Career
He was born in Edinburgh on 3 November 1903, the son of David Brechin (d1949), a civil servant, and Katharine Mary O’Brien. He was educated at James Gillespies School in Edinburgh and then attended Heriot-Watt University from 1919 where he trained as a surveyor. In 1931 he founded the company ’’H.A.Brechin & Company’’.
In 1969 he was created a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh In the 1960s he lived at ‘’The Garth’’ 3 Castlelaw Road in the Colinton area of Edinburgh.
Doctor of Letters 1967
Commander of the British Empire 1968
Deputy Lieutenant of Edinburgh 1970
Chairman of Heriot-Watt University Court 1972-1979
Brechin was painted wearing the ceremonial robes of the Lord Provost by Henry Raeburn Dobson in 1967.
