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Basic Biographic Details
Name:
Arthur Forman Balfour Paul
Designation :
Architect
Date of Birth:
Exact Date
Exact DOB:
08/07/1875
Year of Birth :
Circa Year of Birth :
Date of Birth Before (Year):
Date of Birth After (Year):
DOB (1st 'Or' Year):
DOB (2nd 'Or' Year):
Date of Death:
Exact Date
Exact DOD:
06/03/1938
Year of Death:
Circa Year of Death:
Date of Death Before (Year):
Date of Death After (Year):
DOD (1st 'Or' Year):
DOD (2nd 'Or' Year):
Town of Birth :
Bio Notes :
Arthur Forman Balfour Paul ('Baffy' to his friends and to his staff) was born in Edinburgh on 7 August 1875, the son of Sir James Balfour Paul, Lyon King of Arms. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy from 1885 to 1892 and was articled to Sir Robert Rowand Anderson from 1892 to 1896, remaining as a draughtsman until 1897 and studying at the School of Applied Art under Frank Worthington Simon and Stewart Henbest Capper. His travels in these early years included a short sketching tour in Belgium and Holland in 1895 and a three-month tour of England in 1897. In 1898 he obtained a place in John Belcher's office in London, staying there for a year and studying at the LCC School of Art before returning to Edinburgh to commence practice on his own account from home at 30 Heriot Row. Following the dissolution of the Anderson, Simon & Crawford partnership Sir Rowand Anderson invited him to return to his practice as partner in 1903. Paul joined the Edinburgh Architectural Association in the same year and it was on the recommendation of that association and of its President, James Bow Dunn, that he was admitted LRIBA in the mass intake of 20 July 1911.
The partnership was interrupted by the First World War. Paul was a keen territorial who had joined the London Scottish as a piper when with Belcher. He was commissioned as a major in the Royal Engineers and served with distinction in France, being awarded the MC and the Croix de Guerre with Gold Star. Anderson continued the practice, albeit in failing health, with some help from Alexander Lorne Campbell.
Paul resumed partnership in 1919 and became sole partner, Anderson having finally retired: Lorne Campbell was Anderson's executor and he, not Paul, as has been stated, designed the memorial cottage to Lady Anderson at Colinton. Crucially for the practice Paul retained the feuing of the Fettes Trust and Braid estates, providing a flow of business which saw it through a lean period. In 1931 Paul, whose office was managed by John McClure Anderson, offered his former assistant William Kininmonth a rrom I his office as he could not afford to re-employ him on his return from Lutyens's office. It had only a drawings board and a telephone, but it enabled Kininmonth to take into partnership his friend Basil Urwin Spence, recently returned from Lutyens's office in London. Supplemented by presentation work for other practices and by teaching at Edinburgh College of Art the partnership of Kininmonth & Spence had some success. In 1934 Paul offered Kininmonth a partnership but Kininmonth felt that he had to decline unless Spence was taken into partnership as well. Paul accepted this proposal, the recovery of the practice enabling them to take on as an assistant Alan Reiach, previously of Lorimer and Matthews' office. The name of the practice then became became Rowand Anderson & Paul & Partners and remained so until 1946 when Spence left to set up his own practice.
Paul was active in professional matters, serving on the RIBA Council after his election as FRIBA in 1933, for which he was proposed by John Begg, James Alexander Arnott and John Wilson. He was President of the Edinburgh Architectural Association 1934-36, and was President elect of the RIAS when he died on 3 June 1938, leaving a widow Jane Prichard Montgomerie Fleming. In his later years he had moved from his original marital home at 32 Ormidale Terrace to Peffermill House, Craigmillar. His estate amounted to £24,365 18s 10d.
Bio Notes continued...
