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

, most of Hertford College (including the Bridge of Sighs 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 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 The City of Oxford High School for Boys (a.k.a. Oxford High School for Boys and City of Oxford School) was founded in 1881 by Thomas Hill Green to provide Oxford boys with an education which would enable them to prepare for University. History ...

, 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 Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

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 Brighton College is a fee-charging, co-educational, boarding and day public school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton and Hove, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18), Brighton Co ...

. 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 University of Wales, Lampeter () was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest Academic degree, degree awarding institution in Wales, with limited degree awarding powers sinc ...

. He is also famous for designing the chapel (amongst other things) at Radley College. He was educated at

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 Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely 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 ...

. 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 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 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 Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

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