William Notman (1809-1893) was a 19th-century Scottish architect. Early work assisting Playfair focussed on country houses, but his later independent work was more commercial in nature.

Life

He was born in the small village of

Kirkurd Kirkurd is a parish in Peeblesshire in the Scottish Borders situated 3 miles south-east of Dolphinton and 6 miles north-east of Broughton. Tarth Water, a tributary of Lyne Water (itself a tributary of the River Tweed) forms the northern bounda ...

Peebleshire Peeblesshire (), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lanarkshire to the west. Histo ...

in February 1809, the son of John Notman a clerk of works, and his wife Margaret Kemp. The family moved to Northfield Cottage on Newhaven Road west of

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

in the 1820s where he was articled to

William Henry Playfair William Henry Playfair Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town, Edinburgh, New Town and many of Edinb ...

to train as an architect in 1823. His cousin,

John Notman John Notman (July 22, 1803 March 3, 1865) was a Scottish-born American architect and landscape architect based in Philadelphia. He designed buildings, cemeteries, churches and country estates in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and h ...

joined him a few years later (and emigrated to America). All Notman’s works until 1842 are under the umbrella of Playfair’s office. Around 1850 he set up his own practice in

Davidsons Mains Davidson's Mains is a former village and now a district in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is adjacent to the districts of Barnton, Cramond, Silverknowes, Blackhall and Corbiehill/House O'Hill. It was absorbed into Edinburgh as pa ...

on the western edge of Edinburgh. He died in Northfield CottageEdinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1892-3 on 15 June 1893 and is buried in

Rosebank Cemetery Rosebank Cemetery is a 19th-century List of graveyards and cemeteries in Edinburgh, cemetery in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the junction of Pilrig Street and Broughton Road in the Pilrig area, close to the historical boundary of Leith. The cemeter ...

in north

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 fallen stone lies near the centre of the graveyard on an infilled north-south path.

Family

He was married to Barbara Graham (1814-1904). Their children included John Notman FFA FRA (1852-1922).

Works

*Monument to Prof

John Playfair John Playfair FRSE, FRS (10 March 1748 – 20 July 1819) was a Church of Scotland minister, remembered as a scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his book ''Illu ...

Calton Hill Calton Hill (; ) is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and f ...

(1825) * Minto Church and Manse (1827-1830) *

Drumbanagher House Drumbanagher House (also known as ''Drumbanagher Castle'' and ''Closes Castle''), near Poyntzpass, County Armagh, was a large country house in Northern Ireland designed for Maxwell Close by William Notman, working under William Playfair in 182 ...

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

(1829), jointly with

, demolished 1951 due to

death duties International tax law distinguishes between an estate tax and an inheritance tax. An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and prop ...

*Dalcrue Farmhouse,

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

(1832) *Remodelling of the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

Princes Street Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...

(1832) *Sections of

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and roughly southwest of Belfast. The town is linked to Belfast by both the M1 motorway (Northern Ireland), M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin rail ...

House,

, Northern Ireland (1833) *Remodelling the house of

Andrew Rutherfurd, Lord Rutherfurd Andrew Rutherfurd, Lord Rutherfurd, (born Andrew Greenfield; 21 June 1791 – 13 December 1854) was a Scottish advocate, judge and politician. Early life Rutherfurd was born at Bristo Port (near Greyfriars Kirkyard) in Edinburgh on 21 June 179 ...

at 9 St Colme Street, Edinburgh (1835) *Details at Spottiswoode House, Westruther (1834) *Shop at 15

, Edinburgh (1835) demolished *Remodelling of Minto House and stables (1837) *Details for Donaldson's Hospital (1842) * Haymarket Mills in

(1852) *Caledonian Distillery, Edinburgh (1855) *Wool Warehouse for W & F Wilson,

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 ...

(1856) *Shopfront, 132

, Edinburgh (1857) *Villa (The Elms) in Greenhill, Edinburgh (1857) *Tenement on India Place in

Stockbridge, Edinburgh Stockbridge is a district of Edinburgh, located north of the city centre, bounded by the New Town, Edinburgh, New Town and by Comely Bank. The name is Scots ''stock brig'' from Anglic languages, Anglic ''stocc brycg'', meaning a timber bridge. ...

(1858) demolished *

Comiston Comiston (, IPA: �paleˈxaɫ̪ɯim is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is south of Morningside and west of the Braid Hills, linking the suburbs of Oxgangs and Fairmilehead. The main road through the area, Comiston Road, i ...

Farmhouse (1859) *Tenements on Barony Street (1859) taking over from the recently deceased Alexander Black *Chemical Works for MacLean & Hope,

(1860) *The “Star Inn” in

Moffat Moffat is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire. Part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland, it lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town. Moffat is arou ...

(1860) *Tenement on Montgomery Street off

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the east end of the city centre to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the str ...

(1862) *Tenement on Fort Street in

(1862) *Alterations to Bernards Brewery in Edinburgh (1863) *Corner block on Windsor Street/Montgomery Street (1863) *Tenement on Maitland Street (1864) *Villa (“Helen Grove”) on Park Road, Edinburgh for William Gifford (1872) *Tenement on Grove Street (1877)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Notman, William 1809 births 1893 deaths 19th-century Scottish architects People from the Scottish Borders