Royal
Incorporation of
Architects in
Scotland

The Cowie and Seaton Collection is one of twenty five collections that was catalogued and conserved as part of the Scottish Architects' Papers Preservation Project (SAPPP). From 1999-2004 a total of 195,800 drawings, photographs and manuscripts were catalogued and re-housed to archival standards. 3,000 items received conservation treatment, whilst a further 2,000 were digitally copied, making them readily available for the public to study and enjoy.

The collection comprises 5,800 papers, the majority of which are from the Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid architectural practice that specialised in alterations to many large properties in Edinburgh, Lothian and the Borders. The practice was established at 122 George Street, Edinburgh in 1885 by Thomas Greenshields Leadbetter (d.1931). In 1895 Leadbetter moved his practice to 17 Young Street, Edinburgh and went into partnership with J Maclellan Fairley (1860-1942) to form Leadbetter and Fairley. Leadbetter retired around 1903 but Fairley continued the firm taking Robert Stirling Reid (1883-1947) into partnership.

During the thirties Morton J H Cowie joined the practice and took over the business in 1946 following Reid's retirement, moving it to 53 Manor Place, Edinburgh. Under the new name of Morton J H Cowie he was successful in continuing work for some of Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid's clients as well as attracting new ones including the National Coal Board for whom he carried out a significant amount of work at Dollar, Clackmannanshire.

In 1961 Cowie took Douglas William Seaton into partnership to form Morton J H Cowie and Seaton. Cowie retired in 1970 and Seaton continued under the same name until his own retirement in 1993 from offices in Castle Terrace. The collection was subsequently gifted to the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland.

The images below show a small selection of the photographs and drawings from the Cowie and Seaton Collection which can be consulted in the public search room from Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 4:30pm. Click on an image to view the full-size version. Prints of all images can be obtained by contacting RCAHMS directly at info@rcahms.gov.uk quoting the name of the site or building, the SC number, the size and nature of each image required. A price list of services for photographs, digital images and other copies can be found under the price list page.

The Cowie and Seaton collection holds 549 drawings recording a diverse range of projects tackled by the practice at Edinburgh Academy over several decades. The association began in the last year of the 19th century when Leadbetter and Fairley were asked to design a library. They produced a Neo-Classical library block harmonizing with the original Edinburgh Academy building, William Burn's long single-storey structure with central Greek Doric portico. Leadbetter and Fairley's design, a reaction to the older building on the site provides an interesting contrast to the free style they had adopted when designing the Carnegie Library at Wick a few years earlier in 1895. It indicates that a sensitive response to the existing situation may have been a governing principle of the practice.

The library was a prestigious commission and they must have completed it to the satisfaction of their clients as they were asked to return many times to work on further projects at the Academy including work on the Sports Pavilion, 1911; the East Lodge, 1924; additions to classrooms, 1923-30; and alterations to the physics laboratory including a lecture room in 1960. In 1922 the practice made an important contribution to the Henderson Row site in the shape of their monumental though single-storey War Memorial Building, housing a gymnasium roofed over by an arched steel truss and an armoury workshop.

Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid provided alterations and additions to many large properties in Edinburgh, Lothian and the Borders, receiving many commissions for private garages including this one at Abbey St. Bathans. This improvement work includes that at Garth Castle, Perthshire in 1923 and at Auchendinny where the practice worked between 1914 and 1930, providing an extension to the rear of the property and improvements to the East and West pavilions.

Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid
New garage for George G Turnbull, Abbey St Bathans, 1912.
(SC 709073)

Between 1922 and 1923 the practice converted 24 Charlotte Square and the adjoining 13-15 Hope Street into bank premises for the North of Scotland Town and Country Bank. They provided further alterations in 1936 including screened compartments.

Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid
Alterations for the North of Scotland Town and Country Bank Ltd, 24 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, 1922.
(SC 709080)

After the Great War Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid also carried out alterations to Edinburgh hospitals and related buildings. In 1924 they designed an annex to the Deaconess Hospital at 142-144 Pleasance. In the same year they also began work at Liberton Cottage Hospital where they added glazed verandas to the private wards.

The Cowie and Seaton collection includes 186 papers which show the substantial amount of improvement work undertaken by the practice at Longmore Hospital, Salisbury Place, also known as the Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Incurables between 1924 and 1937.

Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid
Longmore Hospital, Salisbury Place, Edinburgh, 1923.
(SC709060)

Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid
Longmore Hospital, Salisbury Place, Edinburgh, 1935.
(SC709205)

The collection includes over 250 drawings acquired from other practices and businesses, many of which are deemed of national importance. This includes the work of David Bryce, F T Pilkington, R S Lorimer, Rowand Anderson and Paul, Leslie Grahame Thomson Macdougall and Gillespie, Kidd and Coia. The collection features a bound set of 1893 drawings for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society premises at 36 York Place by J Hippolyte Blanc that was extended to the rear by Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid in 1934-1935.

Hippolyte J Blanc
Royal Pharmaceutical Society North British Branch, 36 York Place, Edinburgh, 1893.
(SC709093)

Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid
Royal Pharmaceutical Society North British Branch, 36 York Place, Edinburgh, 1935.
(SC709200)

Morton J H Cowie joined the practice during the 1930s. Between 1935 and 1940 he was in a part-time partnership with D Gardiner Hardie that specialised in providing air raid shelters during World War II. This work lead to Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid also providing plans, sections and elevations for shelter accommodation across Edinburgh, such as at the Albert Buildings, 22-24 Shandwick Place.

Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid
Albert Buildings, 22-24 Shandwick Place, Edinburgh, 1939.
(SC709215)

Towards the end of the twenties the practice began work for J and G Cox's glue works at Gorgie Mills. Cox's initially set up business at Linlithgow Mills in 1725 and two maps dating 1793 and 1812 showing the location of their business were acquired.

Cox's had been at their Gorgie site since 1798 and throughout the 20th century produced high-grade glue, gelatine and related products for a worldwide market. Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid undertook a substantial amount of work for these manufacturers at the end of the forties including the building of glue and gelatine towers, additions to the gatekeeper's lodge and conversion of a skin cutting house to engine accommodation.

After 1949 alteration and addition work continued under the new practice name of Morton J H Cowie and through to the glue maker's eventual decline in the 1960s.

Leadbetter, Fairley and Reid
J & G Cox Ltd., Gorgie Mills, Edinburgh, 1947.
(SC709183)

Morton J H Cowie
J & G Cox Ltd., Gorgie Mills, Edinburgh, 1951.
(SC709217)