John Ednie was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 6 January 1876 and studied architecture at Heriot-Watt College in Edinburgh. From 1898 and 1903 he was articled to John Kinross (1855-1931) in Edinburgh whilst concurrently working for the architectural firm Scott Morton & Co. in Edinburgh. During this period he attended the School of Applied Art in Edinburgh. In 1903 he began teaching at Heriot-Watt College. At the same time he was also employed as a principal designer by Wylie & Lochhead, and later by McCulloch and Co, decorators and glass-stainers.
In 1905 he commenced practice as an independent architect and interior designer in Glasgow and in 1908 was appointed head of the Decorative Art Department for evening class students at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College.
In 1926 he moved to London, and in 1928 was appointed Director of the School of Applied Art in Cairo, Egypt.
In addition to his professional work, Ednie was also a painter and at some time studied at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. Between 1903 and 1910 he exhibited at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts and at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. He died at Maadi, Cairo on 18 June 1934.
Architectural work by Ednie included 25 Huntly Gardens, Glasgow, Glasgow in 1902; 26 Athole Lane, Glasgow in 1902; 52 Langside Drive, Glasgow in c.1902; 11 Whittingham Drive, Glasgow in 1906; a house in Kelvinside, Glasgow in 1910; redecoration of City Halls and Bazaar, Kelvinside, Glasgow in 1910; interior of Cranston's Picture House, 13, 15, 17 Renfield Street, Glasgow, in 1914-16.
Cumming, Elizabeth. Hand, heart and soul: the Arts and Crafts movement in Scotland. Edinburgh: Berlinn Limited, 2006 [ISBN 10: 1-84158-419-3]
Euler, Laura. The Glasgow style. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2008
The Glasgow Style 1890-1920. Glasgow: Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries, 1984
In the Glasgow Style. London: Millinery Works Ltd., 1999