Architects

Name:

Gordon Thomas Tait

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Exact Date

Exact DOB:

20/03/1912

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Date of Death:

Exact Date

Exact DOD:

10/03/1999

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Bio Notes :

Gordon Thomas Tait was born in London on 20 March 1912, the eldest son of Thomas Smith Tait and his wife Constance Hardy. Despite a desire to become a sculptor, he was persuaded instead to follow his father into the profession of architecture, and studied at the Architectural Association with his younger brother Kenneth from 1930 to 1935. In 1933-34 he acted as clerk of works under his father's partner Francis Lorne on the Mount Royal flats in London's Oxford Street, during which time he amused himself sketching the workmen on the project. In 1935 and 1936 he found employment as an assistant first to Alliston & Drew and then to Hugh Minty, and in 1936 he re-joined his father's firm of Burnet Tait & Lorne, working on the Glasgow Empire Exhibition of 1938 and on housing schemes. He was admitted ARIBA on 3 April 1939, his proposers being his father, Minty and Joseph Emberton. His FRIBA nomination papers suggest that he was made a partner in the practice in that year, but soon afterwards he joined the RAF and served in Rhodesia during the Second World War, reaching the rank of squadron leader.

After the war the practice was in some financial difficulty as a result of the sharp decline in business, the death of Ludovic Gordon Farquhar and the cancellation of the Colonial Office commission. Gordon Tait gradually took over the London practice from his father who remained a partner up to the time of his death; the younger Tait was admitted FRIBA in 1948, Basil Spence being among his proposers. From that year his main residence was at Bedford Square.

Francis Lorne remained in charge of the Edinburgh office until he moved to South Africa c.1949. In order to inject new capital Gordon Tait reluctantly took on new partners F Kennedy Axten, E A Blade, H G Hammond and C Spencer Willmott - not all of whom he liked - in the London practice, its title changing to Sir John Burnet Tait & Partners (later abbreviated to Burnet Tait). The turbulent post-war economic conditions soon gave way to a massive increase in commissions, particularly for corporate headquarters buildings, schools and housing: the practice also expanded overseas, opening an office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where it built the King Faisal Hospital.

Gordon Tait took an active part in public life as a conservative councillor in Paddington and as Master of the Worshipful Company of Masons. He married twice: first in 1934 to Patricia, by whom he had two children. The elder of these, Gavin, continued the practice. Patricia died in 1960. By his second wife, Marion, Tait had three children.

Tait retired in 1979 at the age of sixty-seven. He left London to live at Ladymead, East Harting, Petersfield, which he had bought in 1962 as a weekend and holiday home, and where he assembled an important collection of vintage cars and rode. He also owned and raced a sailing dinghy - a Flying Fifteen - which he kept at Hayling Island, conveniently close to Petersfield.

In his later years Tait suffered somewhat from back problems, but characteristically remained on his feet. He died on 3 October 1999. He was married twice, first in 1934 to Patricia who died in 1960 and by whom he had two sons and second in 1977 to Marion by whom he had three children. He was a man of impressive presence, bearded in his youth but with a military moustache after the war. Although described by obituarists as quiet and retiring, which in some respects he was, he was forthright and no-nonsense in manner, going straight to the crux of any issue.

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
10 Bedford Square London England	Private/business
Ladymead East Harting, Petersfield Hampshire England	Private					Weekend and holiday home

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date From Type	Date To	Date To Type	Notes
1 Montague Place London WC1 England	Business	1939
10 Bedford Square London England	Private/business	1948		1978

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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
Robert James Hugh Minty	400031	After 1935	In year 1936	Assistant
(Sir) John Burnet, Tait & Lorne	200089	After 1939	c. 1949	Partner
(Sir) John Burnet, Tait & Lorne	200089	In year 1934	In year 1935	Assistant	Assisted his father in Glasgow, and subsequently worked in London under Lorne
Alliston & Drew	400032	In year 1935	Before 1936	Assistant
(Sir) John Burnet, Tait & Lorne	200089	In year 1936	After 1939	Assistant	Gradually took over the practice
(Sir) John Burnet, Tait, & Partners	400308	In year 1947		Partner

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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
Thomas Smith Tait	200729	1939/04/03	for Associateship
Robert James Hugh Minty	400031	1939/04/03	for Associateship
Joseph Emberton	201166	1939/04/03	for Associateship
(Sir) Basil Urwin Spence	203352	In year 1948	for Fellowship
Thomas Smith Tait	200729	1948/05/05	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
Leonard George Pargiter	Early 1953s	For Fellowship
George Gilroy Graham	1955/03/01	For Associateship
Horace George Marsh	1956/03/10	for Associateship
Thomas Kenneth Jack	1969/10/01	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
Mount Royal Flats	In year 1933		London	England	As assistant clerk of works under his father, Thomas Smith Tait
Glasgow Empire Exhibition, masterplan	In year 1936	Bellahouston	Glasgow	Scotland	Worked with his father, Thomas Smith Tait on masterplan
Joseph Tritton School		Battersea	London	England	Probably responsible for revision of scheme

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Publisher	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
Herald, The		1999/12/04		Obituary p18

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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			A no7182 (combined box 177); F no4395 (combined box 12)
Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material	Professor David M Walker personal archive	100041			Information from Gordon Tait's son Russell Tait, per Dawn McDowell

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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

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