Basic Biographical Details

Name: Thomas Harrison
Designation:  
Born: 7 August 1744
Died: 29 March 1829
Bio Notes: Thomas Harrison was born in Richmond, Yorkshire, the son of a joiner, and baptised there on 7 August 1744. Early in his life he displayed a talent for drawing which was noticed by Sir Lawrence Dundas of Aske. He went to Italy at Sir Lawrence’s expense in 1769 accompanied by the landscape painter George Cuitt. While in Rome he submitted a design to Pope Clement XIV for converting the Cortile del Belvidere in the Vatican into a museum and the design was well received but not carried out in the end of the day. He also competed in the annual architectural competition of the Academy of St Luke which carried with it the eligibility of membership of the Academy. Harrison was not successful but after complaining to the Pope that he had been unfairly passed over, he was eventually admitted to the Academy by the exercise of the Pope’s special prerogative as patron of the Academy. The Pope later commissioned Harrison to design extensions to the sacristy at St Peter’s but he died before this could be carried out.

Harrison returned to England in 1776 and the following year he exhibited drawings (which he had made for the Academy of St Luke competition) for the remodelling of the Piazza del Popolo in a neo-classical style which was favoured on the Continent at that time. He returned briefly to Richmond but was living in Lancaster in the 1780s and by 1795 had moved to Chester.

In 1782 he obtained an important commission for a bridge in Lancaster over the River Lune. It was completed by 1788. It was the first large public bridge to be built in England with a level surface from bank to bank. Harrison’s use of elliptical arches between pairs of Doric columns influenced Rennie and was used by the latter at Kelso Bridge, Waterloo Bridge and London Bridge. The Lancaster commission led to others and Harrison made successful designs for bridges at Derby and Kendal. In 1776-8 he drew up plans for a triumphal arch bridge over the Thames where Waterloo Bridge was to be built later. This commission was not executed but his criticisms of the design by the engineer Dodd led to the employment of John Rennie. About the same time he proposed a scheme for a quay along the Thames from Westminster to the City (anticipating the Victorian Embankment). His largest commission as a bridge designer was for the Grosvenor Bridge at Chester which was begin 1827 and completed after his death. At the time it was the largest masonry span bridge in the world. The work was carried out by his pupil William Cole and the civil engineer Jesse Hartley more or less adhered to Harrison’s designs.

Harrison designed several country houses, most notably Broomhall for Lord Elgin in Fife. But he is mainly known as a designer of civic buildings, generally in the Greek Revival style, in Manchester, Liverpool and Chester. Howard Colvin considers Chester Castle to be his finest group of Greek Revival buildings; and the Anglesey Column, the Memorial Arch at Holyhead and the Jubilee Tower on Moel Fammau were among the most outstanding public monuments of the time. Although his reputation lies on his Greek revival buildings, he did design in the Gothic style - for example at Lancaster Castle and at the steeple he added to St Nicholas Church in Lancaster. His work is set apart from more run of the mill Gothic and Greek Revival designs by its bold sense of mass, his use of good masonry and his capacity to design in 3 dimensions.

Harrison was highly regarded by his contemporaries, including Cockerell who said he had ‘a spark divine’. His work is concentrated in the north west of England. The fact that this was relatively remote and that he was naturally a diffident person meant he never became a public figure like Soane or Smirke. As a person he was ‘a plain man in person and manners’ and ‘of great modesty and diffidence’.

Harrison held only one public office, the surveyorship of Cheshire.

He died at his house in Chester on 29 March 1829 aged 84. He was survived by his widow and two daughters. There are various portraits of Harrison, at least two being in the Grosvenor Museum. There is a silhouette profile in the RIBA and a marble bust was exhibited at the Liverpool Academy in 1824. A plaster copy is now in the Portico Library, Manchester.

Drawings by Harrison survive in Chester City Archives and the Cheshire Museums Service at Northwich, the Grosvenor Museum at Chester, the County Record Office, the RIBA Drawings Collection and the Yale Center for British Art.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 4Richmond, Yorkshire, EnglandPrivate/business1740s1769 
Item 2 of 4ItalyPrivate/business17691776 
Item 3 of 4Lancaster, EnglandPrivate/business1780s  
Item 4 of 4Chester, Cheshire, EnglandPrivate/business1790s  

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 51793Kennet HouseAlloa ClackmannanshireScotland 
Item 2 of 51794Gosford House  East LothianScotlandWorks. In 1793 Lord Wemyss paid a draughtsman 5 guineas for copying 'some of Mr Harrison's plans' and in 1794 he paid Harrison £31 10s for alteration Robert Adam's plans for Gosford House which was under construction since 1791.
Item 3 of 51795Gosford House, mausoleum  East LothianScotlandNo payment to Harrison for designing this specifically in accounts but among Harrison's drawings in the Salt Museum, Northwich there is a perspective which corresponds with the mausoleum as built (with the exception oif the columns which are unfluted Tuscan as executed rather than Doric in the drawing).
Item 4 of 51796BroomhallLimekilns, Dunfermline FifeScotlandNorth front left unfinished until 1865-9 when existing porch added.
Item 5 of 51801Colinton HouseColinton EdinburghScotlandProvided plan. Richard Crichton drew the elevations to correspond with Harrison's plan.

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 5APSD The Dictionary of Architectureed Wyatt PapworthThe Architectural Publication Society (8v 1852-1892) 
Item 2 of 5Colvin, Howard2008A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 London: YUP. 4th edition 
Item 3 of 5DNB Dictionary of National Biography   
Item 4 of 5Institution of Civil Engineers2002Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers V.1 and 2 
Item 5 of 5Ockrim, M A R1988The Life and Work of Thomas Harrison of Chester PhD thesis, Courtauld Institute of Art 

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this :
 Periodical NameDateEditionPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 3Builder1863xxi pp203-205
Item 2 of 3Country LifeApril 1971  14 and 22 April 1971 and 6 May 1971. 'The Architecture of Thomas Harrison' by J M Crook.
Item 3 of 3Gentleman's Magazine1829i pp468-70