James Barbour (1834—5 May 1912) was a Scottish architect responsible for over four hundred buildings in Dumfriesshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. His twin brother Robert set up the drapers shop in Dumfries which went on to become the business R Barbour & Sons.
James Barbour was born in Dunscore and began his training in Dumfries in c. 1848-1849 with Walter Newall. He set up his own practice in 1860.
He was a member of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He excavated the Roman site at Birrens.
Works
Buildings in and around the former Crichton Royal Institution, Dumfries, which Dumfries and Galloway Council's conservation area appraisal credits to Barbour include:
Ellangowan House, Bankend Road (1869), a Victorian Gothic house in red sandstone with an octagonal tower; Category B listed.
Spittalfield Cottages, Glencaple Road (1876), a semi-detached pair of red sandstone cottages.
Midpark, Bankend Road: a later sandstone frontage added to an earlier house, with distinctive straight, stack-bonded chimneys; Category C listed.
Low Lodge, Glencaple Road (1904, attributed); Category C listed with its entrance piers, walls and railings.
Upper Brownhall Lodge at Grierson Gate, Bankend Road (1904, attributed), with a tall straight chimney and an Arts and Crafts style half-timbered porch; the lodge, gateway, wall and railings are Category B listed.