Architects

Name:

John Bennie Wilson

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Year Only

Exact DOB:

05/08/1926

Year of Birth :

1848

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:

01/03/1923

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 :

John Bennie Wilson was born in Glasgow in 1848, the son of Archibald Wilson, mechanical engineer, and his wife Janet Wilson. Educated at St Enoch's School and Anderson's Institution, he was articled to John Honeyman in 1864 and remained with him as an assistant from 1869 until 1873 when he transferred to the office of David Thomson. He moved again to John Burnet's in 1875, and remained there until he commenced independent practice on his own account in 1879 at 227 West George Street, Glasgow. He was, unusually for a Scot at that date, admitted ARIBA on 22 March 1882, his proposers being Honeyman, Thomson and Burnet. In that same year he moved office to 112 Bath Street.

Wilson had a very large church building practice, mainly won through open and limited competitions. In addition to the larger churches listed below, Wilson was said by A G Lochhead and W A P Jack to have designed a number of very small and very plain churches in the Highlands and Islands, but these do not appear in either the 'Buildings of Scotland' Highland or Argyll volumes.

Wilson's earlier churches tended to be Early English, perhaps influenced by his two years with the younger Burnet as well as by his apprenticeship with Honeyman, but in the later 1880s he adopted a late Gothic style ultimately derived from the free Gothic of Sedding and his circle in London, adapted to Presbyterian plan forms. His classical work similarly derives from London rather than Honeyman or Burnetian models, notably at the Collcutt-inspired Motherwell Town Hall, but moved into more Palladian influenced forms later.

In 1897 Wilson moved office to 92 Bath Street and in 1909 the practice became John B Wilson & Son when his son and pupil John Archibald Wilson was taken into partnership. The elder Wilson was admitted FRIBA on 28 February 1910, his proposers being George Bell, Burnet and John Keppie. As a very active president of the Glasgow Institute of Architects, he became a member of the RIBA Council in the following year.

Wilson was awarded the Gold Medal of Honour at the Vienna Health Congress for the plans of the County Asylum at Ayr. He was an enthusiastic volunteer, joining the 3rd Lanarkshire Scottish Rifles as a private in 1868. He was commissioned in 1880 and promoted to Major in 1894 and to Lieutenant Colonel in 1903. He succeeded Colonel Howie as commander in 1905 and marched 700 men past Edward VII at the Edinburgh Review of 1906, but severe illness brought his military career to a close in the following year. He was awarded the Volunteer Decoration.

Wilson was a member of the Trades House and a prominent mason in Kilwinning Mother Lodge and the Cathedral RA Chapter. He was also a football enthusiast, becoming President of the Glasgow Football Charity Cup Committee. He married twice, first to Sarah Harrison and secondly to a widow, Mary Gilmour Paton or Barclay and survived both, dying of cardiac masarca on 3 January 1923 at 45 Fotheringay Road, Pollokshields, aged seventy-three. He left a moveable estate of £7,782 4s 11d. His son was admitted FRIBA in 1925 but survived his father by only three years, dying on 1 May 1926. The practice was taken over by James M Honeyman, initially under the style of Honeyman, John B Wilson & Son.

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
376 Crown Street Glasgow Scotland	Private
16 Regent Park Terrace Strathbungo Glasgow Scotland	Private
45 Fotheringay Road Pollokshields Glasgow Scotland	Private

row(s) 1 - 3 of 3

Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date To
227 West George Street Glasgow Scotland	Business	1879	1882
112 Bath Street Glasgow Scotland	Business	1882	1895
92 Bath Street Glasgow Scotland	Business	1895	1923

row(s) 1 - 3 of 3

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
John Honeyman	200245	In year 1864	In year 1869	Apprentice
John Honeyman	200245	In year 1869	In year 1873	Assistant
David Thomson	200784	In year 1873	In year 1875	Assistant
John Burnet (senior)	100033	In year 1875	In year 1879	Assistant
John B Wilson & Son	202306	In year 1909	In year 1923	Partner

