James Shearer

James Shearer (1881–1962) was a Scottish architect, active in the early and middle twentieth century. He was based in Dunfermline, but worked on projects covering much of Scotland. He is particularly noted for his work for The Scottish Youth Hostel Association, now called Hostelling Scotland, the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, which was also based in Dunfermline, and the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board. Early life James Grant Shearer was the son of James Shearer, a manufacturer of linen and a designer of damask patterns, and his first wife Agnes Donaldson Smith. The family had settled in Dunfermline prior to 1854, after his grandfather, another James, had moved there from Craigellachie, Banffshire. The younger James was born at Morton Lodge, Dunfermline on 6 April 1881, and later attended Dunfermline High School, before beginning an apprenticeship with Thomas Hislop Ure in September 1897. In November 1901, he obtained a job as an assistant at John Burnet & Son in Glasgow, and was promoted to senior assistant in 1902. While working in Glasgow, he also attended courses at the Glasgow School of Art. In March 1906, he resigned from Burnet's practice, and nearly a year later, set up his own practice at 1 Bonnar Street Dunfermline in February 1907. He married Jessie Gorrie, the daughter of a local solicitor called David Gorrie in 1914, but was conscripted in August 1916, serving with the Royal Highland Regiment and then the Royal Engineers from 1917. His time in the army ended in February 1919, and he restarted his architectural practice straight away, moving his offices to Queen Anne Street around 1920. Career Like many architects, his early work centred on extending and altering existing buildings, such as the City Arms Hotel in Dunfermline, which he completed around 1910. He designed an extension for Carnock Primary School in 1912, a house for himself at Crossford in 1914, and worked on the Savings Bank at Dunfermline in 1915. He also tackled a number of industrial buildings, including the Caledonia Works at Dunfermline around 1909 and Fordell Colliery between 1912 and 1914. From the 1920s, he formed a productive relationship with the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust and the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, which included reconstructing St Mary's Hall Dunfermline in 1924, and the addition of a memorial building to the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum.