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 status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, 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 Oxfo ...

at Cowley, the university's Examination Schools, most of Hertford College (including the Bridge of Sighs over New College Lane), much of Brasenose College, ranges at Trinity College and

Somerville College Somerville College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The college's liberal tone derives from its f ...

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

Life and career

Jackson was born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, but moved with his parents and sister Emily Jackson to Sevenoaks,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 1872. 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. Jackson designed the former town hall in Tipperary Town, Ireland. He also worked on many parish churches and the college chapel at the University of Wales, Lampeter. He is also famous for designing the chapel (amongst other things) at Radley College. He was educated at Brighton College and then

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

, of which he wrote a history, before being articled as a pupil to Sir George Gilbert Scott. 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 Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

, 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 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 which established the statutory Register of Architects and monopolistic restrictions on the use of the

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

word "

", imposed with threat of penalty on

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

for infringement. In 1889, Jackson was elected as a member of the Art Workers' Guild, and went to be elected Master of the Guild in 1896. In 1892, he was elected as an associate member of the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

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 medievalist scholar and author who served as provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936) as well as Vice-Chancellor of the Univers ...

, 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 14th ...

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

Examples of his work

* Additions to increase the capacity of All Saints, Botley in 1892 and 1895 * Emily Jackson Children's Hip Hospital, Sevenoaks circa 1900, which he designed for his sister Emily's children's hospital

References

Sources

* * * * *

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 British ghost story writers Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Masters of the Art Worker's Guild