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James Gillespie Graham was born in Dunblane on 11 June 1776, the son of Malcolm Gillespie, solicitor. He reputedly trained as a mason or joiner but may have had some experience in an architect’s office. Nothing is known of his career until after 1800 when he was employed as superintendent of the 2nd Lord Macdonald’s works on Skye, the role being more clerk of works than estate architect. The work consisted of simple functional buildings such as manses, schools and piers in which there was little scope for original architectural design. By 1810 he had secured various commissions on mainland Scotland including a country house and county buildings. In 1815 he married Margaret Graham, daughter of the wealthy William Graham of Orchill in Perthshire. They inherited the estate on the death of his father-in-law in 1825 and he took the name of Gillespie Graham. The couple had two daughters but Margaret Graham died in 1826. Gillespie Graham married again, this time to Elizabeth Campbell, daughter Major John Campbell of the 76th Regiment of Foot. Gillespie Graham specialised in Gothic churches and castle-style country houses which are symmetrical but with a picturesque outline and a large round tower to one side. Near the end of his career his houses became more ‘Baronial’. The detailing on the exteriors of his houses can be coarse but the Gothic interiors are much finer with credible medieval character. Notable examples are Duns Castle and Taymouth. His churches are often good for example Muthill which was highly regarded in 1837. The steeple at Montrose and the spire at Tolbooth St John’s in Edinburgh are particularly good. Gillespie Graham formed an association with the younger Pugin. It is said that he befriended him when Pugin was ship-wrecked off the coast at Leith. Pugin seems to have valued the friendship and was painted with a pair of compasses given to him by Gillespie Graham. Pugin in turn assisted him in providing drawings based on authentic Gothic sources. A number of Gillespie Graham’s buildings benefitted from Pugin’s knowledge: the chapels at St Margaret’s Convent in Edinburgh and at Heriot are Hospital, the Banner Hall at Taymouth and Tolbooth St John’s. Drawings for the latter are preserved in the Edinburgh Dean of Guild drawings collection. Pugin supplied Gillespie Graham with drawings and carvings for Murthly and undertook the drawings for Gillespie Graham’s entry into the Houses of Parliament competition. Gillespie Graham made occasional designs in the classical style, notably at Gray’s Hospital, Elgin and in the Moray estate in Edinburgh where his bold departure from the grid pattern of the New Town makes excellent use of the contours of the ground and is an outstanding piece of urban planning. As a person Gillespie Graham was ambitious, self-seeking and perhaps unscrupulous. In 1818 he gave himself the title ‘Architect in Scotland of the Prince Regent’ which changed during the royal visit to Scotland in 1822 to ‘Architect to His Majesty for Scotland’. Robert Reid who officially had a similar title from 1808 was annoyed by this. In 1810 Graham also competed for the post of Mastership of the Works of Scotland when James Brodie, the holder of the post, died but Reid managed to get his current post merged with the Mastership of Works post. Graham was elected FSA Scot in 1817 and became a burgess of Edinburgh in 1838. In 1841 he was the director of the Scottish branch of the Church of England Life Fire Assurance Institute and as he himself was a mason, in 1845 he was elected a Director of the Scottish Freemasons Life Association. In 1844 he attended a meeting about the Scottish Central Railway and was a provisional committee member of the railway. In 1848 he was a commissioner of the Peace In 1834 he had come into conflict with George Meikle Kemp over proposed restorations at Glasgow Cathedral. George Meilke Kemp drew up an unsolicited scheme for restorations in 1834. A local committee took up the ideas. There is some difference of opinion in sources as to what then happened. Colvin states that Kemp's scheme formed the basis for a scheme drawn up by James Gillespie Graham 'who unscrupulously took the sole credit, allowing the committee to publish them without acknowledgement to Kemp’. He then states that Kemp vindicated himself with an open letter to the committee. However Charles McKean in the online DNB gives a different version. He states that the scheme was drawn up by Kemp for Archibald MacLellan, the drawings being forwarded to the Treasury without credit to Kemp and published as ‘Plans and Elevations of the Proposed Restorations and Additions to the Cathedral of Glasgow, with an explanatory Address by the Local Committee’ (1836). Kemp presented a set of drawings to James Skene of Rubislaw each annotated with Kemp’s pseudonym to underline his authorship. MacLellan, perhaps concerned about Kemp’s lack of practical experience, meantime commissioned James Gillespie Graham for new proposals. Kemp, who was mortified, exhibited drawings of his scheme and a model with costs from John Cousin in Edinburgh in 1838. However the whole scheme foundered and it was not until 1843 that the Cathedral was restored under the direction of Edward Blore. Gillespie Graham died in Edinburgh on 21 March 1855 after a long illness. A well-known portrait by Watson Gordon which shows him in Highland dress is located at Ardblair Castle. He was a keen collector and after his death the sale of his property included silver and snuff boxes and Highland dress. In 1857 his house at 34 Albany Street was sold by public roup and his library of books was sold by auction. (http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=200250; sourced 2015-08-10 - this source also provides details of his addresses, apprentices, works, and bibliography) He was sketched by Benjamin Crombie (b.1803-07-19, d. 1847-06-10) in 1847, his likeness facing his contemporary Thomas Hamilton RSA in Plate 36 of Crombie's Modern Athenians 1837-47, A & C Black, Edinburgh, 1882 (for copy of which vide RSA Library)