Alexander Hunter Crawford (1865–1945) was a Scottish architect and businessman. Closely associated with his father's firm of

Crawford's Biscuits Crawford's is a brand of biscuits. It started as a Scottish baker of ship's biscuits in a public house on The Shore, Leith in 1813. The bakery was acquired by Robert Mathie in 1817 and then William Crawford in 1856, when Mathie retired. W ...

he designed many biscuit factories, and became owner of the company in 1931. Many of his villas are now

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s. His masterpiece (although somewhat "old-fashioned" for its date) is probably the huge Masonic Lodge on George Street in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Life

He was born on 10 August 1865 in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

, the harbour area of

, the son of William Crawford, owner of

. They lived at 6 Wellington Place on the west side of

Leith Links Leith Links ( gd, Fìghdean Lìte) is the principal open space within Leith, the docks district of Edinburgh, Scotland. This public park is divided by a road into two main areas, a western section and an eastern section, both being largely flat ...

. He was educated at Edinburgh Institution (now called Stewarts Melville College). In 1881 he was articled as a trainee architect to John Russell Walker, an Edinburgh architect based on Hanover Street in the

New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. In 1886, he moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to work as assistant to Ralph Selden Wornum. In February 1891 he moved to work in the Architects Department of

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

. In August 1891 he returned to

to set up his own practice, based at 39 York Place, a Georgian townhouse. In 1898 he went into partnership with

Frank Worthington Simon Frank Lewis Worthington Simon (31 March 1862 – 19 May 1933) was a British architect working in the Arts and Crafts style. In Scotland, he was sufficiently noteworthy as to be commissioned by Queen Victoria to remodel Balmoral Castle In la ...

moving the office to 10 Randolph Place. From 1902 to 1903 he was President of the Edinburgh Architectural Association. In 1912 he went into partnership with Henry Rochead Williamson (grandson of

John Thomas Rochead John Thomas Rochead (28 March 1814 – 7 April 1878) was a Scottish people, Scottish architect. He is most noteworthy on a national scale for having been the designer of the Wallace Monument. Life He was born in Edinburgh, the son of John Ro ...

) to create Crawford & Williamson. He retired from architecture in 1931 and moved to

to run the family biscuit company. He died in London on 11 October 1945 but his body was returned to Edinburgh for burial in

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and occupies around of land on a slightly sloping si ...

with his siblings, and wife, Amelie Gabrielle Sandrin. The grave lies in the section to the north of the vaults. His older brother William Crawford (1858-1926) lies opposite. William inherited the biscuit company. He left a huge estate of over £400,000 (partly from inheritance from his father and partly from his own efforts).

Works

*Warehouse, Maritime Street/Maritime Lane, Leith (1891) *Revoe Council School,

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

(1895) *Crawford's Biscuit Factory, Leith (1896) *Crawford's Biscuit Factory, Omoa, Lanarkshire (1896) *Six houses on Primrose Bank Road,

Trinity, Edinburgh Trinity is a district of northern Edinburgh, Scotland, once a part of the burgh of Leith (itself a part of the city since 1920). It is one of the outer villa suburbs of Edinburgh mainly created in the 19th century. It is bordered by Wardie to ...

(1895) *Crawford's Biscuit Factory,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

(1895) *

Tranent Tranent is a town in East Lothian (formerly Haddingtonshire), in the south-east of Scotland. The town lies 6 miles from the boundary of Edinburgh, and 9.1 miles from the city centre. It lies beside the A1 road, the A1 runs through the parish ...

United Presbyterian Church (1896) *Feuing of Braid estate, Edinburgh (1899) *Feuing of the Fettes estate, Edinburgh (1899) *Modernisation of

Pollok House Pollok House, formerly the family seat of the Stirling-Maxwell family, is located at Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, Scotland (which also houses the Burrell Collection). Overview The house, built in 1752 and originally thought to be designed b ...

(1899) * Dalmeny Street drill hall, Edinburgh (1900) *Bonnycraig (villa near

Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...

) (1902) *Dunalister, villa in

Colinton Colinton ( gd, Baile Cholgain) is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated south-west of the city centre. Up until the late 18th century it appears on maps as Collington. It is bordered by Dreghorn to the south and Craiglockhart to the north ...

(1902) *

Inchinnan Inchinnan (Scottish Gaelic: ''Innis Fhionghain'') is a small village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The village is located on the main A8 road between Renfrew and Greenock, just south east of the town of Erskine. History The name of Inchinnan villa ...

Parish Church Hall (1902) *Alterations to

Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were bought ...

(1902) *North British Rubber Factory Offices (1903) - demolished 2015 *

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often conside ...

Parish Church, Ormidale Terrace, Edinburgh (1904) *Villa, Marine Road, Dunbar (1905) *Tidings Hill (villa in Boness) (1908) *Masonic Hall, George Street, Edinburgh (1909) one of the largest lodges in Britain *Crawford's Biscuit Factory, Elbe Street, Leith (1935) - demolished 1995

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Alexander Hunter 1865 births 1945 deaths 20th-century Scottish architects 20th-century Scottish people Businesspeople from Edinburgh Scottish Freemasons