Architects

Name:

William Atkinson Railton

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Exact Date

Exact DOB:

20/11/1820

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Date of Death:

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Exact DOD:

16/09/1902

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Bio Notes :

William Atkinson Railton was born on 20 November 1820 in the Gorbals in Glasgow, the son of John Railton, law agent and his wife Margaret Thomson. His relationship, if any, with William Railton (c.1801-77) of London is not known, and there is no record of his professional training. He would appear to have been both an architect and a civil engineer. He commenced practice in Kilmarnock in 1847, secured the commission for the cubical neo-classical sheriff court there from the Commissioners of Supply in 1852, and quickly became prominent in public life either as director or secretary of several Kilmarnock institutions. It was presumably through these connections that he superseded Black & Salmon as architect to the Union Bank, apparently in 1852 when he obtained the commission for the large bank house at Kilmarnock, and by the 1860s he had also become architect to the Clydesdale Bank for its provincial branch offices. His buildings for the Union Bank are mostly in a fairly consistent Italianate house style, usually with rusticated doorpieces and pilastered bipartite windows, although some of the later and smaller branches are Gothic. Those for the Clydesdale, which have still to be fully identified, tend to be plain Jacobean. The largest and best of these buildings were the large Union Bank palazzi at Dundee (1866) and Dumfries (1875), in a very competent Free Renaissance; but some of his other buildings, most notably the large Fever Hospital (later the Infirmary) at Kilmarnock, are Thomsonesque. His drawings tend to be on a thin yellow paper and tinted in a strong red, probably to facilitate tracing.

Railton appears to have been a significant antiquary. Quite early in his career he made record plans of Irvine Town House before it was demolished in 1860. He was of considerable assistance to MacGibbon & Ross, measuring and sketching Auchenharvie, Busbie, Clonbeith, Craigie and Stair Castles in Ayrshire; Kildonan Castle on Bute; Cathcart Castle in Renfrewshire; and Kerelaw Doocot. From at least 1858 until at least 1875 Railton acted as architect to the Scottish estates for the Trustees of the 3rd Marquess of Bute.

Railton's office was at 1 St Marnock's Place, Kilmarnock in 1868. By the 1880s his son John Joseph Railton was in the business and MacGibbon & Ross refer to the practice as 'The Messrs Railton'. William was still in practice at the age of 78 in 1898, when he was in partnership with John Joseph Railton, CE but by that date the Union Bank and the Clydesdale Bank connections had been lost to John Burnet & Son and to Baird & Thomson respectively.

Railton died on 16 September 1902 aged 81 when he was described as an architect and civil engineer. His wife Isabella had predeceased him but he was survived by one son and several daughters.

'Biography authored by the Dictionary of Scottish Architects Compilation Team.'

Bio Notes continued...

Additional Notes

The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:

Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date From Type	Date To	Date To Type	Notes
1 St Marnock's Place Kilmarnock Ayrshire Scotland	Business	1868

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The following individuals were employed or trained by this person (click on an item to view details):

Employees or Pupils2 classic

Name	Name Link	Date From	Date To	Position
William Newlands	100038	1869/01	1873/03	Apprentice
John Joseph Railton	202910	1880s		Architect
Gabriel Andrew	100036	c. 1866	Before 1875	Apprentice

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This person was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):

Buildings and Designs2 classic

Building Name	Date Started	Town, District or Village	City or County	Country	Notes
Pair of villas, 36 and 38 London Road	c. 1850	Kilmarnock	Ayrshire	Scotland	Perhaps earlier?
Kilmarnock Sheriff Court	In year 1852	Kilmarnock	Ayrshire	Scotland
Union Bank	In year 1853	Kilmarnock	Ayrshire	Scotland	\'Buildings of Scotland\' gives dates as \'c. 1850\'
Union Bank	c. 1855	Greenock	Renfrewshire	Scotland	Original building, and subsequent new doorpiece and alterations
Free church	In year 1856	Crookedholm	Ayrshire	Scotland
Cunninghame Combination Poorhouse	In year 1856	Irvine	Ayrshire	Scotland
Skelmorlie Castle	In year 1856	Skelmorlie	Ayrshire	Scotland	Alterations and additions, monogrammed \'W R Architect\', including S wing
Union Bank	In year 1856	Dalbeattie	Kirkcudbrightshire	Scotland	Original building and subsequent alterations
Union Bank	In year 1856		Glasgow	Scotland	Altered to form bank from earlier building
Eglinton Castle and Tournament Bridge	In year 1857		Ayrshire	Scotland	Alterations and additions, including 2-storey W wing
Union Bank	In year 1857	Tradeston	Glasgow	Scotland	Remodelled: new rusticated ground floor, interior recast
Union Bank	1857/04/20	Govan	Glasgow	Scotland	Drawings dated
Union Bank	1857/10/21	Bathgate	West Lothian	Scotland	Additions - drawings dated but unsigned
Town Hall	In year 1858	Ardrossan	Ayrshire	Scotland
Dumfries House, Gardeners House	In year 1858		Ayrshire	Scotland	Reconstruction with additional floor

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Part	Notes
Colvin, H M	A biographical dictionary of English architects 1660-1840	1954		1st edition
Close, Robert	Ayrshire and Arran, an Illustrated Architectural Guide	1992	Edinburgh: RIAS		p108
Green, Simon	Dumfries House: an architectural story	2014	Edinburgh: RCAHMS		pp166-181

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The following archives hold material relating to this person:

Arc ref classic

Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Building Id	Item Name	Notes
Death Register	H M Register House	100027

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

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Employees or Pupils

Employees or Pupils2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

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