James Hoey Craigie was born in Tradeston, Glasgow, Scotland on 7 March 1870 and was articled to James Hamilton (c.1826-1894) of James Hamilton & Son in Glasgow from 1885 to 1890. He then worked as an assistant to Donald Bruce (1834-1919) and Edward Alexander Buckingham Hay (1855-1934) of Bruce & Hay in Glasgow from 1890 to c.1894; to Andrew Lindsay Miller (1847-1903) in Glasgow in c.1894; to John Bennie Wilson (1848-1923) in Glasgow in c.1894; to William James Anderson in Glasgow in 1895; to George Bell II (1854-1915) and Robert Alexander Bryden (1841-1906) of Clarke & Bell and R. A. Bryden in Glasgow from 1895 to 1902; and to Clarke & Bell in Glasgow from 1902 to 1904. Craigie also attended Glasgow School of Art from 1890 to 1898 and Glasgow Technical College from 1890 to 1897. In 1904 he was awarded the Alexander Thomson Travelling Studentship in 1894. In 1905 Craigie joined Clarke & Bell in partnership as Clarke & Bell & J. H. Craigie.
Craigie was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1911 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1921. He was also a Fellow of the Institute of Architects, Scotland (F.I.Archts, Scotland).
His address was given as 11, Grantly Street, Shawlands, Glasgow in 1892 and 1896; 12, Grantly Street, Shawlands, Glasgow in 1899; 3, Riverside Road, Newlands, Glasgow in 1907; 212, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow in 1911 and 1923; and Strathruddie, 42, Riverside Road, Newlands, Glasgow in 1911 and 1930. He died in Glasgow on 30 March 1930
Justiciary Courts, Glasgow, 1910-13; Grosvenor Restaurant, Glasgow, 1903-6; Royal Polytechnic Warehouse, Glasgow (Interiors), 1910-11. 1913-15, 1920-22; Kirkintilloch Pariah Church, 1912-14: In partnership with the late George Hell, FRIBA, until 1915, and thereafter with his son: — several blocks of business premises, including the Scottish Legal Friendly Society Buildings, 1915-17; alterations to King's Arms Hotel, Girvan, Ayrshire, 1923; Lewis's Royal Polytechnic, 65-117, Argyle Street, Glasgow, 1923
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001