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Practices

Basic Biographic Details

John McKissack & Son
Architectural practice
Year Only
1900
Date Not Known
John McKissack was born c.1844, the son of James McKissack, mechanical engineer and Janet McGhie from Girvan. He was educated at St Enoch's School but no further details are known of his training.

In 1872 McKissack formed a partnership with William Gardner Rowan who was two years his junior and had trained as both architect and civil engineer with George Penrose Kennedy and James Fairie Blair. Two years later, on 9 July 1874 at 158 Hospital Street, Gorbals, McKissack married Helen Ronald, daughter of Alexander Ronald, master baker and Marion Black. Rowan was a witness at the wedding. They had five children: two sons James (born 1875) and Alex (born c.1877) were born in Glasgow, and a further son John (born c.1880) and two daughters Helen (born c.1883) and Mary (born c.1886) were born in Govan.

After the formation of the partnership, Rowan did most of the design work. In 1889 McKissack took his son James, who had been educated at Allan Glen's School, into the McKissack & Rowan practice as an apprentice.

Rowan had little taste for the 'shoddy' tenement side of McKissack's practice and early in 1890 the partnership was amicably dissolved. McKissack continued practice, with James completed his apprenticeship with his father and attending Glasgow School of Art (from 1890 to 1894) and the Glasgow & West of Scotland Technical College under Professor Charles Gourlay. He remained with his father as assistant and was taken into partnership in 1900, the practice title becoming John McKissack & Son. About this time he made a study tour in Italy and France.

The elder McKissack never sought admission to the RIBA. About 1912 he had a major operation and withdrew from the practice. He died on 27 August 1915 at 9 St Andrews Drive, Pollokshields leaving moveable estate of £813 15s. He was survived by his second wife Jessie Ferguson Tyre, daughter of the landscape painter John Tyre, whom he had married on 22 June 1894 at 4 Florence Place, and all five of his children. James continued the practice under the same name thereafter, and from about that date specialised almost exclusively in cinema work, mainly for George Singleton. In August 1986 Professor McKean recorded his recollections of the younger McKissack:
'McKissack was a distinguished camera man who exhibited in New York. Because of his knowledge of photography, McKissack was used as a film booker for Cranston's Picture House. He was gentlemanly, and rather remote. He travelled a lot to Germany and Northern Europe, from which the inspiration of the Cosmo clearly derived. He did some other work notably an electricity substation at the bottom of Hope Street. He was a man of taste and refinement. The faience of the frontages of cinemas before the Cosmo was largely due to the influence of George Singleton, since it was good for wear and tear. Frontages always had to be clean and attractive. McKissack's office was in West Regent Street, an absolute dump, but with a large empty room at the front with a gigantic chest in the middle of the floor, into which he threw all the drawings without any order, and from which he had to retrieve them when necessary.'
Bruce Peter has established that he visited Hilversum to see the work of Dudok, from which the design of the Cosmo was derived.

In his last years McKissack worked in partnership with William James Anderson II, 'a quiet unassuming man who was not in the least commercial' and was an extremely accomplished designer. The practice title remained unchanged as John McKissack & Son.

McKissack married Isabella Somerville, daughter of the lithographic artist Thomas Somerville, at Burlington House, Glasgow on 30 October 1928; she died before 1938. McKissack died of heart failure on 24 June 1940 at 9 St Andrew's Drive; William James Anderson II on 18 January 1950.

Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this architectural practice:

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2

AddressTypeDate FromDate ToNotes
68|69 West Regent Street Glasgow ScotlandBusinessIn year 1900After 1940

Partners, Employees and Pupils

The following individuals were employed or trained by this architectural practice (click on an item to view details):

Employees or Pupils2

NamePositionDate FromDate ToNotes
Alexander Thomson HeathcoteAssistantIn year 1899In year 1902
James McKissackPartnerIn year 1900In year 1940
John McKissackPartnerIn year 1900c. 1912
Alexander Thomson HeathcoteAssistantIn year 1903In year 1904
William BarclayAssistant1903 or 19041904 or 1905
William Wallace FriskinApprenticeIn year 1905In year 1910
David Arthur CarmichaelAssistantIn year 1912Before 1914
John HinshelwoodApprentice1923/04/141928/04/14
William James Anderson IIPartnerc. 1924
John HinshelwoodChief Assistant1928/04/141939/10/08
James Boyne WatsonAssistantIn year 1934In year 1940
James Boyne WatsonAssistantIn year 1946

Buildings and Designs

This architectural practice was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):

Buildings and Designs2

BuildingPartnership GPRoleDate FromDate ToTown DistrictIslandCity CountyCountryNotes
Dunoon Sheriff Court and County BuildingsAIn year 1900DunoonArgyllScotlandCompetition won and job secured prior to partnership
Restaurant and tea roomsAIn year 1900LargsAyrshireScotland
Wireworks for W Riddell & CoAIn year 1900In year 1914GlasgowScotlandBegun by John McKissack alone prior to partnership
Muslin FactoryAIn year 1900GlasgowScotland
City Improvement Trust warehouseAIn year 1900In year 1902GlasgowScotlandWon competition (£100 premium) and secured job
Warehouse and officesAAfter 1900Before 1911BridgetonGlasgowScotland
Clydebank West UF ChurchAAfter 1900Before 1911ClydebankDunbartonshireScotland
Shop, Kilmarnock RoadAAfter 1900Before 1911GlasgowScotland
London Road UF Church hallAc. 1900GlasgowScotland
City Improvement Trust warehouseAIn year 1902GlasgowScotland
Strathclyde Public SchoolAIn year 1903GlasgowScotland
LangavatAIn year 1903In year 1905Kilmacolm/KilmalcolmRenfrewshireScotland
4th VBSR HeadquartersAIn year 1904GlasgowScotland
Eastern Co-operative Drapery BuildingAIn year 1905Before 1911ParkheadGlasgowScotland
Boden Street FactoryBIn year 1906GlasgowScotlandAddition

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this architectural practice:

Bib ref

AuthorTitleDatePublisherPartNotes
Walker, Frank ArneilSouth Clyde Estuary: An Illustrated Architectural Guide to Inverclyde and Renfrew1986p17
Scottish Biographies1938E J Thurston (pub.)

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this architectural practice:

Period ref

Periodical NamePublisherDate CircEditionNotes
Builder1915/09/03*Obituary of John p174
Glasgow Herald1915/08/30*Obituary of John

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this architectural practice:

Arc ref

Archive NameSourceSource Cat NoBuildingItem NameNotes
RIBA Nomination PapersRIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert MuseumL v19 no 1435 (James McKissack)