| History
Page Index
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James Smith - The Architect James Smith was born in Alloa in 1808. His father was John Smith a well-known and well-connected builder and Freemason in Alloa who built the Alloa Parish church in 1817-19 to the design of Gillespie Graham. His mother was Elizabeth Thompson, daughter of a Alloa maltster and sister of John Thomson head of the the Royal Bank in Glasgow. In 1826 James Smith followed his father to Glasgow. His father had been awarded a building contract for the Royal Exchange Square by the architect Douglas Hamilton. James Smith became close to the Hamilton family and on 29th March 1833 the Glasgow Herald annnounced his engagement to Janet, the Hamilton's daughter. Exactly two years later on 29th March 1835 they had their first daughter, Madeline Smith, and subsequently had another daughter and four sons together. As an aspiring architect James Smith began to design his own buildings including the Victoria Baths (1837), and the Collegiate School (1840). He was also an ambitious businessman: a timber merchant, property investor and shareholder in several insurance companies. In 1837 he had to file for bankrupcy when one of these insurance companies Glasgow Marine went bust. However in 1845 his sequestration was discharged and by the 1850s James Smith was back on top in Glasgow society. With his reputation as an architect firmly estabilished he designed the McClellan Galleries in 1855. Then in 1858 his world was shattered by the trial of his daughter Madeleine Smith for murder. Madeline Smith had returned from London finishing school and was considered one of Glasgow's most eligible daugthers. However she had an affair with a Frenchman Pierre Emile L’Angelie, a clerk in a warehouse, who her parents would never have accepted as a suitable husband. They wrote to each other incessantly and when James Smith found out about the relationship he ordered her to break it off. She continued to write to him but their relationship cooled and she accepted the proposal of marriage from William Minnoch, partner in a cotton spinning firm and a member of the same social class. L'Angelie however had the love letters from Madeline and was prepared to use them to blackmail her. Then on March 23rd 1857 L'Angelie was discovered dead by his landlord poisioned by arsenic. The love letters were uncovered and Madeline Smith was arrested for murder.The story of the trial was covered not only in the Glaswgow press but nationwide and across the Continent. Madeline Smith was found "Not Proven", a uniquely Scottish legal term that means not Guilty but not clear of suspicion either. The scandal brought social disgrace to the Smiths and James Smith was referred to as "poor Mr Smith" in society. They moved from their home in Rhu, Helensburgh to Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire, and then to Polmont, Edinburgh, where James Smith died in 1863. It
was during this period that James Smith was commissioned
to work on Overtoun House. Smith died before the completion
of Overtoun, and in any case most of the planning work was
carried out by his junior partner Melvin. An enthusiastic
young man, Melvin completed the job, but is reported to
have disappeared in mysterious circumstances, unusual for
a man in the midst of a prosperous and promising career.
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