Basic Biographical Details

Name: James Thomson
Designation:  
Born:  
Died:  
Bio Notes: James Thomson practised as an architect and civil engineer from various addresses in Glasgow from the 1850s, and disappears from the directories in the 1880s. His principal client was the cotton merchant and land speculator Thomas Lucas Paterson who had bought the Dowanhill estate in 1844. Thomson planned the feuing, designed his house in Sydenham Road, and possibly the other similar bargeboarded Tudor houses in that road and in Victoria Circus.

Thomson's later career is difficult to separate from that of James Thomson of Baird & Thomson as building journal and archive references rarely differentiate between them. Confusion with James Thomson of Airdrie is also a hazard. But he was probably the James Thomson who worked in an Alexander Thomson-influenced style around 1870.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 5135, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, ScotlandBusiness1853 *  
Item 2 of 582, West Nile Street, Glasgow, ScotlandBusinessBefore 1856After 1860 
Item 3 of 561, West Regent Street, Glasgow, ScotlandBusinessBefore 18621875 
Item 4 of 5219, Hope Street, Glasgow, ScotlandBusiness1875After 1877 
Item 5 of 5157, St Vincent Street, Glasgow, ScotlandBusiness1879 *1880 

* earliest date known from documented sources.

Buildings and Designs

This was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):
 Date startedBuilding nameTown, district or villageIslandCity or countyCountryNotes
Item 1 of 81850Dowanhill Estate layoutDowanhill GlasgowScotland 
Item 2 of 81859Newhall, Sydenham Road  GlasgowScotland 
Item 3 of 81865(?)City PoorhouseCraiglockhart EdinburghScotlandSecond premiated competition design (£100 prize) -from address in Scotsman report this is James Thomson of 61 West Regent Street and west nile Street (not James Thomson of Baird & Thomson)
Item 4 of 81867Govan Combination Poorhouse and AsylumGovan GlasgowScotland 
Item 5 of 81870(?)St Columba's ChurchGovan GlasgowScotlandThis James Thomson practised from West Nile Street Glasgow. Uncertain if this is the correct Thomson responsible for the church.
Item 6 of 81874Abraham Hill's Trust SchoolGovan GlasgowScotland 
Item 7 of 8c. 1880Glasgow Municipal Buildings  GlasgowScotlandCompetition design entered under the pseudonym Chilo
Item 8 of 8c. 1885519-529 Great Western Road  GlasgowScotland 

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 1Post Office Directories     

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this :
 SourceArchive NameSource Catalogue No.Notes
Item 1 of 1Professor David M Walker personal archiveProfessor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material Research by Iain Paterson