScotlandReconstruction as shops and offices
Item 20 of 162c. 1880Dryfesdale Parish ChurchLockerbie DumfriesshireScotlandAlterations to first church
Item 21 of 162c. 1880Shop at 63 Princes Street  EdinburghScotland 
Item 22 of 162188113 Hill Street  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 23 of 1621881Bank of Scotland, New Town Branch  EdinburghScotland 
Item 24 of 1621881Canaan House, gate lodge  Edinburgh?Scotland 
Item 25 of 1621881Cavers HouseHawick RoxburghshireScotlandRemodelling
Item 26 of 1621881Edinburgh Life Assurance Company Building  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 27 of 1621881Isle CottageDumfries DumfriesshireScotland 
Item 28 of 1621881Kirkcaldy Old Parish Church ManseKirkcaldy FifeScotlandRepairs and alterations - Kinnear responsible
Item 29 of 1621881Kirkintilloch Church and ManseKirkintilloch DunbartonshireScotland 
Item 30 of 1621881St Cuthbert's Public SchoolGorgie EdinburghScotlandAddition
Item 31 of 1621881Sunbury Stables  EdinburghScotland 
Item 32 of 1621882Arnot House  Fife/Kinross-shireScotland 
Item 33 of 1621882Bank of ScotlandKirkcudbright KirkcudbrightshireScotlandAlterations
Item 34 of 1621882Block A, 2-8 Cockburn Street  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 35 of 1621882Isle Tower  WigtownshireScotlandReconstruction of tower house and 18th-century house
Item 36 of 1621882Keith Marischal House and lodges  East LothianScotlandReconstruction and additions
Item 37 of 1621882Kirkcudbright Railway StationKirkcudbright KirkcudbrightshireScotland 
Item 38 of 1621882North Cliff HouseNorth Queensferry FifeScotland 
Item 39 of 1621883Abington House  LanarkshireScotlandReconstruction
Item 40 of 1621883Bank of Scotland Headquarters, The Mound  EdinburghScotlandModification of cupola of dome
Item 41 of 1621883Free High Church and Free Church College  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 42 of 1621883House at Craiglockhart for Robert BrownleeCraiglockhart EdinburghScotland 
Item 43 of 1621883Houses at North Berwick for DalzielNorth Berwick East LothianScotland 
Item 44 of 1621883Milton HouseTrinity EdinburghScotlandAddition of attics
Item 45 of 1621883Newington CemeteryNewington EdinburghScotlandAdditions to gate lodge
Item 46 of 1621883North Trinity HouseTrinity EdinburghScotlandExtensive alterations
Item 47 of 1621883St Ninian'sMoffat DumfriesshireScotland 
Item 48 of 1621883The LodgeNorth Berwick East LothianScotlandAlterations
Item 49 of 1621883Villa at Moffat for Mr DeaneMoffat DumfriesshireScotland 
Item 50 of 1621884Airds of Parton House and stablesLoch Ken KirkcudbrightshireScotland 
Item 51 of 1621884Cortachy CastleKirriemuir AngusScotlandRebuilding after fire
Item 52 of 1621884GlenlairParton KirkcudbrightshireScotlandReconstruction and additions
Item 53 of 1621884House for William Ivory on Whitehouse Terrace  EdinburghScotland 
Item 54 of 1621884Lochmaddy InnLochmaddy Inverness-shireScotlandAdditions
Item 55 of 1621884Mosswater Cottages  FifeScotland 
Item 56 of 1621884Newton House  DumfriesshireScotlandReconstruction of existing house as neo Tudor 'Old English'/ Arts & Crafts house
Item 57 of 1621884Pitreavie CastleDunfermline FifeScotlandRemodelling and additions: several preliminary schemes; much reduced executed scheme
Item 58 of 1621884Sandgate Street and Foul FordBerwick-upon-Tweed NorthumberlandEngland 
Item 59 of 1621884Sun Fire Life Assurance Building  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 60 of 1621884Villa for Mr Vallance   Scotland 
Item 61 of 16218855 Eton Terrace  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 62 of 1621885Aberlour HouseAberlour BanffshireScotlandAlterations including terrace in front of house
Item 63 of 1621885British Linen BankCarluke LanarkshireScotlandAlterations?