Additional Notes
Addresses
The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:
Private Addresses
Private Addresses2 classic
Address
Class
Date From Char
Date From Type
Date To Char
Date To Type
Notes
30 Heriot Row Edinburgh Scotland
Private/business
32 Ormidale Terrace Edinburgh Scotland
Private
Peffermill House Craigmillar Edinburgh Scotland
Private
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Business Addresses
Business Addresses2 classic
Address
Class
Date From
Date From Type
Date To
Date To Type
Notes
30 Heriot Row Edinburgh Scotland
Private/business
21 St Andrew Square Edinburgh Scotland
Business
16 Rutland Square Edinburgh Scotland
Business
In partnership with R R Anderson
Scotland
Business
row(s) 1 - 4 of 4
Employment and Training
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
Notes
Wardrop & Anderson
200078
In year 1892
In year 1896
Apprentice
Wardrop & Anderson
200078
In year 1896
In year 1897
Draughtsman
John Belcher
201657
In year 1898
In year 1899
Draughtsman
Rowand Anderson & Paul
200081
In year 1903
In year 1934
Partner
Firm then became Rowand Anderson, Paul & Partners
Rowand Anderson, Paul & Partners
203371
In year 1934
In year 1938
Partner
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Employees or Pupils
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
James Maxwell Scott
203398
In year 1899
In year 1903
Apprentice
row(s) 1 - 1 of 1
RIBA Proposers
The following individuals proposed this person for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):
RIBA PROPOSERS2 classic
Proposer
Proposer Link
Date Proposed
Notes
James Bow Dunn
200174
1911/07/20
for Licentiateship - as president of the Edinburgh Architectural Association
James Alexander Arnott
100044
Mid 1933s
for Fellowship
John Begg
200375
Mid 1933s
for Fellowship
John Wilson
202401
Mid 1933s
for Fellowship
row(s) 1 - 4 of 4
RIBA Proposals
This person proposed the following individuals for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):
RIBA PROPOSALS2 classic
Person
Date Proposed
Notes
James Findlay Coull
1934/12/03
for Associateship
Archibald James Baxter
Early 1934s
for Associateship
James Robertson
1935/05/13
for Associateship
Frank James Connell
1935/12/02
for Associateship
Robert Woodcock
1935/12/02
for Associateship
William Gordon Dey
1935/12/02
for Associateship
John Somerville Baillie
1936/04/06
for Associateship
James Macgregor
1936/06/22
for Fellowship
Noel Edmund Ironside Burchell
1936/06/22
for Licentiateship
David Maxtone Craig
1937/03/08
for Associateship
James Moffatt Aitken
1937/03/08
for Associateship
William Thomas Christie Walker
1938/01/10
for Associateship
William Alexander Bruce Robertson
1938/01/10
for Associateship
Ian Sinclair Gavin
1938/03/07
for Associateship
John Malcolm McClure Anderson
1938/04/04
for Associateship
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Buildings and Designs
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
Island
City or County
Country
Notes
St Columba's Parish Church
In year 1877
Burntisland
Fife
Scotland
Restoration
Sir William Fraser Homes
In year 1898
Colinton
Edinburgh
Scotland
Country house
After 1899
Dunblane
Perthshire
Scotland
May have been done in partnership with Robert Rowand Anderson
Country house
After 1899
Grantown-on-Spey (near)
Inverness-shire
Scotland
May have been done in partnership with Robert Rowand Anderson
Country house
After 1899
Davidson's Mains
Edinburgh
Scotland
May have been done in partnership with Robert Rowand Anderson
Archers' Hall
In year 1900
Edinburgh
Scotland
Began job - reconstruction and enlargement
Dean Cemetery, Monument to Sir William Fraser
In year 1900
Dean
Edinburgh
Scotland
Housing
In year 1901
Colinton
Edinburgh
Scotland
Dunblane Cathedral Halls
In year 1902
Dunblane
Perthshire
Scotland
5 Charlotte Square
In year 1903
Edinburgh
Scotland
Internal remodelling
Culross Abbey Church
In year 1903
Culross
Fife
Scotland
Restoration
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
After 1903
Edinburgh
Scotland
Additions
University of Edinburgh, Medical School and McEwan Hall
After 1903
Edinburgh
Scotland
Reconstruction of Medical School
University College, main block
c. 1903
Dundee
Scotland
Design for the new main block - not built
Keir House
In year 1904
Dunblane
Perthshire
Scotland
Garden house (building dated 1904) and sundial (dated 1906)
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References
Bibliographic References
The following books contain references to this person:
Bib ref classic
Author
Title
Date
Publisher
Part
Notes
Pike
Edinburgh and the Lothians at the turn of the 20th century
Post Office Directories
Glendinning, Miles
Rebuilding Scotland: The Postwar Vision, 1945-75
1997
Tuckwell Press Ltd
p12 Site plan and perspective of Timber Housing, Lanarkshirep94 Aperitif Restaurant
Johnston, W T
Artists of Scotland
2003
Officina Publications CDROM
Edwards, Brian
Basil Spence 1907-1976
1995
Walker, Frank Arneil
South Clyde Estuary: An Illustrated Architectural Guide to Inverclyde and Renfrew
1986
p82
row(s) 1 - 6 of 6
Periodical References
The following periodicals contain references to this person:
Period ref classic
Periodical Name
Publisher
Date Circ
Edition
Notes
Builder
1938/06/10
*
Obituary
RIAS Quarterly
1938
Autumn/Winter
Obituary p31
RIBA Journal
1938/09/12
v45
p993 - obituary
row(s) 1 - 3 of 3
Archive References
The following archives hold material relating to this person:
Arc ref classic
Archive Name
Source
Source Cat No
Building Id
Item Name
Notes
RIBA Nomination Papers
RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum
100005
L v20 no1511; F no3134 (box 17)
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