1890Y GOWANS Obituary

1890y Source; Guide to Dundee (1890) McCheyne Memorial Curch, Perth Road is a handsome Gothic building, erected from plans furnished by Messrs. Pilkington and Bell. Although this building...........contains elaborate and tasteful work, it is very questionable if (it) will add to the reputation of our ecclesiastical edifices. In this year of Gowans' death, he became a Governor of The Heriot-Watt College. He was still a Commissioner of The Peace, and on the Sanitary Association. GOWANS Obituary Source; The Evening Despatch, June 26th. 1890 Notwithstanding the many differences of opinion regarding the action of the Executive Committee of the 1886 Exhibition in giving the late knight part of the surplus realised, and his action in taking it, all will lament..... Instructed in architecture by such men as Bryce, Mill, Moffat and Paterson of Stockbridge, he took a keen interest in his profession, and his intimacy with David Kemp, the architect of the Scott Monument, whom he frequently accompanied on sketching tours, doubtless inspired him with a worthy ambition to emulate that artist in stone and lime. The year 1846 found him engaged in the construction of the Bathgate Railway, and sections of the North British; and subsequent sections of other important lines, including the Portpatrick, and 35 miles of the Highland........ Edinburgh Tramway too, the first in Scotland authorised by Parliament. .... leading part in directing and designing the erection of dwelling houses in Edinburgh and elsewhere, the architecture of which was intended to show what was best to secure perfect sanitary arrangements. From time to time he read papers to the Architectural Institute of Scotland, the Society of Arts and other Edinburgh institutions..... one of the outcomes of his labour has been to prove, and ultimately, as Dean of Guild, to enforce, the doctrine that perfect sanitation cannot be preserved, if soil pipes are constructed to pass through the interior of the house. His notion of what the houses for the working classes aught to be may be said to be embodied in the structure of the model tenement..... erected within the grounds of the last International Exhibition, and the skeleton of which may be seen on the banks of the canal at Craiglockhart. In 1868, Sir James entered the Council.... and after a good deal of opposition was instrumental in forming the Public Health Committee, as well as securing the formation of the town into one drainage district, this getting rid of the harassing system of taxing separate districts of the city. In 1885 he became Dean of Guild, at the unanimous desire of the Guildry. Sir James was a conservative in politics - can be said to have organised the Exhibition more or less. Wife is daughter of Brodie.... he has been in very poor health since the closing of the last Exhibition... ce************************* The Edinburgh Evening News. Jun 26th. 1890 (conventional obituary) By voice and pen, he did good service in connection with the underground railway scheme. The ruling passion was strong until his death. ce************************* ce************************* Source; Scotsman Jun. 27th 1890 Obituary Received his knighthood for his part in the International Ehxibition of 1886 Son of Walter Gowans of Gowanbank, Linlithgowshire, born in Blackness in 1821, while he was yet a boy, the family moved to Stockbridge where he received his education at Hamilton Place Academy. Originally he was destined for the profession of an architect, and studied under such distinguished men as Bryce, Moffatt, Milne and Paterson of Stockbridge; but in 1846 at the full tide of railway construction, he turned his attention to railway engineering as offering fuller sope for his energies. Among the works accomplished by him in this field of labour were portions of the Edinburgh and Bathgate Railway, the North Berwick Line, the Crieff branch of the Caledonian Railway, and the Dundee and Newtyle Railway; but his largest contract was that of the Highland Railway, on which he executed those parts of the line between Dunkeld and Ballinluig, and Dalwhinnie and Boat of Garten, in the construction of which he displayed great energy. He was also the first contractor employed by the Edinburgh Street Tramways Company, and the whole of the lines originally laid by them were constructed by him. During the progress of these works, however, the bent of his mind still led him to devote much of his time to architecture, and he took a prominent part in designing and erecting dwelling houses in Edinburgh. In building, he essayed to solve the problem of how best to house the working classes in largely populated cities and he first put his idea on that question into practice when he erected Rosebank Cottages, near Gardiner's Crescent, upwards of thirty years ago. In Castle Terrace, Randolph Cliff and Rockville, the special features of his more ornate style can best be studied. He was one of the original promoters of the scheme for a new theatre at the West End of the city, and erected the building now known as The Synod Hall, which as the Edinburgh Theatre proved an unfortunate speculation for him and for many others. He entered the Town Council in 1868, and from that period until his retirement in 1880, and particularly in his capacity as Chairman of the Public Health Committee - a committee which he himself inaugurated - he was largely instrumental in improving the sanitary condition of the city. In 1885 he re-entered the Council as Dean of Guild, in which capacity he has displayed great firmness and energy. Though singularly susceptible to the influences brought to bear upon him, he was successful in imparting dignity and lustre to the Court over which he presided. Sir James, who was twice married, leaves a widow, two sons, and three daughters.] ================================================= Source; North British Advertiser, July 1st. 1890 Pall bearers: James Gowans (son) James Mackinlay (brother in law) James Mitchell ( ditto) Charles Mackinlay (nephew) Mr. Gellatly, Dundee (brother in law) Mr. John Charles, banker, Inverurie. Gowans was buried in ………cemetery, under the wall stone designed by Gowans himself, and beneath which his first wife, Elizabeth Mitchell, was first buried. 1911 Source; family grave Mary Brodie, second wife, died. 1931 Source; family grave Isabella de Grotte Gowans wife of Robert Clapperton died 12 April 1948 Helen Chisholm Gowans, wife of Dr Charles Gurney-Thompson died Jany 1948 BURLEY Hampshire Source; MACGREGOR, Forbes (1984) Famous Scots; The Pride of a Small Nation. Gordon Wright Publishing, Edinburgh. - under "Architects"; mentions Burn, Kemp, Bryce, Thomson, Lorimer, Macintosh, Spence. and... Sir James Gowans (1821-1890) Born in West Lothian, son of a working mason, he joined with his father to rehouse working people in artistic and efficient dwellings, using stone of matching colours. The first houses were Rosebank Cottages in Edinburgh. His own house, Rockville in the Merchiston area was in a highly ornate style based on the principles of mediaeval architecture. Many remarkably beautiful buildings in Edinburgh and elsewhere were to his plans. He was honoured by being made chairman of the Great 1886 Exhibition in Edinburgh. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&& NIVEN, Douglas (1988) The Development of Housing in Scotland. Croom Helm By 1890, the "Housing of the Working Classes Act" was first introduced; this gave powers to local authorities to acquire land and to build houses......no money was provided by the exchequer........lower standard than those currently being erected by private enterprise. ...characterised by outside balcony access and shared toilet block on the back elevation. .

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