Item 64 of 1621885British Linen BankKelso RoxburghshireScotlandAlterations
Item 65 of 1621885Edinburgh Castle, Parliament Hall  EdinburghScotlandCompetition design for restoration exhibited
Item 66 of 1621885Pitreavie Castle, stablesDunfermline FifeScotland 
Item 67 of 1621885Religious Tract and Book Society Building  EdinburghScotlandReconstruction with new façade and shop
Item 68 of 1621885Sunderland HallSelkirk SelkirkshireScotlandAdditions
Item 69 of 1621885Tenement with Royal Bank building belowCampbeltown ArgyllScotland 
Item 70 of 1621885Torquhan HouseStow MidlothianScotlandFurther alterations
Item 71 of 1621885Villa for A J C DowdingMoffat DumfriesshireScotland 
Item 72 of 1621885Villa, 6 Ravelston Park  EdinburghScotland 
Item 73 of 1621886DirgarveAberfeldy PerthshireScotland 
Item 74 of 1621886Donavourd HousePitlochry PerthshireScotlandFurther reconstruction
Item 75 of 1621886Monymusk House  AberdeenshireScotlandLibrary wing added and restoration of fireplace in hall
Item 76 of 1621886Pitreavie Castle, gate lodgeDunfermline FifeScotland 
Item 77 of 1621886Slogarie House and Slogarie CottagesKirkcudbright KirkcudbrightshireScotland 
Item 78 of 1621886St Mary's ChurchHaddington East LothianScotlandScheme for restoration
Item 79 of 1621887British Linen BankKirkcaldy FifeScotland 
Item 80 of 1621887British Linen BankDunfermline FifeScotland 
Item 81 of 1621887British Linen BankDumfries DumfriesshireScotlandAlterations
Item 82 of 1621887Craiglockhart Feuing Plan, entire EstateCraiglockhart EdinburghScotland 
Item 83 of 1621887Drygrange HouseMelrose RoxburghshireScotlandFirst scheme and executed scheme (also stables and steading, factor's house and house to north of steading)
Item 84 of 1621887Four Houses for William Deans on Morningside Drive  EdinburghScotland 
Item 85 of 1621887House and Shop at GilmertonGilmerton EdinburghScotland 
Item 86 of 1621887Kinglassie Parish ChurchKinglassie FifeScotlandReconstruction: taken over by Hislop
Item 87 of 1621887Lochmaddy Long Island Combination PoorhouseLochmaddyNorth UistInverness-shireScotland 
Item 88 of 1621887Netherhall   ScotlandUnclear if alterations or new build
Item 89 of 1621887Tenement with shops, 44 and 46-48 Bernard StreetLeith EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 90 of 1621887Thirlestane CastleLauder BerwickshireScotlandBurial vault
Item 91 of 1621888126 Princes Street  EdinburghScotlandExtension/reconstruction
Item 92 of 1621888British Linen BankClydebank DunbartonshireScotland 
Item 93 of 1621888Cockpen Parish ChurchCockpen MidlothianScotlandOrgan case and new pews
Item 94 of 1621888Fife and Kinross District AsylumSpringfield, Cupar FifeScotlandAdditions
Item 95 of 1621888Midlothian County Artillery Volunteers Property Drill Hall & adjoining tenement  EdinburghScotlandAlterations and new wing at back
Item 96 of 1621888Southwick HouseCaulkerbush KirkcudbrightshireScotlandNew stables
Item 97 of 1621888Southwick Postman's HouseCaulkerbush KirkcudbrightshireScotland 
Item 98 of 1621889Cardoness HouseKirkcudbright KirkcudbrightshireScotlandMajor reconstruction and additions
Item 99 of 1621889Drygrange, South LodgeMelrose RoxburghshireScotland 
Item 100 of 1621889Dumfries and Galloway ClubDumfries DumfriesshireScotlandAlterations
Item 101 of 1621889Ettrickshaws HouseSelkirk SelkirkshireScotland 
Item 102 of 1621889Glasclune HouseNorth Berwick East LothianScotlandBrowne responsible for design
Item 103 of 1621889Kirkennan HouseKirkcudbright KirkcudbrightshireScotland 
Item 104 of 1621889Palace Hotel  EdinburghScotlandConversion of Palace Hotel to Liberal Club
Item 105 of 1621889Southwick Parish ChurchCaulkerbush KirkcudbrightshireScotland 
Item 106 of 1621889Terraughtie HouseTroqueer DumfriesshireScotlandAlterations - perhaps not executed?
