Early life

He was born in Edinburgh in 1906, son of George Herbert Lindsay, distiller and baillie

Baillie

A baillie or bailie is a civic officer in the local government of Scotland. The position arose in the burghs, where baillies formerly held a post similar to that of an alderman or magistrate...

 or town councillor, and Helen Eliza Turnbull. He was educated at Marlborough College

Marlborough College

Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...

 and Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

.

Like many artistically-minded Cambridge undergraduates of his generation, Lindsay came under the spell of "Manny": Mansfield Duval Forbes. In his circle, Lindsay made a number of friends who were to have considerable influence on his later work; amongst these were Raymond McGrath

Raymond McGrath

Raymond McGrath was an Australian-born architect and interior designer who for the greater part of his career was Principal Architect for the Office of Public Works in Ireland.-Life:...

, Oliver Hill, Robert Hurd, Thomas Steuart Fothringham and Robert Simpson.

Architect

After leaving Cambridge he was apprenticed to Reginald Fairlie

Reginald Fairlie

Reginald Francis Joseph Fairlie was a Scottish architect.Born at Kincaple, Fife, he was educated in Birmingham....

 in 1927, in 1931 he commenced practice on his own account before joining the firm of Orphoot and Whiting in 1933. In 1932 Lindsay had married the Hon Maysie Elizabeth Loch, daughter of Major General the 2nd Baron Loch of Drylaw and Stoke College

Edward Loch, 2nd Baron Loch

Major-General Edward Douglas Loch, 2nd Baron Loch CB, CMG, DSO, MVO was a senior British Army officer and peer....

.

During the 1930s Lindsay quickly developed a wide circle of personal and professional friends, many of whom were later to provide work for his architectural practice. Amongst these were the 4th Marquess of Bute, and his nephew Maj Michael Crichton Stuart, Dr Francis Carolus Eeles

Francis Carolus Eeles

Francis Carolus Eeles , OBE, was an English liturgical scholar and church historian.Eeles was on the Advisory Committee of the Warham Guild, established in 1912. He was the first secretary of the Central Council for the Care of Churches, serving as honorary secretary from 1917 and paid secretary...

 (secretary of the Council for the Care of Churches), J S Richardson (principal inspector of Ancient Monuments) and Peter F. Anson the writer and historian. The Dictionary of Scottish Architects states that Lindsay's circle of influential contacts was further widened when his sister, Ailsa Margaret Lindsay, married Lt. Col. Charles Findlay DSO, younger son of architect Lt Col James Leslie Findlay

James Leslie Findlay

James Leslie Findlay was a Scottish architect and soldier.James Leslie Findlay was the younger son of John Ritchie Findlay and Susan Leslie. He practiced as an architect in Edinburgh between 1885-1915. Initially apprenticed to A G Sydney Mitchell, he went into partnership with James Bow Dunn in 1894...

 and grandson of John Ritchie Findlay

John Ritchie Findlay

John Ritchie Findlay was a Scottish newspaper owner and philanthropist.He was born at Arbroath, Angus, son of Peter Findlay and was educated at Edinburgh University...

 of The Scotsman

The Scotsman

The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....

.

As Orphoot, Whiting and Lindsay the firm began major projects of restoration and renovation in the late 1930s at Iona Abbey

Iona Abbey

Iona Abbey is located on the Isle of Iona, just off the Isle of Mull on the West Coast of Scotland. It is one of the oldest and most important religious centres in Western Europe. The abbey was a focal point for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland and marks the foundation of a monastic...

, and the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh. At this time Ian Lindsay began compiling list of buildings he believed worth of conservation, and this work, although interrupted by outbreak of war, formed the basis of the UK's current building listing system in 1947.

During the war Lindsay served in the Royal Engineers

Royal Engineers

The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....

. By 1945, in the rank of Major, he was serving with the British Army of the Rhine

British Army of the Rhine

There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine . Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War, and the other after the Second World War.-1919–1929:...

 repairing war damaged buildings and constructing refugee accommodation.

After the war Lindsay returned to architecture, gaining Fellowship of the RIBA

Riba

Riba means one of the senses of "usury" . Riba is forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence fiqh and considered as a major sin...

 in 1949.

In the early 1952 the practice became Ian G Lindsay and Partners, and began the reconstruction of many small houses in the historic burgh of Culross

Culross

The town of Culross, pronounced "Coo-ros", is a former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland.According to the 2006 estimate, the village has a population of 395...

 in Fife, on behalf of the National Trust for Scotland

National Trust for Scotland

The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland describes itself as the conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to...

. Similar projects for the Trust followed, across Scotland.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s Ian Lindsay undertook a major project involving the renovation of more than one hundred buildings in Inveraray

Inveraray

Inveraray is a royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is on the western shore of Loch Fyne, near its head, and on the A83 road. It is the traditional county town of Argyll and ancestral home to the Duke of Argyll.-Coat of arms:...

, in Argyll, which had been previously gifted to the nation by the Duke of Argyll

Duke of Argyll

Duke of Argyll is a title, created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The Earls, Marquesses, and Dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, noble family in Scotland...

. Another major restoration, that of Pluscarden Abbey

Pluscarden Abbey

Pluscarden Abbey is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery located in the glen of the Black Burn about 10 kilometres south-west of Elgin, in Moray, Scotland...

 in Moray began at this time and was completed after Lindsay's death by William Murray Jack (1921–1999).

Ian Lindsay died in 1966, but the practice continued his work into the 1970s.

Many of Ian Lindsay's drawings and other papers are preserved by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government 'sponsored' [financed and with oversight] through Historic Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish Government...

 in the Ian G Lindsay Collection.

In 1980 Dr Ronald Cant established and endowed the Lindsay-Fischer lectureship, administered by The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body in Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum, Chambers Street, Edinburgh...

, in honour of Ian Lindsay and Gerhard Fischer

Gerhard Fischer

Gerhard Fisher contributed to the development and popularity of the hand held metal detector.-Biography:Gerhard Fisher immigrated to the United States from Germany after studying electronics at the University of Dresden. While working as a Research Engineer in Los Angeles, California his work with...

(1890-1977). The lectureship commemorates the men's work on the historic architecture of Scotland and Norway respectively and their achievements in promoting relations between Scottish and Norwegian scholars. The Lindsay-Fischer Lecture is given in Scotland by a Scandinavian scholar and the Fischer-Lindsay Lecture is given in Oslo by a Scottish scholar, in alternate years.

Publications

• The Cathedrals of Scotland Edinburgh, W & R Chambers, 1926
• Georgian Edinburgh Edinburgh, Oliver & Boyd, 1948
• The Church (Canongate booklets; no.1) Edinburgh, Rev.R.S.Wright, 1950
• The Scottish Parish Kirk Edinburgh, The Saint Andrew Press, 1960
• Inveraray & the Dukes of Argyll (with Mary Cosh) Edinburgh, The Edinburgh University Press, 1973