Records of Ian Gordon Lindsay and Partners, architects, Edinburgh, Scotland

Description Records of Ian Gordon Lindsay and Partners, architects, Edinburgh, Scotland

Date 1931 to 1970

Collection Records of Ian Gordon Lindsay and Partners, architects, Edinburgh, Scotland

Catalogue Number 551 120

Category All Other

Scope and Content The Collection includes approximately 26,000 drawings, representing the work of a scholarly practice highly skilled in restoration and dating from 1931 to the 1970s. In addition, the NMRS holds a large collection of personal and office correspondence; press cuttings albums from 1923-82; 26 notebooks and sketchbooks from 1923, including record surveys and site notes; photograph files of works executed by the practice; a file of research material on Scottish churches; two binders of job numbers for commissions; recording drawings issued and names of draughtsmen; and a typed alphabetical index (MS 754). The NMRS also holds 31 sketchbooks from 1923-35 covering a diverse range of architectural and antiquarian subjects, presented by Mrs Lindsay in 1967 (Accession Number: 1970/12); a folder of certificates for design awards from the Civic Trust and Saltire Society (1959-80), deposited by John Reid in 1983; and typescript lists of maps of ‘Little Houses’ in Scottish towns compiled in the late 1930s, presented by Mrs Christine McWilliam as part of the McWilliam Collection in 1989. The Collection includes student and early professional drawings by Orphoot (c.1906) and many acquired drawings, including examples by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson for the McEwan Hall, Bristo Place, Edinburgh (1889); by Sydney Mitchell & Wilson for Duntreath Caslte, Stirlingshire (1889-90); and by Lorimer & Matthew for St John’s Church, Perth (1923-30). In addition a number of drawings by Reginald Fairlie, presumably acquired during Lindsay’s apprenticeship there, are held within the Collection.

Archive History The Ian G Lindsay Collection was gifted to RCAHMS in 1973 by John H Reid (Accession number 1973/12). Since then, a number of significant additions have been made, most notably in 1992 on the sale of the Slateford Road premises in Edinburgh (Accession number 1992/50). The drawings were rolled in bundles and covered in brown paper, and had previously been stored in the basement of the practice’s premises on Slateford Road, Edinburgh. The Collection was catalogued and conserved as part of the Scottish Architects' Papers Preservation Project (SAPPP) between 1999 and 2004.

System of Arrangement A list of named projects and their numbers accompanied the drawings, and it was decided to retain the original project numbering system. The Collection was organised by bringing all material for each project together and sorting it into a logical order following either the drawing number sequence or the date. The drawings representing the work carried out by the practice in Iona were donated at an earlier date (Accession Number: ?) and are catalogued with the reference number AGD/23. They are stored flat, separate from the SAPPP Ian G Lindsay Collection, within the county run system employed at the time of accession.

Related Material The Lorimer & Matthew, Sydney Mitchell & Wilson, Scott Morton and Schomberg Scott Collections all contain material related to Ian G Lindsay personnel. The Schomberg Scott Collection additionally contains some Ian G Lindsay papers, presumably taken by Schomberg Scott when he left the practice in 1959. RCAHMS holds unpublished material on Ian G Lindsay and George Hay, as well as two unpublished manuscripts by Lindsay.

Access Conditions Access to drawings is unrestricted, except where conservation concerns exist. Written permission must be obtained from John H Reid in order to consult financial files.

Administrative History Ian Gordon Lindsay (1906-1966) was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied architecture under David Theodore Fyfe (1875-1944). On completion of his studies, Lindsay served a short apprenticeship with Reginald Fairlie (1883-1952) before being taken into partnership with the practice of Orphoot & Whiting at 21 Alva Street, Edinburgh, in 1931. Burnet Napier Henderson Orphoot (1880-1964) had been apprenticed to J M Dick Peddie & Washington Browne and studied at the Edinburgh School of Applied Art and the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. He worked in the office of Sir Robert Rowand Anderson in Edinburgh before gaining wider experience with Mewes & Davis and Colcutt & Hamp in London. In 1909 Orphoot established his own Edinburgh-based practice at 25 Queensferry Street and formed a partnership with Frank Edward Whiting (b. 1883), who had been articled to the London architect Alfred Conder (c. 1901), in 1922. At this time the practice moved to Alva Street. Lindsay’s contribution to the practice remained something of a distinct entity, with regards to both clientele and type of work. Significant Lindsay restoration projects from this early period include James Smith’ s 1685 Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh (c. 1938-54); Iona Abbey (c. 1939-52); and Pluscarden Priory, Morayshire (c. 1946-63). The practice was renamed Orphoot, Whiting & Lindsay in 1933 and in 1937 George Hay (1911-1987), who had served his apprenticeship with Scott Morton & Company before finding employment with Lorimer & Matthew and then the H M Office of Works, joined the firm. Orphoot gave up the Alva Street office during the Second World War, and practiced mainly from his own home at Well House, Belmont Road, Edinburgh. Whiting lived mainly in Devon and left the partnership in 1948, the practice trading as Orphoot & Lindsay until 1952. C. 1951 the firm of Ian G Lindsay & Partners was established, operating from Houston House, Uphall, West Lothian until 1952 when it moved to 17 Great Stuart Street, Edinburgh. In 1953 Hay became a partner, along with Walter Schomberg Scott (1910-1988), who had joined the firm in 1946. John H Reid joined the practice in 1952 and replaced Scott as partner in 1959. In 1960 Hay left the practice to return to the Ministry of Public Building and Works as an Ancient Monuments architect. Ian H Marshall and Crichton W Lang joined the practice in 1963 and 1965 respectively, both becoming partners later that decade. Following the end of the war, Scotland underwent a transformation in approach to the preservation of its domestic architecture. This was in no small part due to the efforts of Ian G Lindsay. Prior to the outbreak of war, he had been engaged by the 4th Marquis of Bute in a survey of buildings in Scotland worthy of conservation, the results of which form the basis of today’s listed buildings register. He wrote extensively on the subject of Scotland’s architectural heritage, publishing his first book, The Cathedrals of Scotland (1926) whilst still at university. The practice undertook numerous commissions for the National Trust for Scotland, such as the restoration of Moncrieff House and Key House in Falkland, and was engaged in restoration work covering the length and breadth of Scotland. On Lindsay’s death in 1966, John H Reid became the senior partner. In 1968 he moved the practice to Slateford House, Lanark Road, Edinburgh and in the same year the Dalgleish Lindsay Group was formed. Offices were opened in Athens, Nairobi and Lusaka to deal with the practice’s overseas projects. Reid led the practice until 1984 and in 1992 the office at Slateford Road closed.

Accruals No further accruals are expected.

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