James Thomas Alliston [also known as Jim Alliston] was born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England on 24 January 1908. He studied at the University of Cambridge and at the Architectural Association Schools in London. He subsequently practised as an architect in London and was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1932. In 1934 he married the architect Jane Beverley Drew (1911-1996) and together they formed the architectural partnership Alliston & Drew. Houses in Cambridge and Cliftonville, Kent designed by Alliston & Drew are discussed in Small Houses £500-£2500, edited by H. Myles Wright (1937 pp. 52, 110-111). The partnership was dissolved as was their marriage in 1939. Alliston died in Lambton, New South Wales, Australia on 16 August 2000