| 1864 - Born in Edinburgh, youngest son of Professor James Lorimer and Hannah (Riddle Stodart) 1864 - Lived at 21 Hill Street, Edinburgh 18 ? - Educated at Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University 1885 - Pupil of Sir Robert Rowand Anderson for 4 years 1888 - Passed qualifying exam 1889 - Assistant to George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner for 18 months and to James MacLaren 1890 - ARIBA 16 June 1890 - proposed by J.J. Stevenson, M. Macartney, J.M. Brydon 1890 - Lived 44 Pembroke Square, Kensington London 1892 - WORKS: Earlshall, Fife Scotland 1893 - Commenced independent practice in Edinburgh 1893 - WORKS: Trayner's Grange, North Berwick - Lord John Trayner 1895 - Lived 49 Queen Street, Edinburgh 1901 - WORKS: Brackenburgh, Cumbria England and Wayside, Saint Andrews Scotland 1902 - WORKS: Marly Knowe, North Berwick and Rowallan, Ayreshire Scotland 1902 - WORKS: Barton Hartshorn, Buckingham England (1902-1908) 1903 - WORKS: Colinton Cottage, Edinburgh 1903 - ARSA 1906 - WORKS: Ardkinglas, Argyll Scotland and Saint Peter's Church, Edinburgh 1906 - FRIBA 11 June 1906 - proposed by J.J. Burnet, W Leiper, and E.L. Lutyens 1906 - Lived 54 Melville Street, Edinburgh 1907 - WORKS: Lympne Castle, Kent England and Hill of Tarvit, Fife Scotland 1907 - WORKS: Rhu-Na-Haven, Aberdeenshire Scotland 1908 - WORKS: Formakin, Renfrew Scotland 1908 - Commissioned to carry out alterations to the property for Captain Armstrong 1909 - WORKS: Thistle Chapel, St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh Scotland (1909 – 1911) 1911 - WORKS: Dunderave Castle, Argyll Scotland 1911 - Knighted 1916 - WORKS: Balmanno Castle, Perthshire Scotland 1916 - Made a Freemason at the age of 52 1919 - WORKS: National War Memorial, Edinburgh Scotland (1919-1927) 1927 - Worked in Partnership with John Fraser Matthew (1875-1955) 1929 - Died in Edinburgh and cremated in Glasgow (ashes interred at Newburn, Fife) |
| 1863 - Lord John married Frances Wyld - Robert's aunt |
| Lorimer was born in Edinburgh, the son of a law professor, Lorimer was educated at Edinburgh University. The move of his family to Kellie Castle in Fife, which his father restored, laid the foundations of his future career. In 1885 he was apprenticed to Sir Robert Rowand Anderson and four years later he went to London to complete his education under G. F. Bodley and James MacLaren. Lorimer returned to Edinburgh to set up practice in 1893 and one of his first commissions was the restoration of Earlshall in Fife (1895). Following his teacher Anderson, he developed an interest in Scottish Vernacular architecture. As a member of the Arts and Crafts Movement, he was also influenced by R. N. Shaw and eventually became the leading exponent of the Scottish Vernacular Revival. Most of his work was domestic and included much restoration and alteration work (Dunrobin Castle, 1914-19; Leslie House, 1906-7; Balmanno Castle. 1916-21). He also altered and remodelled a number of small suburban villas m Edinburgh (St Leonards and Westerlea, Murrayfield, 1912 and 1913). Other restoration schemes included national monuments such as Paisley Abbey (1923-8) and Dunblane Cathedral (1912-14). Knighted in 1911, he was given prestigious public commissions such as the Chapel of the Knights of the Thistle in St Giles' Cathedral (1909) and, above all, the Scottish National War Memorial Chapel in Edinburgh Castle (1924). Lorimer's son, Hew, was the sculptor responsible, among other things, for the statue of Our Lady of the Isles at Rueval on South Uist (1957). Lorimer was a Scottish architect. The most prolific architect representative of the Scottish Arts and Crafts Movement, Lorimer drew particularly from Scottish vernacular buildings of the 16th and 17th centuries to create a series of mansions and houses, practically planned, with picturesque, turreted exteriors. Nowadays as he is both largely forgotten and overshadowed by his contemporary, the maverick genius Charles Rennie Mackintosh, it is difficult to imagine the influence he once had over Scottish architecture. Lorimer's early career was dominated with the restoration and design of large Scottish country houses.Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer (Brother Lorimer) was made a Freemason in The Lodge of Holyrood House (St. Luke), No.44 in 1916. Although he became a Freemason at the age of 52 it is thought that much of his work was influenced by Masonic principals and practice. Whether this was because of his acquaintance with Freemasons is not known but this aspect of his life surely merits further investigation. |
| Sir Robert Lorimer’s father: Lorimer, James (1818-90) of Perthshire. Jurist and writer. He was an eminent authority on International Law. The Institutes of the Law of Nations was his most important book. |
| There is a memorial in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh. The plaque reads: TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN MEMORY OF SIR ROBERT STODART LORIMER ARCHITECT CREATOR FOTHE THISTLE CHAPEL THE NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL AS OF MANY NOTABLE BUILDINGS IN THIS AN OTHER LANDS BORN 4th NOV. 1864 DIED 13th SEPTEMBER 1929. ERECTED BY HIS BROTHER ARCHITECTS CRAFTSMEN AND FRIENDS © Rosslyn Templars |
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Sir Robert Lorimer 04.11.1864 - 13.09.1929 |
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