David McLeod Craik FRIBA (1873-1 August 1938) was a Royal Engineers officer and architect noted for his works in the Straits Settlements. He was the oldest practising architect in the colony at the time of his death. [1]
David McLeod Craik (D. McLeod Craik) | |
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Born | 1873 |
Died | 1 August 1938 (aged 65) |
Burial place | Western Road Cemetery, Penang, Malaysia |
Occupation | Architect |
Spouse | Grace Black |
Children | 4 |
Practice | Swan & Maclaren (1913-1923) Swan, Maclaren & Craik (1923-1928) Craik & Leicester (1928-1932) |
David McLeod Craik was born in 1873 at Neath, Glamorganshire, the second son of Robert Craik, a Scottish travelling draper and his Welsh wife Kate McLeod. He spent the early part of his childhood in the Stewartry and later removed with his parents to Swansea where he received his education. [1] [2] [3]
After leaving school at the age of 16, Craik was articled to Bucknall & Jennings of Swansea between 1889 and 1893. Afterwards, he served as assistant to Clarke & Bell and Thomas Lennox Watson in Glasgow and to William Hamilton Beattie in Edinburgh from 1894 until 1896, when he passed his examination as Student RIBA. After that he moved to the office of Robert Graeme Watt and Frederick Henry Tullock in Belfast from which he found employment with John McKean Brydon in 1898, working on the Government Offices Great George Street at Whitehall. Craik remained with him until March 1900, when he passed the qualifying exam and was admitted ARIBA, his proposers being Brydon, Watson and Cole Alfred Adams. Thereafter he became a senior assistant with Edward Augustus Grunning until 1902. [1] [4]
Craik obtained a post in 1902 as first architectural assistant to the Singapore municipality in the Straits Settlements. During his time as municipal architect he designed the Jinrikisha Station at Kreta Ayer and the entrance lodge, gate and chapel of the Bidadari Cemetery. He remained in the post for about five years, when he resigned and started his own practice in 1907. In the same year, he had secured the largest job of the period as designer of Alkaff Arcade at Collyer Quay for Alkaff & Co.. Other major buildings by him at that period were the Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church, St. Joseph's Cathedral and the Masonic Hall in Coleman Street. [1] [4] [5]
On 1 December 1912 he merged his practice with the Singaporean firm of Swan & Maclaren. [6] On 12 January 1914 he was admitted FRIBA, then at 26 May of the same year, he took his first ever home leave, but arrived in the UK just a month before World War I was declared. He served in the war as a Royal Engineers officer until he was demobilised in August 1919. [1] [4] [5]
Upon his return to the Straits, he was sent to Penang to open a branch office for Swan & Maclaren. [7] [8] On the death of Philip Charles Russell, the firm's partner, the name of the Penang branch was changed to Swan, Maclaren & Craik. [9] His notable works while in the partnership were Eu Villa in Singapore, Loke Villa and George Town Dispensary in Penang, and the HSBC building in Sungai Petani. [1] [5]
In 1929 Craik ceded from Swan, Maclaren & Craik and subsequently formed a partnership with Osborne Howard Leicester, formerly an architectural assistant with the Penang municipality. [10] Craik & Leicester took up office at the George Town Chambers, which is a part of the George Town Dispensary building. Works during this period were all in Penang, including The Cenotaph, Lim Lean Teng Mansions and The Windsor. [1] [11] The firm included an assistant architect, Sidney Iverson Knowles, but his services were terminated during the building slump. He was found shot dead on 13 April 1932 and an inquest by a state coroner concluded that Knowles had committed suicide. He left behind three letters, one of them addressed to Craik [5] [12]
Due to the recession, the partnership of Craik & Leicester ceased by 1932, Craik then went solo under the style of Craik, D. McLeod, Chartered Architect, meanwhile Leicester returned to London where he started a private practice. Craik passed away while still in practice in 1938, making him the longest practicing architect in the Straits Settlements before World War II. [5]
Craik was one of the original members of the Singapore Royal Engineers (Volunteers) or SRE (V) and designed badges and buttons for that unit in which he served from 1902 to 1921 when the Volunteer force was reconstructed. He retired from SRE (V) with the rank of lieutenant and joined the Volunteer Corps in Penang as a private. He retired from military service altogether in 1925 with the Long Service Medal. [1] [13]
When World War I broke out, Craik reported for duty as lieutenant of the Royal Engineers on 9 September 1914 at Brompton Barracks. He then trained and took the 145th Army Troops Company, R.E. to France in September 1915 and commanded the company until he was badly wounded at the end of November 1917, losing 2 fingers of his right hand in the process. After leaving hospital he took up command of the 566th Wiltshire Territorial Company, R.E. at Worgret Camp, Wareham until after the Armistice. He retired with the rank of Captain, R.E. and was demobilised in August 1919 in Singapore. [1] [14]
