McNeill, James (draughtsman, and teacher)
Dates
- Existence: 1881 - 1964
Biography
James McNeill (d.1964) was born in Glasgow in 1881. He worked as an apprentice engineer before training as a draughtsman and later becoming a teacher of technical subjects including metalwork. In 1911 he was appointed to Russell Street School in Ayr. He later moved to Newton Academy in c.1929 and remained there until 1946. A conscientious objector during WWI, he avoided imprisonment by having suitable work of importance. McNeill was a member of the Independent Labour Party and the Christian Endeavour Society and also became Secretary of the Glasgow Health Culture Society. A keen cyclist, he regularly travelled and camped across Scotland. He married in 1929 and had two children, Sheila (b.1931) and Ruairi (b.1936). [Source: 'James McNeill: A Man of His Time', M.Phil dissertation, by Ruairi McNeill, 2009]