John Burnet (architect)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

John Burnet (27 September 1814 – 15 January 1901) was a Scottish architect who lived and practised in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
. He was born the son of militia officer and trained initially as a carpenter, before becoming a Clerk of Works. He rose to prominence in the mid-1850s. Burnet designed many of Victorian Glasgow's public buildings, employing a range of styles, including Neoclassical, Gothic,
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
,
Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...
and
Scottish Baronial Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th-century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Scot ...
. He commissioned many sculptors to adorn his buildings, among them John Mossman and John Crawford .


Biography

John Burnet was born at Craighead House, Kirk o' Shotts on 27 September 1814. He was the son of Lieutenant George Burnet, a soldier in the Kirkcudbright and Galloway
Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
, and Margaret Wardlaw, who was the daughter of a Dalkeith merchant, John Wardlaw. John Burnet was educated at Dunipace Parish School. He later took an apprenticeship as a carpenter, graduating to architecture and becoming a clerk of works in the
Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; , possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where some say it ceases to ...
- Clackmannan area. Burnet was largely self-taught as an architect. He worked for the Architectural Publication Society's Dictionary and through this work he had access to a library of architectural work by
Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand Jean-Nicolas-Louis Durand (; Paris, 18 September 1760 – Thiais, 31 December 1834) was a French author, teacher and architect. He was an important figure in Neoclassicism, and his system of design using simple modular elements anticipated mod ...
, Paul Letarouilly and
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) was a French architect and author, famous for his restoration of the most prominent medieval landmarks in France. His major restoration projects included Notre-Dame de Paris, ...
. It is also known that Burnet travelled and sketched in Germany, France and Italy. In 1845 he married Elizabeth Hay Bennet, the daughter of Lindsay Bennet, a
Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...
merchant. They had five children. The eldest, George Wardlaw, grew up to become Sheriff Substitute of
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
but predeceased his father in an accident on a bamboo bicycle. His second son Lindsay Burnet, a mechanical engineer, and his youngest daughter Elizabeth also died before him. He had another daughter, Margaret. The most well-known of his children was his youngest son,
John James Burnet Sir John James Burnet (31 May 1857 – 2 July 1938) was a Scotland, Scottish Edwardian architecture, Edwardian architect who was noted for a number of prominent buildings in Glasgow and London. He was the son of the architect John Burnet (arch ...
(1857–1938), who himself became an influential Modernist architect. In the mid-1850s John Burnet (senior) rose in prominence with his designs for Glasgow buildings such as the Greek temple-style Elgin Place Church, the Clapperton/Middleton warehouse on Miller Street, and Madeira Court on Argyle Street, which was shows influences of the work of Charles Wilson. He won commissions in the 1860s from Glasgow merchants and shipowners, building large baronial houses for them at Auchendennan, Arden, Kildalton and Kilmahew. In 1869 he had a business address at 150 St Vincent Street in Glasgow and lived in Victoria Crescent Road in the Dowanhill area of the city. Burnet became an accomplished Gothic designer, which is evident in his designs for Woodlands Church and the Glasgow Stock Exchange. Burnet became a Fellow of the
Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...
(FRIBA) in 1876. In 1882, he formed and architectural partnership with his son
John James Burnet Sir John James Burnet (31 May 1857 – 2 July 1938) was a Scotland, Scottish Edwardian architecture, Edwardian architect who was noted for a number of prominent buildings in Glasgow and London. He was the son of the architect John Burnet (arch ...
(1857–1938). As his son John James took a greater role in the architects' practice, Burnet was less active in the design of buildings, acting increasingly as a consultant. In 1886 John Archibald Campbell joined the partnership, and around 1889 Burnet senior went into semi-retirement at the age of seventy-five. John Burnet died in Glasgow on 15 January 1901, leaving moveable estate of £3,210 5s 2d.


Notable works

Three of Glasgow's most important buildings are credited to Burnet Senior in his later years: the
Clydesdale Bank Clydesdale Bank () is a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in Scotland. In June 2018, it was announced that Clydesdale Bank plc's holding company, CYBG, would acquire Virgin Money for £1.7 billi ...
headquarters in St Vincent Place, the Merchants' House and the Union Bank of Scotland building (the latter assisted by his son). Among his surviving works are: * Glasgow Stock Exchange, 159 Buchanan Street * Merchants' House, 7 West George Street * Fitzroy Place, Sauchiehall Street (1847) * Bank of Scotland, 1-3 Bridge Street, (1857) * Alexander's School, 94 Duke Street (1858) * Govan Burgh Chambers, 18-20 Orkney Street (1867) * Tomb of George Baillie outside
Glasgow Cathedral Glasgow Cathedral () is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Glasgow, and the mother church of the Archdiocese of Glasgow and the province of Glasgow, from the 12th ...
(1873) * Woodlands Parish Church, Woodlands Gate, (1874) * Overnewton School, 50 Lumsden Street (1877) * Lanarkshire House (now the Corinthian Club), 191 Ingram Street, (1876) *
Arlington Baths Club Arlington Baths Club is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit member-run swimming club in Glasgow. The Arlington Baths Club was the first swimming club in Glasgow and is located in a purpose-built Listed building#Scotland, Category A Listed Buil ...
(1870–1871) * John McIntyre Building, University of Glasgow (1886) *Gardner Memorial Church of Scotland, Brechin Other work has been destroyed or demolished, including: * Elgin Place Congregational Church, 193-5 Pitt Street (1856, demolished 2004) * Eglinton Congregational Church, 341 Eglinton Street (1866, demolished 2000) *
Western Infirmary The Western Infirmary was a teaching hospital situated in Yorkhill in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland, that was managed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. It was opened in 1874 and closed in 2015. History After the University of Glasgow moved ...
, Dumbarton Road, (1874, demolished 1981). He is buried in the
Western Necropolis Western Necropolis is a cemetery complex in Glasgow, Scotland located to the north of the city centre. As well as the actual Western Necropolis cemetery established in 1882, it is bordered by Lambhill Cemetery which opened in 1881, St Kentigern's ...
.


References


External links


John Burnet (senior)
- Dictionary of Scottish Architects {{DEFAULTSORT:Burnet, John 1814 births 1901 deaths 19th-century Scottish architects Gothic Revival architects British neoclassical architects Scottish ecclesiastical architects Architects from Glasgow Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects