Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, 1st Baronet (21 December 1835 – 7 November 1924) was one of the most distinguished British

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s of his generation. He is best remembered for his work at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, including the

Oxford Military College Oxford Military College was an all-male private boarding school and military academy in Cowley, Oxford, England, from 1876 to 1896. The military college opened on 7 September 1876. Prince George, Duke of Cambridge was the patron of the Oxfor ...

at Cowley, the university's

Examination Schools The Examination Schools of the University of Oxford are located at 75–81 High Street, Oxford, England. The building was designed by Sir Thomas Jackson (1835–1924), who also designed several other University buildings, such as much of Brasen ...

, most of

Hertford College Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colle ...

(including the

Bridge of Sighs The Bridge of Sighs (Italian: ''Ponte dei Sospiri'', vec, Ponte de i Sospiri) is a bridge in Venice, Italy. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the New Priso ...

over New College Lane), much of

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

, ranges at Trinity College and

Somerville College Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, ...

, the City of Oxford High School for Boys, and the Acland Nursing Home.

Life and career

Much of his career was devoted to the architecture of education, and he worked extensively for various schools, notably Giggleswick and his own alma mater

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

. Jackson designed the former town hall in

Tipperary Town Tipperary Town (; ) is a town and a civil parish in County Tipperary, Ireland. Its population was 4,979 at the 2016 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and is in the historical baron ...

, Ireland. He also worked on many parish churches and the college chapel at the

University of Wales, Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter ( cy, Prifysgol Cymru, Llanbedr Pont Steffan) was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales, with limited ...

. He is also famous for designing the chapel (amongst other things) at

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, an ...

. He was educated at

and then

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

, of which he wrote a history, before being articled as a pupil to

Sir George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

. Jackson was a prolific author of carefully researched works in architectural history, often illustrated with sketches made during his extensive travels. Jackson's travels in Dalmatia, in which he was accompanied by his intrepid wife, would result in ''Dalmatia, the Quarnero and Istria with Cettigne in Montenegro and the island of Grado'' (3 volumes), published by the Clarendon Press, Oxford, in 1887. It remains today a fundamental source of knowledge of the geography, art, architecture and social life of Dalmatia in those years. He and

Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

edited ''Architecture, A Profession or an Art'' published in 1892, to which William H. White replied by publishing ''The Architect and his artists, an essay to assist the public in considering the question is architecture a profession or an art''. This had been part of the course of events which resulted in the passing of the

Architects (Registration) Acts, 1931 to 1938 The Architects (Registration) Acts, 1931 to 1938 is the statutory citation for three Acts of the United Kingdom Parliament, namely: * Architects (Registration) Act 1931; * Architects (Registration) Act 1934; and * Architects Registration Act 1938 ...

which established the statutory

Register of Architects From 1932 there has been a statutory Register of Architects under legislation of the United Kingdom Parliament originally enacted in 1931. The originating Act contained ancillary provisions for entering an architect’s name in the register and re ...

and monopolistic restrictions on the use of the

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

word "

", imposed with threat of

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

for infringement. In 1889, Jackson was elected as a member of the

Art Workers' Guild The Art Workers' Guild is an organisation established in 1884 by a group of British painters, sculptors, architects, and designers associated with the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The guild promoted the 'unity of a ...

, and went to be elected Master of the Guild in 1896. In 1892, he was elected as an associate member of the Royal Academy before becoming an elected full member of the Academy in 1896, and holding roles of senior Royal Academician and treasurer. In 1919, Jackson wrote a collection of supernatural stories, ''Six Ghost Stories''. These stories were written under the influence of

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

, and Jackson expressed admiration for James' work in the book's introduction. A stone memorial tablet to Sir Thomas was erected in the chapel of Brighton College, part of which he had built as a

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

memorial in 1922–23. For that school's chapel he had also designed many memorials during the 1880s and 1890s. The other concentrated group of mural tablets by Jackson is to be found in the antechapel of Wadham College in Oxford. Jackson's pupils and assistants included Evelyn Hellicar. Jackson was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

, of Eagle House in Wimbledon in the County of Surrey, on 10 February 1913.

Sources

* * * * *

References

External links

*
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Thomas Graham 1835 births 1924 deaths Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Royal Academicians Registration of architects in the United Kingdom People educated at Brighton College English ecclesiastical architects Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Architects from Oxford Ghost story writers Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Masters of the Art Worker's Guild