Records of Alexander Nisbet Paterson, architect, Glasgow, Scotland

Description Records of Alexander Nisbet Paterson, architect, Glasgow, Scotland

Date 1888 to 1960

Collection Records of Alexander Nisbet Paterson, architect, Glasgow, Scotland

Catalogue Number 551 15

Category All Other

Scope and Content The A N Paterson Collection comprises a collection of exhibition, publication and amateur photographs illustrating buildings designed by Paterson, architectural designs for the Longcroft, Helensburgh (including working drawings and designs for later extensions), a small collection of watercolour sketches of Scottish historic buildings, and eight of the architect’s sketchbooks The photographic collection covers a vast array of commissions undertaken by Paterson throughout his career including both his first and last Glasgow buildings: the Glasgow Eye Hospital and the Savings Bank at Muirend. Designs which were never completed include an extension for the Royal Exchange and the Municipal Building at Gourock. There are also a number of photographs of war memorials for the Great War, alterations and rebuilding work to Yarrow Church and a small collection of private family memorials including Andrew Bonar Law, a Prime Minister of Great Britain. The architectural drawings consist exclusively of plans for the Longcroft (1901), Paterson’s own family home built in Helensburgh. There are twenty original drawings in all, with working drawings dated 1902 as well as designs for later alterations and extensions. Plan drawings show proposed additions to the building, with drawings from 1937 showing the addition of two rooms in the attic, which was never actually executed. There are also designs for a proposed trellis and a garage, as well as a full drainage plan. The collection of sketches of historic buildings consists of six drawings by Paterson from 1886 that were later finished in watercolour in 1943. There is also one drawing of a design for a common seal for the Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, dated 1922. The eight sketchbooks in the collection vary in date from 1889 to 1945, with each one encompassing a variety of subject matter. The sketchbooks are filled largely in pencil, although Paterson has included occasional watercolour and ink studies. His earlier sketchbooks tend to encompass architectural subject matter, for example exteriors and interiors of buildings and studies of architectural decoration, while later sketchbooks seem concerned with landscapes. Paterson very obviously travelled widely both around the UK and Europe. Sketches encompass scenes of building exteriors, townscapes and landscapes including locations in Italy, Portugal, Eire, and many subjects across the UK, from the Highlands of Scotland to Cornwall and East Anglia.

Archive History Executors of Miss Viola Paterson, the architect’s daughter, gifted the majority of the A N Paterson collection in two stages. The first donation, in 1982, comprised original designs and plans for the Longcroft, Helensburgh (Paterson’s own house). The second donation, in 1985, comprised a sketchbook dated 1891 and a photograph collection. The remainder of the collection consists of seven sketchbooks purchased from Cyril Gerber Fine Art in 1985, and a small collection of architectural watercolours purchased at Phillips Auctioneers in Edinburgh in 1983.

System of Arrangement The majority of the collection is stored in four boxes housed in the Print Rooms. The first box contains Paterson’s sketchbooks, the second his watercolours, the third his designs for the Longcroft and the fourth a collection of his photographs. Cataloguing reflects this arrangement but further subdivides the contents of the photography collection, with separate groups for Paterson’s memorial designs, his designs for architectural features and buildings, photographs of the architect, and miscellaneous postcards. Copies of photographs of the interior and exterior of the Longcroft, Helensburgh, are held in a dedicated open access box in the Search Room.

Related Material A folio of designs for regimental memorials at the Scottish National War Memorial contains correspondence between Robert Lorimer and A N Paterson. In the Sir Robert Lorimer collection or the Lorimer and Matthew collection.

Access Conditions Access to drawings is unrestricted. Some photographs remain the copyright of the Paterson Family.

Administrative History Alexander Nisbet Paterson was born on 3 May 1862 in Glasgow. He wanted to be an artist, but with his elder brother already a painter his parents could not afford another in the family and so he was turned towards architecture instead. He was apprenticed for a short time at John Burnet and Son, the architectural practice of family friend John James Burnet, before enrolling at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1883. Whilst in Paris he also studied at the ateliers of Jean Louis Pascal and M Galland. On his return from Paris in 1886, Paterson continued at the Burnet office, which had been renamed Burnet Son and Campbell after the incorporation of Archibald John Campbell into the partnership there. Considered an excellent watercolourist, Paterson produced the presentation perspectives for practice projects as well as working as a draughtsman and improver there until 1889. From 1889 to 1891 he worked as head draughtsman for Colonel Robert Edis, and after spending time at the firm of Sir Aston Webb, Paterson commenced independent practice in Glasgow in late 1891. In 1889 he won the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) silver medal, passed the RIBA qualifying exams, and on 3 March 1890 was made an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) after being proposed by John Burnet, Colonel Robert Edis and Richard Phené Spiers. In 1896 Paterson won the Godwin Bursary from the RIBA and toured the eastern United States of America. His research in the States culminated with the production of “A Study of the domestic architecture in the Eastern states of America in the year 1896, with special reference to plans, construction, heating, drainage, etc”, which was presented to the RIBA. In 1897 Paterson married Maggie Hamilton, an embroideress and painter involved in the Arts and Crafts movement. From 1903 to 1910 Paterson’s practice was merged with that of Campbell Douglas, becoming Campbell Douglas and Paterson, but Douglas retired due to illness in 1906 leaving Paterson to practice independently again until 1919. On 28 February 1910 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA), his proposers being Burnet, Phené Spiers and Aston Webb, and he served as the fifth president of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) between 1922 and 1924. From 1919 to 1930 Paterson worked in partnership with Donald Stoddart (1875 - 1930), who had previously been his assistant between 1900 and 1914. When Stoddart died in 1930 and Paterson developed cancer of the throat, he handed his practice over to John Watson Junior of Watson and Salmond and retired. The cancer was effectively removed during an operation, but left Paterson with difficulty in speech. Following his retirement around 1936, Paterson spent the rest of his life painting watercolours until his death in Helensburgh on 10 July 1947, aged 85.

Accruals No further accruals are expected.

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