Isobel Hogg Kerr Beattie


Isobel Hogg Kerr Beattie was possibly the first woman in Scotland to practice architecture on a regular basis.

Early life

Beattie was born in 1900 to Lewis Beattie and Alice Walker Kerr, who were farmers. She graduated from the Edinburgh College of Art.

Career

Beattie worked for a time in an office before practising independently from 1928 to 1929. She then returned to the College of Art where she obtained a further diploma. She was admitted as an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1931 while she was working in Edinburgh with the firm, Jamieson & Arnott. She later moved to Dumfries, probably working there independently; she worked in a room in an architectural office in Castle Street, Dumfries.

Death and legacy

She died in Applegarth in 1970 after an illness. The National Monuments Record of Scotland has a collection of slides related to her work.