James Burn, otherwise known as 'Old Timmer', was a Scottish architect and builder active in the late-18th and early-19th centuries. He was born in 1748 in Yester, East Lothian, Scotland the son of George Burn and Helen Pearson.
A wright by trade, Burn later became a successful builder in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland. He established an architectural practice and took on a number of commissions, concentrating mostly on private homes and bridges, particularly in Aberdeen, Scotland. Burn died on 27 January 1816.
Sources:
Colvin, Howard, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840, 3rd edition (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995), pp. 180-181.
Dictionary of Scottish Architects, 'James Burn', DSA Architect Biography Report <http://www.codexgeo.co.uk/dsa/architect_full.php?id=M005766> [accessed 29 January 2008]
Skempton, Alec Westley, et. al, (eds.) A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 1: 1500-1830 (London: Thomas Telford, 2002), pp. 104-105.