Item 107 of 16218907 George Street  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 108 of 1621890Balgowan Cottages   Scotland 
Item 109 of 1621890Blythswoodholm Hotel  GlasgowScotlandConversion to offices (Central Chambers)
Item 110 of 1621890British Linen BankKilmarnock AyrshireScotland 
Item 111 of 1621890Caledonian Railway Station  EdinburghScotland 
Item 112 of 1621890Caputh FountainCaputh PerthshireScotland 
Item 113 of 1621890Corstorphine Parish ChurchCorstorphine EdinburghScotlandProposals for restoration - not built - commission went to George Henderson
Item 114 of 1621890Damcroft MillsPeebles PeeblesshireScotlandMinor work
Item 115 of 1621890Dolphinton House and lodge  PeeblesshireScotlandProposed gate lodge
Item 116 of 1621890Hollywood  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 117 of 1621890House for Major IsaacsonNorth Berwick East LothianScotland 
Item 118 of 1621890House for Mr BalfourNorth Berwick East LothianScotland 
Item 119 of 1621890(?)Luce House   Scotland 
Item 120 of 1621890Mission HallEllon AberdeenshireScotland 
Item 121 of 1621890North Berwick Golf ClubhouseNorth Berwick East LothianScotland 
Item 122 of 162c. 18907 Glencairn Crescent  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 123 of 162c. 1890SchoolNiddrie Mains EdinburghScotland 
Item 124 of 162c. 1890Villa for Mr StewartNorth Berwick East LothianScotland 
Item 125 of 1621891Balmaghie Parish ChurchBalmaghie KirkcudbrightshireScotlandExtension of north aisle, porch and vestry added and internal alterations
Item 126 of 1621891British Linen BankGreenock RenfrewshireScotland 
Item 127 of 1621891British Linen BankColdstream BerwickshireScotland 
Item 128 of 1621891Canty Bay Inn  East LothianScotlandAlterations?
Item 129 of 1621891Compstown House (or Cumstoun House)Twynholm KirkcudbrightshireScotlandLarge addition
Item 130 of 1621891Corstorphine Convalescent HomeCorstorphine EdinburghScotlandEnlargement
Item 131 of 1621891Fife and Kinross District AsylumSpringfield, Cupar FifeScotlandFurther additions
Item 132 of 1621891Isle Tower  WigtownshireScotlandNeo-Jacobean woodwork
Item 133 of 1621891Kirkwood HouseLockerbie DumfriesshireScotlandMinor alterations
Item 134 of 1621891Longmore Hospital for IncurablesNewington EdinburghScotlandE wing with bay window to S elevation, rear extension and small addition at W. (HS list gives date as 1886-1891, though drawings dated 1891)
Item 135 of 1621891Marlefield  RoxburghshireScotlandRebuilding after fire
Item 136 of 1621891Mission Hall, DenheadKirkton of Logie-Buchan AberdeenshireScotland 
Item 137 of 1621891Orwell ManseOrwell Kinross-shireScotlandAlterations
Item 138 of 1621891St Paul's Episcopal Church  EdinburghScotlandRemoval of galleries, addition of chancel
Item 139 of 162189222 Queen Street  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 140 of 162189233 Moray Place  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 141 of 16218927-8 Moray Place  EdinburghScotlandAlterations to no 7
Item 142 of 1621892Advocates' Library  EdinburghScotlandProposed new building linking to George IV Bridge - preliminary and three subsequent schemes, not carried out
Item 143 of 1621892Duthil ManseDuthil Inverness-shireScotlandAlterations
Item 144 of 1621892Peebles Courthouse and PrisonPeebles PeeblesshireScotlandAlterations
Item 145 of 1621892RedholmNorth Berwick East LothianScotlandHouse
Item 146 of 1621892Royal Bank of Scotland  EdinburghScotlandNew ground floor for Royal Bank
Item 147 of 1621893143-146 Princes Street  EdinburghScotlandRebuilding of interior and modification of dome
Item 148 of 1621893British Linen BankAlexandria DunbartonshireScotland 
Item 149 of 1621893Dalton Parish ChurchDalton DumfriesshireScotland 
Item 150 of 1621893Donavourd HousePitlochry PerthshireScotlandStables
Item 151 of 1621893House for Mr Shaw-StewartNorth Berwick East LothianScotlandDesigns for chimneypieces
Item 152 of 1621893Kirkdale HouseCarsluith KirkcudbrightshireScotlandRebuilding after fire
Item 153 of 1621893Windygates HouseNorth Berwick East LothianScotland 
Item 154 of 162189425 Moray Place  EdinburghScotlandInternal alterations
Item 155 of 162189444 Drumsheugh Gardens  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 156 of 1621894Buddon Camp, officers' mess  AngusScotland 
Item 157 of 1621894Caledonian United Services Club  EdinburghScotlandInternal alterations
Item 158 of 1621894The White House for Major General RalstonNorth Berwick East LothianScotland 
Item 159 of 1621894Westerton HouseBridge of Allan StirlingshireScotlandAlterations
Item 160 of 162189552 Minto Street  EdinburghScotlandAlterations
Item 161 of 1621895Blenheim HouseNorth Berwick East LothianScotlandAddition of bedrooms
Item 162 of 1621896(?)Biggar Parish SchoolBiggar LanarkshireScotland 

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 2Bailey, Rebecca M1996Scottish architects' papers: a source book Edinburgh: The Rutland Presspp133-4
Item 2 of 2Walker, David W2002Peddie and Kinnear Unpublished PhD thesis, University of St Andrews, 2002