A. B. McDonald

Alexander Beith McDonald (12 August 1847 - 31 October 1915) was a Scottish architect, who served as City Engineer and Surveyor in Glasgow Corporation's Office of Public Works between 1890 and 1914.

Born in Stirling in 1847, McDonald was articled at the age of 16 to the land surveyors and civil engineers Smith & Wharrie of Glasgow in 1862, and studied engineering, natural philosophy and mathematics at Glasgow University.

[1] At the age of 23, McDonald joined the Glasgow Corporation's Office of Public Works under City Architect, John Carrick in 1870, and soon became involved in development of a wide variety of municipal projects as part of the City Improvement Trust, such as police stations, fire stations, markets, baths, washhouses and tenements.

He married Janet Napier at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh in 1877, and had a son born in 1878.

[1] Nine months later his only son, Alexander McDonald Jr. was killed at the Battle of the Somme on 30 July 1916, aged 38.

Govanhill Baths, completed in 1917, was McDonald's last major project before his death in 1915