Basic Biographical Details Name: | James Milner Fraser | Designation: | | Born: | 5 January 1905 | Died: | 30 November 1978 | Bio Notes: | James Milner Fraser was born on 5 January 1905, the son of James Milner Fraser, ironmonger, and his wife, Elizabeth Ann Davidson. He was articled to James Cobban of Aberdeen in June 1920. When Cobban ceased practice in September 1923, Fraser transferred to the office of George Watt, where he completed his apprenticeship in June 1925. Throughout this period he studied at Aberdeen School of Architecture, Alexander Gordon being among his tutors. He then moved to London where he joined the LCC Housing Department as an architectural assistant and studied at the Regent Street Polytechnic and at the Northern Polytechnic, Holloway Road. In 1926 he made a study tour of Rome, Florence and Paris, and in the same year took a position as assistant architect in West Ham Borough Council. The following year he emigrated to Singapore where he joined the Singapore Improvement Trust, working in the Municipal Offices under his former tutor and fellow émigré Alexander Gordon. He passed the final exam in Singapore in August 1928 and was admitted ARIBA in late 1929, proposed by Gordon, Percy Hubert Keys and another. By the mid-1940s he had been promoted to the position of Manager to the Trust, and in the ensuing years supervised major developments including more than 10,000 houses, shops and flats, as well as writing a number of papers and reports on town planning and housing issues. He was admitted FRIBA in 1955, proposed by W Irving Watson, C Y Koh and Kenneth S Brundle by which time he had been awarded a CBE.
He subsequently returned to Scotland, probably to retire, and he died at Cults, Aberdeenshire on 30 November 1978, survived by his wife Alice Ross and his son also James Milner Fraser.
Publications: SIT Annual reports 1947-53 Reprt on Town Planning and Housing in Singapore, 1952 Paper on Housing Survey for the United Nations, 1954 Report on tour of the USA and Caribbean area, December 1951 | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | Royden/53, Deeview Road South, Cults, Aberdeenshire, Scotland | Private | | 1978 | | | 26, Barker Road, Singapore, Singapore | Private | 1930 * | | | | 14, Kay Siang Road, Singapore, Singapore | Private | 1955 * | | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployers
RIBARIBA Proposers
ReferencesArchive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | H M Register House | Death Register | | | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | A no4385 (combined box 11); F no5001 (combined box 49) |
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