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Frank Mears
Sir Frank Charles Mears PPRSA FRSE LLD (11 July 1880 – 25 January 1953) was an architect and Scotland's leading planning consultant from the 1930s to the early 1950s.
Born in Tynemouth he moved to Edinburgh in 1897 when his father, Dr William Pope Mears (1855–1901), was appointed to a lecturing post in the Anatomy Department of Edinburgh University. His mother, Isabella Bartholomew LDCPE (1853–1936), was one of the first licensed physicians in Scotland and an early Taoist author. The family lived at Woodburn House on Canaan Lane in the Morningside district of Edinburgh.
He trained as an architect, initially under Hippolyte Blanc (1896–1901), and then, in 1903, under Robert Weir Schultz (1860–1951). In 1906, after tours of England and the Continent, he returned to Scotland and worked under Ramsay Traquair (1874–1952). In 1908 he became an assistant to the pioneer planner Patrick Geddes (1854–1932), working on the Civic Survey of Edinburgh for the first ever Town Planning Exhibition (1910).
He worked with Geddes and his daughter Norah on the creation of a Scottish National Zoological Garden 1913–14 which became Edinburgh Zoo. In 1915 he married Norah Geddes, making Patrick Geddes his father-in-law.
In World War I he served with Geddes' son Alasdair in the Kite Balloon section of the Royal Flying Corps and, importantly, invented the modern[clarification needed] parachute (and quick release buckle) whilst serving as a Major in this role.[citation needed]
Mears taught architecture at Edinburgh College of Art on a part-time basis from 1918. In 1925, he began lecturing on planning and, in 1932, founded a one-year postgraduate diploma course in Town and Country Planning.
He was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1936, became full academician in 1943 and served as its President 1944–1950. The University of Edinburgh conferred an honorary doctorate (LLD) on him in 1945, and he was made a Knight Bachelor in the 1946 New Year Honours. He also advised the Department of Health on Housing in Scotland.
Frank Mears died in Christchurch, New Zealand whilst visiting his son, Kenneth Patrick Geddes Mears (1916–2001). His body was returned to Edinburgh for cremation. A memorial plaque is placed to his memory on the south side of Warriston Crematorium above a plaque to his other two sons both of whom died young: Alastair Mears (1918-1939) and John M. Mears (1921–1949).
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Frank Mears
Sir Frank Charles Mears PPRSA FRSE LLD (11 July 1880 – 25 January 1953) was an architect and Scotland's leading planning consultant from the 1930s to the early 1950s.
Born in Tynemouth he moved to Edinburgh in 1897 when his father, Dr William Pope Mears (1855–1901), was appointed to a lecturing post in the Anatomy Department of Edinburgh University. His mother, Isabella Bartholomew LDCPE (1853–1936), was one of the first licensed physicians in Scotland and an early Taoist author. The family lived at Woodburn House on Canaan Lane in the Morningside district of Edinburgh.
He trained as an architect, initially under Hippolyte Blanc (1896–1901), and then, in 1903, under Robert Weir Schultz (1860–1951). In 1906, after tours of England and the Continent, he returned to Scotland and worked under Ramsay Traquair (1874–1952). In 1908 he became an assistant to the pioneer planner Patrick Geddes (1854–1932), working on the Civic Survey of Edinburgh for the first ever Town Planning Exhibition (1910).
He worked with Geddes and his daughter Norah on the creation of a Scottish National Zoological Garden 1913–14 which became Edinburgh Zoo. In 1915 he married Norah Geddes, making Patrick Geddes his father-in-law.
In World War I he served with Geddes' son Alasdair in the Kite Balloon section of the Royal Flying Corps and, importantly, invented the modern[clarification needed] parachute (and quick release buckle) whilst serving as a Major in this role.[citation needed]
Mears taught architecture at Edinburgh College of Art on a part-time basis from 1918. In 1925, he began lecturing on planning and, in 1932, founded a one-year postgraduate diploma course in Town and Country Planning.
He was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1936, became full academician in 1943 and served as its President 1944–1950. The University of Edinburgh conferred an honorary doctorate (LLD) on him in 1945, and he was made a Knight Bachelor in the 1946 New Year Honours. He also advised the Department of Health on Housing in Scotland.
Frank Mears died in Christchurch, New Zealand whilst visiting his son, Kenneth Patrick Geddes Mears (1916–2001). His body was returned to Edinburgh for cremation. A memorial plaque is placed to his memory on the south side of Warriston Crematorium above a plaque to his other two sons both of whom died young: Alastair Mears (1918-1939) and John M. Mears (1921–1949).