John Thomas Rochead (28 March 1814 – 7 April 1878) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

architect. He is most noteworthy on a national scale for having been the designer of the

Wallace Monument The National Wallace Monument (generally known as the Wallace Monument) is a tower on the shoulder of the Abbey Craig, a hilltop overlooking Stirling in Scotland. It commemorates Sir William Wallace, a 13th- and 14th-century Scottish hero. ...

Life

He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, the son of John Rochead and Catherine Gibb. He was educated at

George Heriot's School George Heriot's School is a private primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Lauriston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. It was ...

. He worked for a number of years starting in 1831, as an apprentice of the eminent Edinburgh architect,

David Bryce David Bryce Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE FRIBA Royal Scottish Academy, RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scotland, Scottish architect. Life Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David B ...

. From around 1841 to 1870, Rochead lived and worked 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 ...

. During this time he was employed by David Hamilton, working alongside Thomas Gildard, who became a lifelong friend. In 1840 he won a commission for a new Roman Catholic Cathedral in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. Although the building went unbuilt it brought him to the attention of the architectural world and thereafter he was a keen competition architect. In the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843 Rochead received a spate of commissions for new churches for the

Free Church A free church is any Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church neither defines government policy, nor accept church theology or policy definitions from the government. A f ...

and was therefore presumably a member of that church. In 1843 he married Catherine Jane Calder in the Gorbals in

. In 1849 he won a competition for his design for the Royal Arch,

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, which was built the following year. In 1859 he won his most important competition, that for the

in Stirling, which was completed in 1869. This went £5000 over budget which resulted in the bankruptcy of the contractor and Rochead never receiving his fee. His apprentices at this time included John Hutchison, who in turn trained

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macd ...

. Possibly partly due to this, which caused financial difficulties and criticism when praise might have been due, Rochead suffered a nervous breakdown in 1869 and his work was taken over by John Honeyman. Rochead lived at 19 Morningside Place in south-west Edinburgh in his final years.

Freemasonry

Like his mentor and fellow architect, David Bryce, Rochead was a Scottish Freemason being Initiated in St Mark's Lodge at Glasgow, No.102, in 1856. He was also the Grand Architect of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow.Famous Scottish Freemasons. The Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland. 2010. p. 57.

Death

Rochead died suddenly of angina, in

, and is buried in the north-east section of the

Grange Cemetery The Grange (originally St Giles' Grange) is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside and Greenhill to the west, Newington to the east, The Meadows park and Marchmont to the north, and Blackford Hi ...

, towards the north path. He was survived by his wife, Catherine Jane Calder, one son and a daughter. His widow continued to press for his unpaid fees on the

after his death, but to no avail. His wife and two daughters, Evelyn Cecilia (who died young) and Henrietta Paul, are buried with him.

Principal works

*Western Club in Glasgow (1839) *Adelphi Theatre, Glasgow (1842) *Restoration and remodelling of

Minard Castle Minard Castle is a 19th-century castellated mansion on the north-western shore of Loch Fyne Argyll and Bute, on the west coast of Scotland, in the parish of Kilmichael Glassary. The castle is located slightly south of the village of Minard. Th ...

Argyllshire Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area now forms part of ...

(1842-6) *Free Church of St. George, Glasgow (1843) *St Andrew's Free Church, Glasgow (1844) *St. John's Free Church, Glasgow (1845) *Conversion of former bazaar into St. Stephen's Free Church, Wemyss Place, Edinburgh (1847) *Kew Terrace, Great Western Road, Glasgow (1849) *Premises for the Buchanan Society 97-101 Trongate, Glasgow (1849) *Royal Arch, Dundee Docks (1849) *Temporary decorative arch for the visit of Queen Victoria, Jamaica Bridge, Glasgow (1849) *Murdoch's Charity School, Glasgow (1850) *Offices, 57-61 St Vincent St, Glasgow (1850) *Blair Vaddoch House, Shandon,

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...

(1850) * Knock Castle, Largs (1851) *Repair of Old Knock Castle, Largs (1853) *Levenford House,

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

(1853) *City of Glasgow Bank, corner of Trongate and Albion St, Glasgow (1854) *Glasgow Sailors Home (Angel), Broomielaw, Glasgow (1854) *Grosvenor Terrace, Glasgow (1855) *City of Glasgow Bank,

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

(1856) *Park Parish Church, Glasgow (1856) *Monument to

Duncan Ban MacIntyre Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir, anglicized as ''Duncan Ban MacIntyre'' (20 March 1724 – 14 May 1812), was one of the most renowned of Scottish Gaelic poets. He formed an integral part of one of the golden ages of Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic po ...

Dalmally Dalmally (Scottish Gaelic: ''Clachan an Dìseirt'' or ''Dail Mhàilidh'') is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is near the A85 road and is served by Dalmally railway station. Former Labour Party leader John Smith was born in Dalmall ...

, Argyllshire (1858) *

Buchanan Street railway station Buchanan Street station is a former railway station in Glasgow. Less well known than the city's other terminus stations – , and – it was situated in the Cowcaddens district to the north-west of Queen Street station and served the north o ...

(1858 - demolished 1967) *Renfrew Parish Church (1861) *Hillhead House,

Hawick Hawick ( ; ; ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area and counties of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east o ...

(1863) *Langlands Park,

(1863) *Sillerbut Hall and Lodge,

(1863-6) *

Corn Exchange (1865) *Heronhill,

(1865) *Bank of Scotland, corner of St Vincent Place and George Square, Glasgow (1867) (completed by

) *

Aberfoyle Aberfoyle may refer to: * Aberfoyle, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland *Aberfoyle, Stirling Aberfoyle () is a village in the historic county and registration county of Perthshire and the council area of Stirling, Scotland. The settlement li ...

Parish Church and Church School (1869) *13-19 Morningside Place, Edinburgh (1870) (19 as his own house)

Unbuilt competition entries

*Roman Catholic Cathedral for

(placed first) (1840) *Free Church and Free Church Offices, Edinburgh (1844) won by

David Cousin David Cousin (19 May 1809 – 14 August 1878) was a Scottish architect, landscape architect and Urban planning, planner, closely associated with early cemetery design and many prominent buildings in Edinburgh, Scotland, Edinburgh. From 1841 to ...

*Manchester Assize Courts (1859) *Wilton Parish Church,

(1860) *Scottish National Albert Memorial (1862)

Monuments designed in the
Glasgow Necropolis The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian era, Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of St. Mungo's Cathedral, Glasgow, Glasgow Cathedral (St. Mungo's Cathedral). Fifty thousand individuals have ...

*Rev. Thomas Brown (1847) * William Dunn of

Duntocher Duntocher (Scottish Gaelic: ''Dùn Tòchair'' or ''Druim Tòchair'') is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It has an estimated population of 6,850. The etymology of the name of the village indicates that its name means "the fort on the ...

(1849) *James Davidson of Ruchill (1851) *Hugh Cogan (1855) *Bell Mausoleum (1870)

Sources

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rochead, John 1814 births 1878 deaths Architects from Edinburgh 19th-century Scottish architects People educated at George Heriot's School