William Daniel McLennan [also known, incorrectly as William David McLennan] was born in Paisley, Scotland on 12 April 1872. It is thought that he may have received his training as an architect in the practice of William Henry Lynn in Belfast, Ireland sometime between 1890 and 1895. In 1895 he came third in a competition to design the new Technical School in Paisley. The relative success of his submission encouraged McLennan to set up his own practice in late 1896 or early 1897. He subsequently designed several private houses in the Paisley area. He also designed The Bull Inn public house in Paisley in 1900; St. Matthews Church in Paisley; and made alterations to Renfrew Trinity Church in 1903-04.
McLennan was a freemason and designed furniture for the Masonic Lodge in Paisley.
In c.1930 he moved to Belltrees in Linwood Road, Paisley. He died in Paisley on 6 February 1940.
See: Dictionary of Scottish Architects 1660-1980 [link below]
The Glasgow style 1890-1920. Glasgow: Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries, 1984
Hamilton, Alec. Arts & Crafts Churches. London: Lund Humphries, 2020
Walker, Frank. ‘William Daniel McLennan of Paisley’. Bulletin of the Scottish Georgian History Society no. 6, 1979 pp. 17-25
Walker, Frank Arneil. ‘Art Nouveau Patterns in Paisley: the architecture of W D McLennan’. Country Life vol. 164, 10 August 1978 pp.394-395