William Wallace was born near Paisley, Scotland in c.1845* and was articled to Campbell Douglas (1828-1910) and John James Stevenson (1831-1908) of Campbell Douglas & Stevenson in Glasgow in the 1860s. By the 1870s he had moved to London. It is possible that he was associated with the stained glass designer Daniel Cottier (1837-1891) in founding the decorating firm Morris & Co. in Langham Place, London in 1871.
Wallace was in partnership with William Flockhart (1852-1913) from 1879 to 1881; with John McKean Brydon (1840-1901) in c.1881; and with James Glen Sivewright Gibson (1861-1907) from 1900 to 1909.
* Source: 1911 England Census
Alterations to Crathes Castle in Crathes, Aberdeenshire (1880); “The Lothians,” in Hampstead, London with William Flockhart (1881).
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001