John Honeyman was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 11 August 1831. After studying at the University of Glasgow, he worked in an accountants' office in London for a year before deciding to pursue a career as an architect. He returned to Glasgow and was articled to Alexander Munro from c.1850-1853, He subsequently set up a practice in Glasgow in the late 1850s or early 1860s. He worked alone until 1888 or 1889 when he formed a partnership with John Keppie (1862-1945) as Honeyman & Keppie in Glasgow. Not long after they recuited Charles Rennie McIntosh (1868-1928), who soon after changed his surname to Mackintosh.
Following Honeyman's retirement in 1901 Mackintosh was taken on as a partner and the name of the office was changed to Honeyman, Keppie & Mackintosh. Although he had retired, Honeyman maintained an interest in the business for some years and was involved in the restoration of Iona Cathedral in 1904-05.
Honeyman was a member of the Institute of Architects in Scotland from 1858. In 1874 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA), and was President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects in 1881-82. He died in Stirlingshire Scotland on 8 August 1914.
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
Edwards, Brian. ‘John Honeyman, Victorian architect and restorer and partner of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’. Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society Newsletter, no 36, February 1984 p.8+
'Obituary'. The Builder vol. 106, 16 January 1914 pp. 84-85
'Obituary'. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 21, 1914 p. 238
'Obituary'. Glasgow Herald 9 January 1914 p. f8