John R. Hacking
Architect; JHKM employee
Architect John Richard Hacking (1883–1911) was born in Renton, Dunbartonshire. He was the second child of Yorkshire-born schoolteacher William E. Hacking, and Prudence McWilliam from Glasgow; his brother founded the major Glasgow property agents, Hacking & Paterson. 1
In the 1901 census, Hacking was an 'architectural apprentice' (to whom is unspecified), and his younger brother, William Junior, was following the family profession as a property factor's clerk. 2 Hacking enrolled at the Glasgow School of Art in 1902, giving his designation as 'architect'. One of his few recorded architectural projects was to design a pantry and lavatory for his home, Invergair, in Helensburgh, in 1904. 3
Between March 1905 and July 1908, Hacking worked in the office of Honeyman, Keppie & Mackintosh, and he may have met his future business partner Francis (Frank) G. G. Robertson (1881–1954) around this time. Hacking was also 'well known in Glasgow musical circles as the treasurer of the Bach choir', and possibly made further professional contacts in this way. 4 In 1910, he and Robertson (formerly with Campbell & Hislop) established the architectural practice of 'Francis Robertson & Hacking' at 144 St Vincent Street. Their sole project seems to have been 'Croftmhor Lodge', in Skelmorlie, in 1910–11. 5 Hacking joined the Glasgow Institute of Architects as an associate c. 1910, and Robertson followed suit as a student member, becoming an associate himself c. 1911. 6 In 1911, 'Mr Hacking in conjunction with Mr A. Graham Henderson, another Glasgow architect, was awarded ... a 100 guinea premium for competitive designs for Manchester Library and Art Gallery'. Hacking died in a nursing home in Blythswood Square, Glasgow in July 1911. 7 Hacking's inventory reveals that his share of 'Francis Robertson & Hacking', as junior partner, was £47 16s 6d. Francis Robertson continued the practice alone. 8
Notes:
1: Statutory Births, Marriages, www.scotlandsepeople.gov.uk; Census information, www.ancestry.co.uk [both accessed 21 March 2014]; Edinburgh Gazette, 19 October 1923, p. 1386.
2: Census information, www.ancestry.co.uk; Richard McWilliam, Will, Registered 27 August 1890, Paisley Sheriff Court, SC58/45/7, www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk [accessed 22 March 2014].
3: Student Registers, consulted by Archives Assistant (personal communciation), Glasgow School of Art, 12 March 2014; Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1902–3, p. 271; 'John R. Hacking', Dictionary of Scottish Architects, www.scottisharchitects.org.uk [all accessed 21 March 2014].
4: Glasgow Herald, 18 July 1911, p. 6; 'John R. Hacking', Dictionary of Scottish Architects, www.scottisharchitects.org.uk [all accessed 21 March 2014].
5: John Richard Hacking, Testament, Dumbarton Sheriff Court, SC65/35/18, www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk; 'John R. Hacking' and 'Francis George Glyn Robertson', Dictionary of Scottish Architects, www.scottisharchitects.org.uk [all accessed 22 March 2014].
6: Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1910–11, p. 1739; 1911–12, p. 1739; Census information and England & Wales, National Probate Calendar, 1858–1966, online resources, www.ancestry.co.uk [accessed 21 March 2014]; Scottish Architects' and Measurers' Companion, Glasgow: Hoxton & Walsh, 1911, p. 21.
7: Glasgow Herald, 18 July 1911, pp. 1, 6; Scotsman, 3 June 1911, p. 8; 18 July 1911, p. 6.
8: Richard McWilliam, Will, Registered 27 August 1890, Paisley Sheriff Court, SC58/45/7; John Richard Hacking, Testament 1911, Dumbarton Sheriff Court, SC65/35/18, www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk [accessed 22 March 2014]; Glasgow Herald, 18 July 1911, p. 1.
