Buchanan, Angus

BUCHANAN, Angus (1886-1954), active in Regina, Saskatchewan in partnership with Joseph E. Fortin (see list of works under Fortin & Buchanan). Born in Kirkwall, Orkney Island, Scotland, he trained under Thomas G. Abercrombie, an architect in Paisley, Scotland, from 1902 to 1907. He then emigrated to Canada and settled in Montreal where he worked as draftsman for the firm of E. & W.S. Maxwell from 1907 to late 1911. He made several visits to Regina to supervise the construction of the Maxwell Brothers winning design for the Provincial Legislative Buildings in 1909-12, and upon the completion of that job he decided to remain in Regina. He was invited to form a partnership there with J.E. Fortin, but their business was dissolved in 1914 and Buchanan appears to have abandoned the profession in order to take up a career as an explorer, naturalist and military officer (Saskatchewan Herald [Battleford], 24 April 1914, 1, biog.; and Morning Leader (Regina), 15 March 1924, 3, biog.). He returned to England to join the Royal Fusiliers in 1915, and after WWI he travelled in East Africa, Abyssinia, and the sub-Sahara region. He was also the author of several war and travel books, and of two novels. He returned to Edinburgh after WWII and died there on 5 February 1954. A lengthy account of his career was published in an obituary article in The Scotsman [Edinburgh], 6 Feb. 1954, 6 (inf. Sask. Association of Architects; inf. Stephen A. Gallard, London).