Architects

Name:

James Cumming Wynnes

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Year Only

Exact DOB:

19/06/1926

Year of Birth :

1875

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:

20/11/1944

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 :

James Cumming Wynnes, born in 1875, came of an Aberdeen Quaker family but was articled in Glasgow to Burnet Son & Campbell in 1892. He remained with John James Burnet after the dissolution of the partnership in 1897, rising to the position of draughtsman and later chief of the Glasgow branch office. During that period he attended classes at Glasgow School of Art and the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College and spent at least a fortnight every year on sketching tours in England and Scotland, as well as visiting Belgium.

In 1899 he obtained a place as chief draughtsman in the H M Office of Works, Edinburgh, initially under Walter Wood Robertson and from 1904 under William Thomas Oldrieve who recognised his outstanding ability and entrusted him with the design of Aberdeen Post Office; he probably also had a large hand in the similarly styled design for government offices on Calton Hill in Edinburgh. He was admitted LRIBA on 30 January 1911, his proposers being Oldrieve, Burnet and John Girtrig Young, also of the Edinburgh Office of Works. During his time in the Office of Works took further study trips abroad, spending a month in France and a month in Belgium. He was admitted FRIBA in late 1914, his proposers being Burnet, Oldrieve and David Theodore Fyfe.

In his nomination papers he claims that he had commenced independent practice in Edinburgh in 1904, though this must have been done in his spare time as he was still working for the Office of Works as late as 1910. (There is a conflict of information about when worked for the Office of Works and when he started in independent practice. Nomination Papers say he began with the Office of Works in 1899. PO Directories suggest that he was in partnership with Gordon Lorimer Wright from at least 1902; Nomination Papers state that about 1904 he took up a post at the Office of Works. It appears therefore that either he had a break from the Office of Works or that his work in partnership with Wright was in his spare time or his memory was faulty). Later he was Office of Works Architect for China, Japan and the Far East being posted initially to Tokyo in February 1928 as site architect for Sir Richard Allison's Ambassador's Residence, Chancery and other compound buildings, completed in 1932. Wyness received much credit which infuriated Allison. In the later 1930s he was Office of Works architect in Shanghai.

He retired in 1939 and died on 20 November 1944.

'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
9 Woodburn Terrace Edinburgh Scotland	Private

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date To	Notes
122 George Street Edinburgh Scotland	Business	c. 1902	c. 1903	In partnership with Gordon Lorimer Wright
c/o Office of Works/3 Parliament Square Edinburgh Scotland	Business	1911
21 Castle Street Edinburgh Scotland	Business	1914

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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	Notes
Burnet Son & Campbell	100125	In year 1892	In year 1897	Apprentice
John Burnet & Son	200192	In year 1897	In year 1899	Assistant
Walter Wood Robertson	201227	In year 1899	In year 1904	Assistant	in H M Office of Works, Edinburgh
H M Office of Works (later Ministry of Works, Department of the Environment and Property Services Agency)	201531	In year 1899	c. 1902	Assistant	in Edinburgh office, working initially under Walter Wood Robertson and from 1904 under William Thomas Oldrieve
William Thomas Oldrieve (sometimes William Thomas Oldgrieve)	200735	In year 1904	c. 1911	Assistant	in H M Office of Works, Edinburgh
H M Office of Works Far Eastern Division	203418	In year 1927	In year 1928	Chief Architect
H M Office of Works (later Ministry of Works, Department of the Environment and Property Services Agency)	201531	c. 1904	c. 1911	Assistant	Edinburgh office

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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
(Sir) John James Burnet	200088	1911/01/30	for Licentiateship
John Girtrig Young	203582	1911/01/30	for Licentiateship
William Thomas Oldrieve (sometimes William Thomas Oldgrieve)	200735	1911/01/30	for Licentiateship
(Sir) John James Burnet	200088	Late 1914s	for Fellowship
William Thomas Oldrieve (sometimes William Thomas Oldgrieve)	200735	Late 1914s	for Fellowship
David Theodore Fyfe	201228	Late 1914s	for Fellowship

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

RIBA PROPOSALS2 classic

Person	Date Proposed	Notes
John Ramsay Armstrong	Late 1916s	for Associateship
John Scott Lawson	1919/03/03	for Associateship
Alexander Allan Foote	Mid 1919s	for Associateship
Andrew Duncan Kellock	Mid 1919s	for Associateship
James Wood	Mid 1920s	for Associateship
Robert Wemyss Ferguson	Late 1921s	for Associateship
Charles Wilson Glass	1927/03/28	for Associateship
John Mackie Venters	In year 1931	for Fellowship

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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
Western Infirmary	After 1889		Glasgow	Scotland	As draughtsman and chief of branch office with Burnet- additions including nurses' pavilion, steam laundry, pathological institute and operating theatre
Arbroath Parish Church	In year 1893	Arbroath	Angus	Scotland	As assistant to John James Burnet
Glasgow Savings Bank Headquarters	In year 1894		Glasgow	Scotland	Banking hall in Ingram Street added - as apprentice to John James Burnet
Gardner Memorial Church	In year 1897	Brechin	Angus	Scotland	As assistant to John James Burnet. Resident draughtsman and inspector
McLaren Memorial church, hall and manse	In year 1897	Stenhousemuir/Larbert	Stirlingshire	Scotland	As assistant to Sir John James Burnet
Dundas UP Church	In year 1897	Grangemouth	Stirlingshire	Scotland	As assistant to Burnet
Warehouse, offices and shops	In year 1899		Glasgow	Scotland	As assistant
Waterloo Chambers	In year 1899		Glasgow	Scotland	As assistant to Burnet
Parcel Post Office building	In year 1902		Glasgow	Scotland	As assistant to Oldrieve in H M Office of Works
Head Post Office	In year 1904		Aberdeen	Scotland	As assistant to Oldrieve in H M Office of Works
Large House	In year 1904	Kelso (near)	Roxburghshire	Scotland
Mitchell Library	In year 1905		Glasgow	Scotland	Competition entry - Placed 5th
Carnegie District Library, Baldridgeburn	In year 1907	Dunfermline	Fife	Scotland	Competition design - placed 2nd
Post Office	In year 1907	Kilmarnock	Ayrshire	Scotland	As assistant to Oldrieve
Parliament House, Supreme Courts of Scotland	In year 1908		Edinburgh	Scotland	As assistant to Oldrieve in H M Office of Works - alterations and extensions, including reconstruction of lobby and oak library adjoining court IX

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Part	Notes
British Architectural Library, RIBA	Directory of British Architects 1834-1914	2001
Who's Who in Architecture		1914

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Publisher	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
Builder		1944/12/01	v167	p426 - obituary

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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
RIBA Nomination Papers	RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum	100005			L v9 no516 (microfilm reel 32); F v22 no1562 (microfilm reel 13)
Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material	Professor David M Walker personal archive	100041			Personal information from J Fenton Wyness to whom Wynnes was distantly related (despite the difference in spelling of their surnames)

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

Employment and Training

Employers2 classic

RIBA Proposers

RIBA PROPOSERS2 classic

RIBA Proposals

RIBA PROPOSALS2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Bibliographic References

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Periodical References

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Archive References

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