He was born in
Alloa on 12 October 1808 the son of John Smith, a builder, and his wife Betty Thompson. His father had worked with
James Gillespie Graham on the rebuilding of Alloa Parish Church. In 1826 the family moved to
Glasgow. In 1835 they were living at 81 Wellington Place and the father had offices at 22 Royal Exchange Square (quite a prestigious address). From 1837 he took over from his father and began stylising himself as "architect". In 1850 the family was living at 230
Sauchiehall Street and Smith had offices at 123 St Vincent Street. In 1854 he moved to a large country house of his own design in
Rhu which he named Rowaleyn. Following the family scandal in 1857 he was forced to leave his Glasgow home and sell Rowaleyn and went to live in the quiet suburb of
Bridge of Allan near Stirling. In 1860 he moved again, this time to
Old Polmont near
Falkirk. Here he lived in the large villa known as Polmont Bank. He died in Polmont on 30 December 1863 aged 55. Architect (and later artist)
John Moyr Smith trained in his office 1860 to 1863. ==Family==