Architects

Name:

William Gordon Dey

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Exact Date

Exact DOB:

29/04/1911

Year of Birth :

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DOB (2nd 'Or' Year):

Date of Death:

Exact Date

Exact DOD:

16/10/1997

Year of Death:

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Bio Notes :

William ('Willie') Gordon Dey was born on 29 April 1911, the son of Alexander John Dey, manufacturing chemist, and his wife Isabella Scott Paterson. He was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1929 to 1936. There he met his future partner (Alexander) Esmé Gordon. During his year out in 1933-4 he made a tour of Norway, Denmark and Holland and worked with William Kininmonth in the office of Rowand Anderson & Paul. In 1935 he obtained an exemption from the final exams, undertook a study tour of London and Paris, and joined the first Town Planning Course introduced in that year by Frank Charles Mears, whilst helping out at times in John Begg's office on the Westfield Autocar project at Stirling. He was admitted ARIBA on 2 December of that year, his proposers being John Begg, John Fraser Matthew and Arthur Forman Balfour Paul, and his nomination papers give a home and business address of 'Rothiemay', 22 St John's Road, Edinburgh, although it is not clear whether he undertook any work on his own account at this time.

In 1936 he joined the staff of the city architect Ebenezer James MacRae. He worked mainly on the survey of the Canongate, but was allowed to design the recreation hall at St Cuthbert's Poorhouse.

In 1937 Dey joined Esmé Gordon's office to help with his Glasgow Empire Exhibition Transport Pavilion; at that time Gordon was working in partnership with a fellow architect named Robertson, who has yet to be identified. During the war he served with the Scots Guards prior to CCTU at Sandhurst. He was commissioned in the Gordon Highlanders and saw active service with the 8th Army at El Alamein, Egypt, rising to the rank of Captain.

Robert Matthew arranged his early release to help James Shearer with the Clackmannan County Plan. Despite his affection for Shearer - 'the most delightful architect he had ever met, he learnt more from Shearer than anyone else' - Dey returned to Esmé Gordon's office as a partner in 1946. The two complemented one another; Esme Godon was the academic artist while William Dey was the practical man who understood building construction and contract management.

He was elected ARIAS in 1956 and FRIBA in 1956. He was later a Fellow of the RIAS.

Outwith his professional life, Dey was involved with several charities including the Scottish Council for Spastics and the Abbeyfield (Edinburgh) Society. He served as a Special Constable in the mechanized division for thirty years and was awarded a long service medal. He also was assistant to the Master of the Edinburgh Merchant Company.

All his life Dey lived in Corstorphine and was extremely knowledgable about its history. He was a member of St Anne's Church and regularly gave free advice on the structure. He served as an elder and session clerk for seventeen years. He also advised on the other Corstorphine churches, the Old Parish Church and St Ninian's. He was a founder member of and later honorary President of the Corstorphine Trust and donated to it funds from the sale of his book 'Corstorphine, a Pictorial History'. Even in later years, when his health was failing, he would go to the Trust's Archive Room in the Dower House each Saturday morning to advise younger members.

Dey married Elizabeth ('Betty') Margaret Corrigall in April 1939. He died at the Royal Vistoria Hospital, Edinburgh on 16 October 1997. He was survived by Betty who died on 11 December 2011.

'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
Rothiemay/22 St John's Road Edinburgh Scotland	Private
6 Corstorphine House Avenue Edinburgh Scotland	Private/business
6/2 Craigleith Avenue South Edinburgh Scotland	Private

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date To
6 Corstorphine House Avenue Edinburgh Scotland	Private/business	1939
20 Dovecote Road Corstorphine Edinburgh Scotland	Business	c. 1939	After 1956
36 Heriot Row Edinburgh Scotland	Business	1950	After 1970

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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
Rowand Anderson & Paul	200081	In year 1933	In year 1934	Apprentice	During 'year out'
John Begg	200375	In year 1935	In year 1935	Assistant	Occasional assistant
Ebenezer James MacRae	200699	In year 1936	In year 1937	Assistant	In Edinburgh City Architect's Department
Edinburgh City Architect's Department (Edinburgh Corporation)	201964	In year 1936	In year 1937	Assistant	Under City Architect Ebenezer James MacRae
Robertson & Gordon	204825	In year 1937	In year 1940	Assistant
James Grant Shearer	201318	In year 1944	In year 1946	Assistant
Gordon & Dey	202411	In year 1946	After 1975	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
Arthur Forman Balfour Paul	200058	1935/12/02	for Associateship
John Begg	200375	1935/12/02	for Associateship
John Fraser Matthew	201983	1935/12/02	for Associateship
John Ross McKay	202350	Early 1956s	For Fellowship
Leslie Grahame Thomson (or Leslie Grahame-Thomson; later Leslie Grahame MacDougall)	200832	Early 1956s	For Fellowship
Thomas Waller Marwick	201834	Early 1956s	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 Stone Craig	1956/11/04	For Fellowship
Thomas Harley Haddow	1960/02/02	for Associateship
Ian Henry Dodd	1961/10/03	For Associateship
Robert James Naismith	Mid 1965s	For Fellowship
Robert Thomas Rhind	1969/06/04	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
Westfield Autocar motor showroom	In year 1935	Stirling	Stirlingshire	Scotland	As occasional assistant
Glasgow Empire Exhibition, Travel and Transport Pavilion	In year 1938	Bellahouston	Glasgow	Scotland	As assistant
Free High Church and Free Church College	In year 1946		Edinburgh	Scotland	Alterations. Perhaps involved in alterations including sub-division of students' common room and alterations in examination rooms
St Giles Cathedral	In year 1946		Edinburgh	Scotland	War memorial chapel furnishings and extensive alterations to sanctuary for State service at which HM the Queen received the Crown of Scotland
Leeds Premanent Building Society office	In year 1947		Edinburgh	Scotland
Moray House Training College	In year 1947		Edinburgh	Scotland	Handiwork and music department added
Eventide Home	After 1947	Loanhead	Midlothian	Scotland
Children's Homes	After 1947		Edinburgh	Scotland
Eventide Home	After 1947	Galashiels	Selkirkshire	Scotland
Eventide Home	After 1947	Alloa	Clackmannanshire	Scotland
Eventide home	After 1947	Gargunnock	Stirlingshire	Scotland
Church Hall, Pennywell Road	In year 1949	West Pilton	Edinburgh	Scotland
British Linen Bank, Head Office	In year 1949		Edinburgh	Scotland	New suite for general manager and war memorial
British Linen Bank, Shandwick Place	In year 1949		Edinburgh	Scotland
British Linen Bank	After 1949	Hawick	Roxburghshire	Scotland	Reconstruction

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Notes
Glendinning, Miles	Rebuilding Scotland: The Postwar Vision, 1945-75	1997	Tuckwell Press Ltd	p4 Image of Electricity Board Office and Showroom
Post Office Directories
RIBA	The RIBA Kalendar 1939-1940	1939	London: Royal Institute of British Architects
RIBA	The RIBA Kalendar 1950-1951	1950	London: Royal Institute of British Architects

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
RIAS Newsletter	1997/12	v10, no8	Death note
Scotsman	1997/10/17
Scotsman	2011/12/14

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The following archives hold material relating to this person:

Arc ref classic

Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Notes
RIBA Nomination Papers	RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum	100005	A no5824 (stored under F5124, combined box 58); F no5124 (combined box 58)
Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material	Professor David M Walker personal archive	100041	Information from Charles McKean's interview with Dey, 18 December 1985, and notes provided by Esmé Gordon
Records of membership	RIAS, Rutland Square	201006

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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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