Architects

Name:

William Lambie Moffatt (originally William Lambie Moffat)

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Exact Date

Exact DOB:

31/10/1807

Year of Birth :

Circa Year of Birth :

Date of Birth Before (Year):

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DOB (1st 'Or' Year):

DOB (2nd 'Or' Year):

Date of Death:

Exact Date

Exact DOD:

05/06/1882

Year of Death:

Circa Year of Death:

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DOD (2nd 'Or' Year):

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Bio Notes :

William Lambie Moffat was born on 31 October 1807, the son of John Moffat, clerk of works and Sarah Couch. At some stage, for unknown reasons, he adopted the spelling of Moffatt which is continued by his descendents, although his brother Henry retained the single 't' as Moffat throughout his life. William Lambie was articled to William Burn who employed his father as his clerk of works at Carstairs House. The earliest record of work by William Lambie Moffatt dates from when he was seventeen years old and a pupil of Burn: he made the drawings for Carstairs House, designed by Burn, for J P Neale's 'Views of Seats'. He appears to have remained as an assistant: his subsequent career suggests he was engaged on the institutional side of the practice.

In 1833 Moffatt is listed at 8 Morrison Street, Edinburgh which is also the address of his father at this date.

In 1836 he won the competition for Wakefield Corn Exchange with a very original Greek Revival design which induced him to settle in Doncaster. In 1838 William Hurst of Doncaster invited him to become a partner, his previous partner John Woodhead having died, and for the next six years Hurst and Moffatt had a flourishing practice, particularly for churches financed by The Incorporated Church Building Society.

On 8 December 1844 Hurst died. Moffatt continued the Doncaster practice, but was increasingly dependent on winning competitions for business. As a number of his competition wins were for hospitals and poorhouses in Scotland, he closed his Doncaster practice in 1858, the catalyst probably being the new asylum at Montrose (1856). He returned to Edinburgh, his house being at 4 Fettes Row, and he subsequently remodelled 13 Queen Street for his own occupation. By May 1873 he was so busy with school board work, probably mainly won in competition, that James Aitken, of whom nothing is as yet known, was taken into partnership.

Moffatt was equally skilled in Greek, Italianate, Gothic and neo-Jacobean, his work in the last of those being strongly influenced by William Burn's houses of the mid to late 1820s and early 1830s: in the past some writers conflated him with G G Scott's partner, the English William Bonython Moffatt, and in the earlier 'Buildings of England' volumes he is sometimes wrongly given as W B Moffatt.

Moffatt died on 5 June 1882 at 23 Minto Street, survived by his widow Wilhelmina Crystal. Information on the subsequent career of James Aitken - if any - is not yet available.

'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:

Private Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From Char	Date From Type	Date To Char	Date To Type	Notes
8 Morrison Street Edinburgh Scotland	Private/business
Doncaster England	Private/business
4 Fettes Row Edinburgh Scotland	Private/business
23 Minto Street Edinburgh Scotland	Private
13 Queen Street Edinburgh Scotland	Private
Scotland	Private

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date To	Notes
8 Morrison Street Edinburgh Scotland	Private/business	c. 1833	c. 1834
Doncaster England	Private/business	c. 1836	c. 1855
30 George IV Bridge Edinburgh Scotland	Business	c. 1849	c. 1851
23 George IV Bridge Edinburgh Scotland	Business	Before 1850	After 1855
4 Fettes Row Edinburgh Scotland	Private/business	1858	c. 1868
56 Frederick Street Edinburgh Scotland	Business	c. 1869	1871
12 North St David Street Edinburgh Scotland	Business	c. 1872	c. 1873	And with Aitken at this address until 1882

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

Employers2 classic

Name	Name Link	Date From	Date To	Position
William Burn	200136	Before 1824		Apprentice
Hurst & Moffatt	202135	In year 1838	In year 1844	Partner
Moffatt & Aitken (or Moffat & Aitken)	200182	c. 1874		Partner

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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	Notes
David Brash Dick	200681	c. 1862	c. 1867	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
Carstairs House	c. 1824	Carstairs	Lanarkshire	Scotland	Prepared drawings for publication in Neale (as pupil of William Burn)
Wakefield Corn Exchange	In year 1836	Wakefield	Yorkshire	England	Won competition; presumably secured job
Union workhouse	In year 1837	Selby	Yorkshire	England
Union workhouse	In year 1838	Rotherham	Yorkshire	England
Union workhouse	In year 1838	Thorne	Yorkshire	England
New Independent Chapel	In year 1839	Leeds	Yorkshire	England
Union workhouse	In year 1839	Doncaster	Yorkshire	England
Chatsworth Estate, unspecified work	In year 1839		Derbyshire	England
The Ship Hotel and Westgate improvements	In year 1840	Rotherham	Yorkshire	England
Grosmont Church	In year 1840	Grosmont	Yorkshire	England
Union workhouse	c. 1840	Gateshead	Northumberland	England
Holy Trinity Church	In year 1841	Thurgoland	Yorkshire	England
St Peter's Church	In year 1841	Rockferry	Cheshire	England
Christ Church	In year 1841	Ardsley	Yorkshire	England
St Mary's Church	In year 1841	Woodsetts	Yorkshire	England

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Part	Notes
Architects Engineers and Building Trades Directory	Architect's, Engineer's and Building Trades' Directory	1868	London, Wyman
Colvin, H M	A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840	1995	New Haven and London: Yale University Press	3rd edition	p522-524
Colvin, H M	A biographical dictionary of English architects 1660-1840	1954		1st edition	p441
Scotlands People Website	Wills & Testaments				Edinburgh Sheriff Court Wills SC70/4/196 and inventories Sc70/1/216
Pride, Glen L	The Kingdom of Fife	1999	The Rutland Press	2nd Edition	p41
Neale, J P	Views of Seats	1824		2nd ser, i
Post Office Directories

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The following archives hold material relating to this person:

Arc ref classic

Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Notes
Death Register	H M Register House	100027	Death of William Lambie Moffatt
Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material	Professor David M Walker personal archive	100041	Information from Professor H K Moffatt, great-great-grandson of William Lambie Moffatt (email 30 June 2006)
William Lambie Moffatt Cash Book 1859-1881 GD 1/412/1	National Archives of Scotland (formerly SRO)	200659

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

Employment and Training

Employers2 classic

Employees or Pupils

Employees or Pupils2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Bibliographic References

Bib ref classic

Archive References

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