Lorimer, Sir Robert Stodart, 1864-1929 (Architect)

Person

Staff Only

Dates

Existence: 1864 - 1929

Biography

The architect Robert Stodart Lorimer, the son of Professor James Lorimer, Edinburgh University, was born in Edinburgh, 4 November 1864. He was raised in a Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh's New Town and was educated at Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University.

In 1885 he started his career in architecture with the practice of Sir Robert Rowand Anderson in Edinburgh, and he served there for four and a half years. After travelling in England, he entered the London office of G. F. Bodley, R.A., where he remained for eighteen months before returning to Edinburgh.

During his career, Lorimer became interested in the Arts and Crafts Movement and in Scottish Vernacular architecture. These interests led Lorimer to undertake the Thistle Chapel in the High Kirk of St. Giles, Edinburgh, in 1909 (the chapel of the Knights of the Thistle). Over the years he also remodelled suburban villas and built cottages in various parts of the city. Another major project was the Scottish National War Memorial within Edinburgh Castle. He also created similar memorials in Italy, Egypt and in Greece. Towards the end of his career he restored Paisley Abbey. Sir Robert Lorimer died in 1929.

He married Violet Alicia Wyld (1875-1940) in 1903. The couple had four children: Christopher Lorimer (1904-1991), Hew Lorimer (1907-1993), Daphne Lorimer (1907-1974), and Michael Lorimer (1912-1991).