Old Photograph Colislinn House Scotland

Old photograph of Colislinn House by Hawick, Borders of Scotland. This Scottish mansion house was built in 1896 by Scottish Architect James Pearson Alison for Walter Haddon and his wife, Caroline Ross. James Pearson Alison was born on 22 June 1862 at Rosehill, Eskbank, the second son of the five children of Thomas Alison, draper and his wife, Margaret Pearson and brother of the landscape painter, Thomas Alison. He was educated in Dalkeith initially and at the Edinburgh Institution from 1876 to 1878. At about this time when Alison was fourteen his home address is recorded as 17 Buccleuch Street, Hawick, though it is as yet unclear if he was living with a relative or if his father had a house and shop in Hawick as well as Dalkeith. The family home at Rosehill, Eskbank was still occupied by the Alison family at this date. Subsequently articled to Robert Thornton Shiells, he remained with him as a draughtsman until September 1885, studying at the Royal Scottish Academy School of Art, at Professor Baldwin Brown's History of Architecture classes at Edinburgh University, and at the Heriot-Watt Institute taking classes on Sanitation. After leaving Thornton Shiells he devoted several months to study before entering the office of Charles Davidson of Paisley in March 1886, and remained there until setting up practice on his own account in Hawick two years later on the advice of a Mr Dawson of Dalkeith who was a second cousin of Alison's future wife. Before leaving Dalkeith he had managed to secure several commissions, possibly through the influence of Mr Dawson or his father who served as Lord Provost of Dalkeith from 1881 to 1884. About this time he visited most of the cathedral cities of England and travelled Normandy, Brittany and the Netherlands.



Alison set up business in Hawick in 1887 or 1888 at 19 North Bridge Street which probably initially served as both office and house. In the latter year he was asked by Patrick Laing to design a substantial villa and commissions thereafter followed swiftly as his reputation grew among the local gentry and manufacturers. In the early 1890s he moved office and house to 21 North Bridge Street. On 8 September 1892 he married Mary Lawson Blair of 19 Oakshaw Street, Paisley, daughter of Matthew Blair, draper and tailor and his wife Janet.

About 1900 by then with a wife and a family of three children Alison moved again, his office being in 'The Studio' at 45 North Bridge Street which he designed in 1900 and his residence being 'Ladylaw' in Hawick where he made some internal alterations. During this period of prosperity Alison was assisted by Alexander Inglis. Inglis was born on 22 January 1877 and served his articles with Alison from 1896. On the completion of his articles in 1901 he transferred to the office of Leadbetter & Fairley but remained with them a relatively short time, returning to Hawick to take over the joinery and architectural business of his uncle which he had inherited on the latter's death in 1902.

Alison was admitted FRIBA on 2 December 1907, his proposers being Harold Ogle Tarbolton, Hippolyte Jean Blanc and James Bow Dunn. His work usually had a quiet distinction but a few of his buildings have flashes of originality. His RIBA obituary describes him as 'a man of kindly disposition' and as a keen antiquarian. As such he supervised the excavation of the 13th-century chapel at Hermitage, and wrote a pamphlet on the results of his excavations which he donated to the Ecclesiological & Hawick Archaeological Society. He was a member of the Hawick Archaeological Society in 1897 and was one of the designers of the costumes, sets and props of the Pageant held in 1914 to commemorate the four hundredth anniversary of Hornshole. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a member of the Hawick Callants Club.

Up to the beginning of the First World War, Alison's practice continued to flourish even to the extent that he owned and ran a car, one of the first people in Hawick to do so. His practice covered a wide area, and he still obtained jobs through family connections in Dalkeith and Eskbank and even opened a branch office in Kelso briefly. Further afield he secured a commission for a tenement block in Paisley presumably through his wife's family. The war years brought a down-turn in the fortunes of the practice. Ladylaw was let furnished and Mrs Alison moved to Edinburgh (perhaps seeking a cure for ill-health?), her husband joining her at weekends; she died there in 1916.

From the early 1920s he practised in partnership with George Hobkirk, of whom few details are known. Hobkirk was born in 1884 and came from a family of joiners and carpenters. He appears to have entered Alison's office in the first decade of the twentieth century, presumably as apprentice and later assistant. He was taken into partnership in 1923 when the first record of the name J P Alison and Hobkirk appears on plans submitted to Dean of Guild in October of that year.

Alison died at Hawick on 19 November 1932, leaving moveable estate of £3,093 15s 3d. Not only had his wife predeceased him but his son Percy died at sea on a journey home from abroad but he was survived by his two daughters. His practice continued for at least a time under the existing title of J P Alison & Hobkirk. In 1936 J Murray Aitken was taken into partnership, becoming sole partner in 1955. The firm of Aitken & Turnbull is the successor of this practice.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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