Thomas Cubitt (25 February 1788 – 20 December 1855) was a British master builder, notable for his employment in developing many of the historic streets and squares of London, especially in

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

and

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

Background

The son of a

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

carpenter, he journeyed to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

as a ship's carpenter, from which he earned sufficient funds to start his own building firm in 1810 on Gray's Inn Road, London, where he was one of the first builders to have a 'modern' system of employing all the trades under his own management.

Work

Cubitt's first major building was the London Institution in

Finsbury Circus Finsbury Circus is a park in the Coleman Street Ward of the City of London, England. The 2 acre park is the largest public open space within the City's boundaries. It is not to be confused with Finsbury Square, just north of the City, or Fins ...

, built in 1815. After this he worked primarily on speculative housing at

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, and especially at Highbury Park,

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

. His development of areas of

, including

Gordon Square Gordon Square is a public park square in Bloomsbury, London, England. It is part of the Bedford Estate and was designed as one of a pair with the nearby Tavistock Square. It is owned by the University of London. History and buildings The sq ...

and Tavistock Square, began in 1820, for a group of landowners including the Duke of Bedford. 49 Belgrave Square 06

He was commissioned in 1824 by Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster, to create a great swathe of building in

centred on

Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces for ...

and

, in what was to become his greatest achievement in London.''Holland & Hannen and Cubitts – The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm'', published 1920, Page 29 Notable amongst this development are the north and west sides of

Eaton Square Eaton Square is a rectangular, residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is the largest Squares in London, square in London. It is one of the three squares built by the landowning Grosvenor family when they developed the main ...

, which exemplify Cubitt's style of building and design. Statue of Thomas Cubitt in Dorking

After Cubitt's workshops in Thames Bank were destroyed by fire, he remarked "Tell the men they shall be at work within a week, and I will subscribe £600 towards buying them new tools." Cubitt was also responsible for the east front of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

.''Holland & Hannen and Cubitts – The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm'', published 1920, Page 35 He also built and personally funded nearly a kilometre of the

Thames Embankment The Thames Embankment was built as part of the London Main Drainage (1859-1875) by the Metropolitan Board of Works, a pioneering Victorian civil engineering project which housed intercept sewers, roads and underground railways and embanked the ...

. He was employed in the large development of Kemp Town in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, and

Osborne House Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Albert designed the house in the style ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

, completed in 1851. Cubitt's public works included the provision of public parks, including being an organiser of the

Battersea Park Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea, London, Chelsea and was opened in 1858. The park occupies ...

Scheme. His work outside London includes the country house Polesden Lacey, near Dorking, Surrey, which he rebuilt to largely its present form in the early 1820s. In 1827 he withdrew from the management of his Gray's Inn Road concern leaving this to his brother William Cubitt; the firm of Cubitts still carried out the work of Thomas Cubitt and the change robbed neither partner of the credit for their work.

Family

Cubitt had two brothers, the contractor and politician

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and the civil engineer Lewis who designed many houses built by Thomas. Cubitt married Mary Anne Warner (1802–1880), on 25 March 1821 in the church of St Marylebone and they had at least twelve children – Anne (1820), Mary (1821), Emily (1823), George (1828), Sophia (1830), Fanny (1832), William (1834), Lucy (1835), Caroline (1837), Arthur (1840), and twins Thomas and Charles (1842), although five children predeceased their father. George became a

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, created Baron Ashcombe in 1892. Mary, later Mrs Parker, was a botanist whose botanical specimens are held at the Royal Botanica Gardens, Kew. Thomas through his son, George, is a great-great-great-grandfather of

Queen Camilla Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. Camilla was raised in East ...

Legacy

Cubitt died in 1855 and was taken from Dorking for burial at West Norwood Cemetery on 27 December 1855. After his death,

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

said, "In his sphere of life, with the immense business he had in hand, he is a real national loss. A better, kindhearted or more simple, unassuming man never breathed." As well as the statue in Denbigh Street, London, another of Cubitt can be seen in

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

, opposite the Dorking Halls, as he was favoured there for his architecture on his Denbies estate. In 1883 the business was acquired by Holland & Hannen, a leading competitor, which combination became known as Holland & Hannen and Cubitts, later Holland, Hannen & Cubitts. Restaurants, pubs and other places have been named in his honour.

References and footnotes

;Footnotes ;Citations {{DEFAULTSORT:Cubitt, Thomas 1788 births 1855 deaths Burials at West Norwood Cemetery English carpenters British builders Architects from Norfolk Italianate architecture in the United Kingdom People from Broadland (district) People from Dorking Thomas 19th-century British businesspeople