row(s) 1 - 5 of 5

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 Reid	202457	1883/06/16	1888/07/02	Apprentice
James Smith	203592	1894/10	1898/12	Apprentice
Thomas Anderson Moodie	202588	1897/02/16	1899/06/01	Draughtsman
John Bothwell Steel	203530	1902 or 1903	1903 or 1904	Assistant
William Dick	206690	After 1879		Assistant
James Hoey Craigie	200284	Before 1894	Before 1894	Assistant
John Dall	200628	In year 1886	In year 1890	Junior Assistant
Hamilton Neil	201478	In year 1904	c. 1905	Assistant
John Archibald Wilson	202305		Before 1909	Apprentice

row(s) 1 - 9 of 9

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
John Burnet (senior)	100033	1882/03/20	for Associateship
David Thomson	200784	1882/03/20	for Associateship
John Honeyman	200245	1882/03/20	for Associateship
(Sir) John James Burnet	200088	1910/02/28	for Fellowship
George Bell I	200135	1910/02/28	for Fellowship
John Keppie	200838	1910/02/28	for Fellowship

row(s) 1 - 6 of 6

This person proposed the following individuals for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):

RIBA PROPOSALS2 classic

Person	Date Proposed	Notes
James Stirling Boyd	1910/07/18	for Licentiateship
James Lochhead	In year 1911	for Fellowship
James Montgomerie Alexander	1911/07/20	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects
James Jackson Wilson	1911/07/20	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects
Alexander Hamilton Scott	1911/07/20	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects
James Wright (junior)	1911/07/20	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects
James Thomson (junior)	1911/07/20	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects
Alexander Young	1911/07/20	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects
Hugh Dykes Simpson	1911/07/20	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects
David Salmond	1911/07/20	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects
John Watson	1911/07/20	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects
David Valentine Wyllie	1911/07/20	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects
George Simpson	1911/07/20	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects
Eric Alexander Sutherland	1911/07/20	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects
Robert Thom Ross	1911/07/20	for Licentiateship - as President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects

row(s) 1 - 15 of 84

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
Design for a country church	In year 1872
Livingstone Masonic Hall and Public Hall	In year 1878	Blantyre	Lanarkshire	Scotland
New Free Church	In year 1878	Nitshill	Glasgow	Scotland
Kilcadzow	In year 1879	Carluke	Lanarkshire	Scotland
Law Free Church	In year 1879	Law	Lanarkshire	Scotland
Yieldshiells School	In year 1880	Carluke	Lanarkshire	Scotland
Byldene	In year 1880		Essex	England
Oatlands UP Church	In year 1881	Oatlands	Glasgow	Scotland
Whifflet Free Church	In year 1882	Whifflet, Coatbridge	Lanarkshire	Scotland
Leadhills Free Church	In year 1883	Leadhills	Lanarkshire	Scotland
Established Church	In year 1883	Quarter	Lanarkshire	Scotland
Fingarry	In year 1883	Milton of Campsie	Stirlingshire	Scotland
Drill Hall, Coplaw Road	In year 1884		Glasgow	Scotland
Mother Lodge	In year 1884	Kilwinning	Ayrshire	Scotland
Lillyburn	In year 1884	Milton of Campsie	Stirlingshire	Scotland	Additions

row(s) 1 - 15 of 87

The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Part	Notes
Pride, Glen L	The Kingdom of Fife	1999	The Rutland Press	2nd Edition	p46
Who's Who in Glasgow		1909
Bailey, Rebecca M	Scottish architects' papers: a source book	1996	Edinburgh: The Rutland Press		pp144-155

row(s) 1 - 3 of 3

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			A v8 p96 (microfiche 32/A1); F v20 no1428 (microfilm reel 13)
Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material	Professor David M Walker personal archive	100041			Additional information from research by Iain Paterson

row(s) 1 - 2 of 2

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

RIBA Proposers

RIBA PROPOSERS2 classic

RIBA Proposals

RIBA PROPOSALS2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Bibliographic References

Bib ref classic

Archive References

Arc ref classic