Basic Biographical Details Name: | James Smith | Designation: | | Born: | 12 October 1808 | Died: | 30 December 1863 | Bio Notes: | James Smith was born on 12 October 1808 at Alloa where his father, John Smith, married to Betsy Thomson, built the parish church to Gillespie Graham's designs in 1814-15. The father is said by Morland to have been originally a crofter. In 1826 the family moved to Glasgow where Smith senior was contractor for the Royal Exchange and the Royal Bank Buildings. He had an office there, and by 1830 a workshop at 100 Renfrew Street. It was probably through this connection that James Smith Junior met and, in March 1833, married David Hamilton's daughter Janet. By about 1837 he seems to have taken over from his father, appearing as an architect and builder at 4 Royal Bank Place with a house at Bedford Place on Renfrew Street, and designing in that year the Public Baths on West Nile Street. John Burnet, writing in the APSD, stated that Smith was associated with Hamilton in the design of the buildings at Royal Bank Place while the Sasines show that their ownership extended into Royal Exchange Square. The development did not sell and was let. In 1840 he designed the Collegiate School, and shortly afterwards moved house to Birkenshaw Cottage, Eastwood. Following his father's death in 1843, James Hamilton entered into a partnership with him, but in the following year the firm was sequestrated, apparently as a result of money owing on the Royal Exchange Square development. Smith survived but Hamilton withdrew from practice as a principal, thereafter apparently working for his brother-in-law as an assistant. John Baird the younger, his chief draughtsman, then joined Smith in a partnership that had broken up by the beginning of 1848, Baird practising on his own account for a time before forming another partnership with his brother-in-law, Alexander Thomson, in the following year.
In the early 1850s Smith and his family rented part of a house at 16 India Street and in 1852 were at 21 Balhousie Street. In the winter of 1856 he moved his town residence to the lower half of 6 Blythswood Square (David Hamilton, yarn merchant, and his son William, relatives of Smith's wife, occupying the upper part) having built a large house at Rhu, Rowaleyn, two years earlier. The office was then at 123, and later 124, St Vincent Street. By that date he was a director of the North British Insurance Company, and a member of the Council of Glasgow Fine Art Association. In the mid-1850s his daughter, Madeline Hamilton Smith, formed a clandestine association with Emile L'Angelier, which she attempted to break off early in 1857. On 23 March L'Angelier died of arsenic poisoning. Madeline was tried for his murder in June and July 1857; a verdict of not proven was returned. In July 1861 she married George Wardle, an associate of William Morris, later moving to the United States after her marriage broke up.
James Smith's business was not much affected by the scandal associated with the trial, but was affected by intrusions on his family's privacy. In 1858 he disposed of Rowaleyn and moved to Bridge of Allan, but by 1860 he found himself compelled to move again, this time to Old Polmont where he purchased the house of Polmont Bank. He died on 30 December 1863, his death being noticed in the Building News of 15 January 1864.
Thomas Gildard, who had been an assistant in the D & J Hamilton and subsequently Hamilton & Smith offices, chose to forget Smith in his recollections of the office. Smith was presumably the unnamed architect who is described as having inherited David Hamilton's drawings through 'a misunderstanding' and subsequently losing them through negligent storage. Whether or not Smith designed his later works himself is open to some doubt in view of the early baths design; his last known work, the former Stirling's library in Miller Street, is known to have been designed by J Moyr Smith.
Smith was survived by three children, Bessie, Janet and John Hamilton Smith. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 16, India Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | | 1852 | In early 1850s | | Bedford Place, Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | c. 1837 | | | | 4, Royal Bank Place, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | c. 1837 | c. 1839 | | | 21, St Vincent Place, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1844 * | | | | 103, St Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1845 * | | | | 123, St Vincent Square (or Street?), Glasgow, Scotland | Business | c. 1851 | | | | 21, Dalhousie Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | 1852 | 1856 | | | Rowaleyn, Rhu, Dunbartonshire, Scotland | Private | 1854 | 1858 | | | 124, St Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | c. 1854 | 1862 | | | 6, Blythswood Square, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | 1856 | | | | Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire, Scotland | Private | 1858 | c. 1860 | | | Polmont Bank House, Old Polmont, Scotland | Private | c. 1860 | 1863 | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployersThe following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details): | | Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes | | Hamilton & Smith | 1843 | 1844 | Partner | | | Smith & Baird | 1846 | 1848 | Partner | |
Employees or Pupils
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | APSD | | The Dictionary of Architecture | ed Wyatt Papworth | The Architectural Publication Society (8v 1852-1892) | | | Morland, Nigel | | That Nice Miss Smith | | | | | Scotlands People Website | | Wills & Testaments | | | Stirling Sheriff Court SC67/36/48 | | Worsdall, Frank | 1963 | Article on James Smith | December 1963 | Scottish Field, December 1963 | |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this : | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Building News | 15 January 1864 | | | Obituary | | Glasgow Herald | * | | | Check date--not given |
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