Basic Biographical Details Name: | Robert Somerville Ellis | Designation: | | Born: | 13 March 1903 | Died: | 28 December 1984 | Bio Notes: | Robert Somerville Ellis was born on 13 March 1903, the son of John Somerville Ellis, theatre musical director, and his wife Emily Alma Wary. He was articled to James Bow Dunn in 1920, attending classes at Edinburgh College of Art and Heriot-Watt College. During his spare time he made measured drawings of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century buildings. On completing his apprenticeship he remained as assistant to Dunn, undertaking 'mansion house work and reconstruction'. He left Dunn in 1927 when he secured a position as chief designer for 'Clark & Firm', a company specialising in the reconstruction and design of fibrous plaster and detailing in cinemas and public buildings. Two years later he was appointed architect to Craighall Cast Stone Company, where he was responsible for the design and manufacture of cast stone features and their installation. After a year in that post he joined Edinburgh City Architect's Department, working as assistant to the then City Architect Ebenezer James MacRae.
In 1940 he left the City Architect's Department and was appointed assistant architect to the Scottish Special Housing Association. He was still in that post when he was admitted LRIBA on 12 February 1946, his proposers being MacRae, Alexander Allan Foote and Alfred Hugh Mottram. In his nomination papers, he states that he had 'done a considerable ammount [sic] of private work at various times'.
Ellis died aged 81 at the Northern General Hospital Edinburgh on 28 February 1984. His wife Angusina MacLeod had predeceased him. He was survived by at least one daughter. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 35, Craigleith Drive, Edinburgh, Scotland | Private | Before 1938 | 1981 | |
Employment and TrainingEmployers
RIBARIBA Proposers
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Post Office Directories | | | | | | | RIBA | 1950 | The RIBA Kalendar 1950-1951 | | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | H M Register House | Death Register | | | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | L no5826 (combined box 102) |
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