James Milner Fraser (5 January 1905 — 30 November 1978) was a Scottish architect who served as the manager of the

Singapore Improvement Trust The Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) is a former government organisation that was responsible for urban planning and urban renewal in Singapore. Formally established in 1927 under the Singapore Improvement Ordinance, it was modelled after sim ...

from the mid-1940s to 1956. He was also a founder of the

Boys' Brigade in Singapore The Boys' Brigade in Singapore is a youth uniformed group organisation and part of the global Boys' Brigade movement which has been present in Singapore since 1930. It currently consists of over 700 officers and 6,300 Boys in over 116 companies ...

Early life and education

Fraser was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland on 5 January 1905 to ironmonger James Milner Fraser and his wife Elizabeth Ann Davidson. He attended the Kittybrewster Preparatory School and the Aberdeen Grammar School. In June 1920, he was apprenticed to

James Cobban Sir James Macdonald Cobban (14 September 1910 – 19 April 1999) was an English educator and headmaster, as well as a prominent lay leader in the Church of England. He was the headmaster of Abingdon School from 1947 to 1970 and is largely cre ...

, who ceased practice in September 1923. He was then apprenticed to George Watt, and he completed his apprenticeship under Watt in June 1925. During this period, he attended the Aberdeen School of Architecture, where Alexander Gordon was among his tutors.

Career

Following the end of his apprenticeship, Fraser 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 ...

and became a junior assistant at the Housing Department of the

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 ...

. He also attended the Regent Street Polytechnic and the

Northern Polytechnic The University of North London (UNL) was a university in London, England, formed from the Polytechnic of North London (PNL) in 1992 when that institution was granted university status. PNL, in turn, had been formed by the amalgamation of the No ...

. In 1926, he made a study tour of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In the same year, he became an assistant architect of the West Ham Borough Council. In 1927, Fraser moved to Singapore and was employed at the Municipal Offices of the

under Gordon. In August 1928, he passed the final exam and was admitted Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 1930, he established the 1st Singapore Company of the Boys' Brigade at the

Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church The Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church (Chinese: 布连拾街长老会磐石堂) is located on Prinsep Street within Singapore's central business district. It is approximately 350 metres from Rochor MRT station. The church, previously known as ...

. He was made the manager of the Singapore Improvement Trust in the mid-1940s and supervised the development of over 10,000 houses, shops and flats. He also wrote several papers and reports on town planning and housing issues. In 1949, he spent six months in the United Kingdom studying various housing schemes and town planning methods. He was awarded the

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1955. In the same year, he was also made a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He acted as the chairman of the Singapore Improvement Trust until his retirement in 1958.

Personal life and death

Fraser married Alice Ross on 31 December 1928. They had a son, also named James Milner Fraser. He retired to Scotland and died in

Cults, Aberdeen Cults ( ) is a suburb on the western edge of Aberdeen, Scotland. It lies on the banks of the River Dee and marks the eastern boundary of Royal Deeside. Cults, known for its historic granite housing, sits approximately six miles from the coast ...

on 30 November 1978.

References

1905 births 1978 deaths Scottish architects {{improve categories, date=January 2024