Larger versions of these images are located at the foot of the page. Basic Biographical Details Name: | Charles James McNair | Designation: | Architect | Born: | 1 November 1881 | Died: | 17 August 1955 | Bio Notes: | Charles James McNair was born on 1 November 1881, the son of Henry McNair, butcher, and Catherine Sloan. He was articled to James Archibald Morris of Ayr from 1898 to 1903. In the latter year he moved to Glasgow to become assistant to John Nisbet and took over his practice on his retirement in 1910, with Robert Norman Houghton McKellar as his chief assistant from 1913.
McNair was primarily a cinema architect mainly through his partnership with George Urie Scott in the Cinema Construction Co: between the wars he worked with Robert Elder who was first chief assistant and then partner from 1936. It used to be said that McNair got the work and Elder designed it: Elder was an able designer but was remembered by an assistant, Robert Forsyth, as 'a very shy man who didn't want to take the credit'. Some of their later work was considerably influenced by T S Tait.
McNair was married twice: first to Agnes Jane Hamilton, and later to Margaret Coutts Jack. He died of coronary thrombosis in Victoria Infirmary on 17 August 1955, his home address at the time of his death being 16 Carolside Avenue, Clarkston. He left estate of £8,902 17s 10d. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this architect: | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes |  | 15, Charlotte Street, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland | Private | Before 1904 | After 1926 | |  | 112, Bath Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1910 | After 1933 | Location of Nisbet's practice |  | 272, St Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | Before 1937 | After 1941 | At least those years |  | 529, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1950 * | | |  | 16, Carolside Avenue, Clarkston, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | 1955 * | | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployersEmployees or Pupils* earliest date known from documented sources.
RIBARIBA Proposers
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this architect: | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes |  | British Architectural Library, RIBA | 2001 | Directory of British Architects 1834-1914 | | | |  | Johnston, W T | 2003 | Artists of Scotland | | Officina Publications CDROM | |  | Peter, Bruce | 1996 | 100 Years of Glasgow's Amazing Cinemas | | Edinburgh: Polygon | |  | Post Office Directories | | | | | |  | RIBA | 1939 | The RIBA Kalendar 1939-1940 | | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | |  | RIBA | 1950 | The RIBA Kalendar 1950-1951 | | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | |  | Who's Who in Architecture | 1914 | | | | |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this architect: | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes |  | Building Industries | 16 September 1922 | | | includes portrait |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this architect: | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes |  | Professor David M Walker personal archive | Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material | | Additional research (parentage, marriages, death and addresses) by Iain Paterson |  | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | L v22 no1797 |
Images © All rights reserved. Building Industries 16 September 1922 (Courtesy of Iain Paterson) |