John Leck Bruce

John Leck Bruce (16 Oct 1850 - 29 Nov 1921) was a Scottish-born architect, sanitary engineer and teacher. He was born in Glasgow to Robert Bruce (clerk), and his wife Jane (née Leck). Bruce began practising professionally at 21 years old (1871/72), and in 1874/75 he took David Sturrock into partnership under "Bruce & Sturrock", as well as working as a consulting engineer for Glasgow Corporation. In 1877 he married Charlotte Florence Cochran in Birkenhead, England. They had five children: Robert (1878-unknown), Charles John (1880-1961), Gerald Whitney (1882-1917), Cecile Blanche Ritchie (1891-1959) and Maida Charlotte Jean (1895-1943). In 1887 he migrated to Australia and settled in Sydney, New South Wales. In 1889 he became a foreman of works in the government architect's branch of the Department of Public Works, and from 1891 until his death he worked as first lecturer in sanitary engineering at Sydney Technical College. Bruce worked as the Sydney editor of Building and Engineering Journal of Australia and New Zealand and assistant editor of Australian Technical Journal, and in 1901 he authored The Australian Sanitary Inspector's Textbook. He died in 1921 of cerebral thrombosis in Sydney.