Basic Biographical Details | Name: | James Salmon & Son / James Salmon FRIBA | | Designation: | | | Born: | June 1913(?) | | Died: | 1924 | | Bio Notes: | When William Forrest Salmon, senior partner of Salmon Son & Gillespie, died on 7 October 1911, his will proved the catalyst for the dissolution of the partnership of Salmon, Son & Gillespie, the prosperity of which had probably also been affected by the Finance Act of 1909. The will made no provision for Forrest Salmon's son James Salmon Junior to inherit his share of the practice, which instead remained part of his trust estate, his stepmother Agnes being entitled to a share of such profits as the firm had at that time. John Gaff Gillespie now became senior partner and as James Junior had spent all his income on foreign travel and motoring (as a letter to his brother Hugh of 18 August 1910 records) he could not afford to buy out either Gillespie or his stepmother. Gillespie bought out Agnes's trust estate interest in June 1913, retaining the office in Mercantile Chambers, the archive (which was later sent for pulping when his successor Jack Coia was interned in 1940), and the commission for Stirling Municipal Buildings which had been awarded to the firm by Leiper in 1908. James moved out to a rented flat at 48 Jane Street, Blythswood Square which was both home and office, apparently without even a secretary. He retained the commission received in 1909 for the Admiralty Village at Cove Farm, Greenock of which only a few houses had been built in 1910, and was allowed to revive the name of the firm as it had existed prior to 1903, James Salmon & Son, later abbreviated simply to James Salmon FRIBA.
The few clients James Salmon Junior had for actual building in 1913-14 were all medical, probably introduced through his friend Dr James Devon. He developed Repertory Theatre connections from 1914 but although he made many sketch designs, one including an hotel, none of these was pursued further. When war came his Admiralty connections stood him in surprisingly good stead, with the garden village development at Cove Farm going ahead and he received commissions for workers' housing at Greenock and Cambuslang, which were not built. The income from these enabled him to marry, on 2 February 1917, Dr Agnes Picken, a colleague of Dr Devon's at Duke Street Prison, remembered by James's brother Hugh's daughter Anne as 'a very direct, no nonsense, amusing resolute woman who had had to make her own way in the world'. They lived in Salmon's house and office in Jane Street and at the end of the war became deeply involved in welfare work in the Balkans, particularly in respect of Dr Katherine McPhail's Sanatorium for sick children at Brababic, Ragusa working in association with the American Relief Administration European Children's Fund. Lectures given in 1920 and 1921, together with other papers relating to these activities, survive.
Salmon's post-war clients remained exclusively medical, his only sizeable commission being the reconstruction of Redlands on Great Western Road as Glasgow Women's Private Hospital, begun in 1921. Like his father he took a particular interest in professional matters and was editor of the RIAS Quarterly in 1921-22.
James Salmon's last months greatly distressed his wife and friends. By the autumn of 1923 he was unable to continue his practice because of bowel cancer. Moreover he was responsible for his aunt Wilhelmina who had become senile with arterio sclerosis and had to be taken into Craighouse, Edinburgh, the cost of which must have been a considerable financial strain. She died on 9 January 1924 and it fell to him to wind up what was left of his grandfather's Trust for her. Salmon himself died only three-and-a-half months later on 27 April. The letters Dr Devon wrote to keep him amused and interested in his last weeks are in the NMRS collection. His estate amounted to only £535 9s. 6d., part of which was his inheritance from his Aunt Wilhelmina's Trust. | Private and Business Addresses| The following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes |  | 48, Jane Street, Blythswood Square, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | | | |
Employment and TrainingEmployees or Pupils| The following individuals were employed or trained by this (click on an item to view details): | | | Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes | | James Salmon (junior) | June 1913 | 1924 | Partner | |
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic References| The following books contain references to this : | | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Gray, A Stuart | 1985 | Edwardian Architecture: A Biographical Dictionary | | | pp316-18 | | O'Donnell, Raymond | 2003 | The life and work of James Salmon architect, 1873-1924 | | Edinburgh: The Rutland Press | | | Walker, David M | 1966 | Salmon, Son, Grandson and Gillespie | | Scottish Art Review, vol. X, no. 3, pp. 17-29 | | | Walker, David M | 1975 | The Partnership Of James Salmon And John Gaff Gillespie | | Service, A (ed.): Edwardian Architecture and its Origins (London: Architectural Press, 1975), 236-49 | | | Walker, David W | 1995 | The Salmon Collection | | Unpublished: copy in NMRS | DSA text is adapted from this source |
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