Craik married Grace Black, a nurse and veteran of the South African War, at St. George's Church on 12 December 1908. [3] They had four children: three daughters and a son. Their second daughter, Catherine McLeod Craik, died at the age of 7½ months while she was at sea en route from Penang to Singapore on 26 August 1911. [15] [16] She was memorialised by a stained glass depicting St. Catherine of Alexandria at St. Joseph's Cathedral. [17]
On 20 May 1938 Grace died after a long illness at a nursing home in London. [18] Their only son, Donald McLeod RAF VR ARIBA , was killed in action during World War II on 24 March 1942. [19]
Before his death, Craik had not been in the best of his health for about a month. Some days later he developed a chill and then was admitted to the General Hospital. He died at the hospital on 1 August 1938, at the age of 65. His funeral and burial was commenced at the Western Road Cemetery in Penang. [15]
Craik worked on the following buildings:
Name | Location | Date constructed | Status | Notes | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Government Offices Great George Street | Westminster, London | 1908–1917 | Extant | Designed by J. M. Brydon, assisted by Craik from 1898 to 1900. | [4] |
Jinrikisha Station | Tanjong Pagar, Singapore | 1903 | Extant | [20] | |
Entrance lodge, gate and chapel for Bidadari Cemetery | Toa Payoh, Singapore | 1908 | Demolished | All graves were exhumed in 2006 to make way for the Bidadari housing estate, the entrance gates were relocated to Bidadari Garden. | [20] [21] |
Wesley Methodist Church | Fort Canning Hill, Singapore | 1908 | Extant | [22] | |
Alkaff Arcade | Collyer Quay, Singapore | 1909 | Demolished | Demolished in 1978 for a new 20-storey retail-cum-office building. | [23] [24] |
Masonic Hall | Civic District, Singapore | 1912 | Extant | Designed by Thomas A. Cargill, Craik rebuilt the building's frontage facing Coleman Street. | [20] [25] |
St. Joseph's Church | Rochor, Singapore | 1912 | Extant | Initial design by G. A. Fernandez, alterations by Craik. | [26] |
2 Cable Road | Tanglin, Singapore | 1913 | Extant | [27] | |
Seri Teratai | George Town, Penang | 1919 | Extant | credited to Henry Alfred Neubronner, design signed by Craik. | [5] |
Bungalow for HSBC | George Town, Penang | 1920 | Demolished | [5] | |
Three bungalows for Mark Kingsley Whitlock | George Town, Penang | 1920s | Demolished | [5] | |
Bungalow for Mansfield & Co. | George Town, Penang | 1920s | Demolished | [5] | |
United Engineers building | George Town, Penang | 1922 | Extant | Currently occupied by Public Bank. | [11] |
HSBC building | Sungai Petani, Kedah | 1922 | Extant | [28] | |
George Town Dispensary building | George Town, Penang | 1923 | Extant | [11] | |
Claremont | Penang Hill, Penang | 1921–1923 | Extant | [5] | |
Loke Villa | George Town, Penang | 1923 | Extant | [5] | |
New clubhouse for Penang Swimming Club | George Town, Penang | 1924 | Unknown | Designed by R.M. Love, assisted by Craik. | [29] |
St. Joseph's Novitiate and baroque chapel | George Town, Penang | 1925 | Extant | Now a part of Gurney Paragon. | [20] [30] |
Moycraik | Penang Hill, Penang | 1926 | Extant | Craik's residence in Penang. | [5] |
Fairmont | Penang Hill, Penang | 1926 | Extant | [5] | |
Grace Dieu | Penang Hill, Penang | 1927 | Extant | [5] | |
The Cenotaph | George Town, Penang | 1929 | Destroyed, reconstructed | Destroyed during World War II in 1941, rebuilt by Charles Geoffery Boutcher in 1948. | [11] |
Godowns for Henry Waugh & Co. and Paterson, Simons & Co. | George Town, Penang | 1930s | Extant | Now a part of the Rice Miller residential-cum-retail complex. | [11] [31] [32] |
Lim Lean Teng Mansions | George Town, Penang | 1931 | Extant | [11] | |
Renovations of Suffolk House for the Anglo-Chinese High School | George Town, Penang | 1931 | Extant | [33] | |
The Windsor | George Town, Penang | 1934 | Demolished | Redesigned with an Art Deco facade when occupied by Capitol Theatre, Demolished in 1992 to make way for Komtar. | [34] [35] |
French Bank at Raffles Place | Raffles Place, Singapore | Unknown | Unknown | [20] | |
Crosby Hall | George Town, Penang | Unknown | Extant | Currently occupied by DISTED College. | [5] [36] |
Rebuilding of Chatsworth for Alan Loke Wan Wye | George Town, Penang | Unknown | Unknown | [20] | |
New extension for the Anglo-Chinese Girls' School | George Town, Penang | Unknown | Unknown | [20] | |
K.K.S. Bank | Penang | Unknown | Unknown | [20] | |
Tamil Methodist Church | Penang | Unknown | Unknown | [20] |
David Craik's signature style is openly Romantic, a cottage orné with strong overtones of the Scottish Arts and Crafts movement. His buildings are often topped with a pyramidal or hipped roof with terracotta finials. Craik embellished his homes with a cornucopia of naturalistic Arts and Crafts, Tudor, and Art Nouveau motifs. His architectural creations often feature his insignia, the Scottish thistle. In the Straits Settlements, Craik gave the European Arts and Crafts tradition its tropical apotheosis. [5]
CRAIK. —On March 24th, Acting Flying Officer Donald McLeod Craik, R.A.F., V.R., A.R.I.B.A., aged 27, of 5, Lansdown Crescent, Bath, dearly loved husband of Ruth, and father of David and Brian, only son the late Mr. and Mrs. David McLeod Craik, of Penang.