Basic Biographical Details

Name: Simon & Tweedie
Designation:  
Born: 1892
Died: Late 1895 or early 1896
Bio Notes: Frank Lewis Worthington Simon was born on 31 March 1862 at Darmstadt, Germany, the son of David Worthington Simon DD MA PhD. He was educated at Tettenhall College, Wolverhampton and the King Edward VI Grammar School in Birmingham, and was articled to John Cotton in Birmingham in 1879. At the end of his apprenticeship, c.1882, he became an assistant to Jethro Anstice Cossins in the same city before joining the atelier of Jean Louis Pascal and enrolling c.1883 at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts where he spent only one year and was a contemporary of Alexander Nisbet Paterson, John Keppie and Stewart Henbest Capper, sharing rooms with the latter two. After completing the course he spent about a year in Glasgow with Burnet Son & Campbell in 1886 and then a similar period with Wardrop & Anderson: according to his RIBA nomination paper he joined that firm just prior to George Washington Browne's departure. Throughout that period, from sometime before March 1885, Simon had his own studio at 8 York Place from which he made a fine series of drawings of old Edinburgh which formed the basis of his 'Etchings of Old Edinburgh'. He won the Tite Prize in 1887 and commenced independent practice in the following year at 34 St Andrew Square, his first significant commission being a fine house, Outwood, at 8 Mortonhall Road for his father, who had now become Principal Simon. He then formed a partnership with his fellow student at Pascal's, Stewart Henbest Capper, winning the competition for Hope Chapel, Wigan, in 1888.

In 1890 Simon came into prominence as the architect of the Edinburgh International Exhibition of that year, working in collaboration with the artist-architect William Allan Carter who also had his own studio at 5 St Andrew Square; in that same year Rowand Anderson and David MacGibbon persuaded thirty well-off individuals to subscribe £1,200 for the formation of the Edinburgh School of Applied Art at the Royal Institution. When classes commenced on 17 October 1892 Simon was its first professor with George Mackie Watson as first assistant, quickly joined by his brother John who had run the Edinburgh Architectural Association classes and by Capper, the last giving the School as a whole a marked Ecole des Beaux-Arts bias in its teaching. All owed their appointments to Anderson's patronage, the Watson brothers also being ex-assistants of Anderson's while Capper was an ex-assistant of his former partner George Washington Browne.

Simon moved his private practice to 36 Hanover Street late in 1891 or early 1892. The School of Applied Art was hugely successful in attracting students and later that same year, 1892, pressure of work at the School - where the classes were from 8 to 10am - induced Simon to end his partnership with Capper and enter a short-lived partnership with Charles Edward Tweedie. Tweedie had been born on 7 July 1863 in Edinburgh, the son of Peter Tweedie and Agnes Baigrie Bourhill; nothing is known of his training or early career. The Simon & Tweedie partnership won the competition for Llanelly Town Hall in 1892 but lost the commission to the local architect William Griffiths. It had more success in Manchester where Simon had won the competition for the Macfadyen Memorial Church, an office being opened in Manchester to build it. The Simon & Tweedie partnership seems to have closed late in 1895 or early in 1896 and in 1897 Simon resigned his chair to concentrate wholly on his practice.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 236, Hanover Street, Edinburgh, ScotlandBusiness1892c. 1895 
Item 2 of 2Manchester, EnglandBusiness1892 *Late 1895 or early 1896Presumably a branch office opened to facilitate execution of Macfadyen Memorial Church

* earliest date known from documented sources.


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 2Frank Lewis Worthington Simon1892Late 1895 or early 1896Partner 
Item 2 of 2Charles Edward Tweedie (senior)1892Late 1895 or early 1896Partner 

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 111890sWatergate  Edinburgh Restoration or new build?
Item 2 of 111892Llanelly Town HallLlanelly/Llanelli CarmarthenshireWalesCompetition design - placed first but job went to W Griffiths of Llanelly
Item 3 of 111892(?)Macfadyen Memorial ChurchChorlton-cum-Hardy Manchester EnglandBegun by Simon alone; later in partnership with Tweedie
Item 4 of 111893North British Rubber Factory, Castle Mills  EdinburghScotlandNew workshops on corner of Fountainbridge and Gilmore Park.
Item 5 of 111894Congregational ChurchHeaton Moor ManchesterEnglandCompetition design - not placed
Item 6 of 111894Edinburgh Dental Hospital and school  EdinburghScotlandOriginal building
Item 7 of 111894Gorgie EU ChurchGorgie EdinburghScotland 
Item 8 of 111894Robertson's Court  EdinburghScotland 
Item 9 of 11c. 1894Russell House, 3 Canongate  EdinburghScotlandInternal alterations
Item 10 of 111895Hopefield, Greenhill Gardens  EdinburghScotlandAdditions
Item 11 of 111895West Hartlepool Board SchoolHartlepool County DurhamEnglandCompetition design - placed second

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 1Post Office Directories