GRASSICK_James
GRASSICK, James (1851–1903), architect, carpenter and foreman of works, was born at Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, eldest son of William Grassick, a farmer ‘with 103 acres and employing 2 men and 1 woman’, and Catherine Henderson. In 1871, he was working as a banker’s clerk but by 1881, he was a carpenter in Aberdeen. He arrived in Queensland from the south in September 1887, having just arrived in Sydney from Fiji. In 1889, Grassick was working at Cooktown, where he was appointed Overseer of Works for the Municipal Council and by early 1890, was practising as an architect and civil engineer. His only known work was an innovative Presbyterian Church. After unsuccessfully seeking tenders in 1890 for a conventional design in brick or timber, he changed the plans to a timber building with lattice walls, considered the town’s most handsome church despite its “architectural eccentricities” and walls “suggestive of a butcher’s shop”. Grassick married Mary Laurenson at Casino, NSW in 1899 when he was working as foreman of breakwater works at Ballina for the NSW Harbours and Rivers Department. In November 1900, he was transferred to Bellinger Heads as Superintendent of Works. He died at Bellingen. In a then commonplace pattern, many of Grassick’s seven siblings dispersed around the world. After studying at the University of Aberdeen, George became a clergyman at Leochel-Cushnie, Aberdeenshire, initially with his sister Mary as his housekeeper. After he married, she became a hospital matron. William remained on the farm. Catherine migrated to the USA in 1892 where she married a carpenter and lived in British Columbia. Alexander was a clerk. Patrick was an accountant in Argentina. His youngest brother Alfred migrated to Canada where he was a farmer. In 1916 he died aged 48 on the Western Front .
Employment
Education
Self-Employment / Practice
Genealogy
[F] William Grassick (Henderson) (1811–1892) b. 1811, Towie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; d. 3 Jan 1892, Round Lightnot, Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, Scotland [farmer]
[S, 1851 / M] Catherine Henderson (Grassick) (1822–1905) b. 1822, Auchindoir, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; d. 16 Apr 1905, Daviot, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
· [8C/B1-6] James GRASSICK (1851–1903) b. 4 Mar 1851, Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; d. 16 Nov 1903, Bellingen, NSW.
o [S, 1899, Casino, NSW / M] Mary Laurenson (1881–1916) b. ?; d. 20 Feb 1916, Sydney, NSW.
§ [C/B] James L Grassick (1900-1934) b. 1900, Ballina NSW; d. 1934, ?
§ [C/B] William George Grassick (1902-?) b. 1902, Bellingen, NSW; d. 1939, Five Dock, Sydney, NSW.
· [8C/B2-6] George Henderson Grassick (Rev) (Reid) (1852–1934) b. 9 Dec 1852, Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; d. 18 Feb 1934, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
· [8C/B3-6] William Henderson Grassick (1855–?) b. 27 Aug 1855, Old Meldrum, Aberdeen, Scotland; d. ?
· [8C/G1-2] Mary Grassick (1858–?) b. 13 Jan 1858, Old Meldrum, Aberdeen, Scotland; d. ?
· [8C/G2-2] Catherine Elizabeth Grassick (McIntosh) (1860–1941) b. 8 Oct 1860, Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; d. 1 Nov 1941, Mission City, British Columbia, Canada
· [8C/B4-6] Alexander Grassick (1862–1889) b. 14 Dec 1862, Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; d. 1 May 1889, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland [a clerk]
· [8C/B5-6] Patrick – Peter Archibald Grassick (McIndoe) (1865–1931) b. 20 Dec 1865, Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; d. 10 Dec 1931, El Mirador, Ranelagh, Buenos Aires, Argentina [an accountant]
· [8C/B6-6] Alfred Grassick (1868–1916) b. 13 Apr 1868, Old Meldrum, Aberdeen, Scotland; d. 19 July 1916, KIA Flanders, Belgium.
References
Cooktown Independent, 7 Aug 1889, 2; 6 Aug 1890, 2, 3; Richmond River Herald, 30 Nov 1900, 4; Sydney Morning Herald, 1 Dec 1903, 4.