Thomas Jackson (1807–1890) was a 19th-century Irish architect who contributed to the iconic

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

look of

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. He was described as being the foremost Belfast architect of his day.

Early life

Thomas Jackson was born in the city of

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

, Ireland, in 1807. His parents were Anthony Jackson and Elizabeth Pim, both practising

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

. In fact, Thomas Jackson's great-great-great Grandfather was in attendance during the very first Irish Quaker meeting of 1654. Thomas Jackson would later contribute to the local Quaker movement by designing many of the Friends meeting houses in Northern Ireland. Jackson married Lydia Newsom Ridgeway, another member of the Waterford Quaker community, on New Year's Day 1835. Together they produced two children; Anthony Thomas Jackson and William Ridgeway Jackson.

Career

Thomas Jackson served his early apprenticeship with

George Dymond George Dymond ( 1797 – 29 August 1835) was a British architect working mainly in Bristol. List of works * Magistrates’ Court, Old Council House, Corn Street (1829), ''with'' Richard Shackleton Pope * Higher Market, Exeter (1835), ''com ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England. In 1829, he moved to

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

to work in partnership with

Thomas Duff Thomas John Duff (1792–1848) was an Irish architect from Newry, County Down. Duff was the principal architect of a number of Roman Catholic churches and cathedrals in the northeast of Ireland. His work included three churches dedicated to S ...

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

. He was in charge of Duff's newly established Belfast branch office. He kept this role until 1835 before striking out on his own. Thomas's most recognised work from this period was the Old Museum building for the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Socitety, of which he was an Honorary member. Around 1840 Jackson returned briefly to Waterford, the city of his birth, to design a new bank at 31 O'Connell Street. The bank was completed in around 1845.It remained a financial institution for well over a century before becoming offices. In April 2020 it reopened as the Waterford Gallery of Art. Around 1867, Thomas Jackson's sons joined him, operating under the name ''Thomas Jackson & Sons''. Anthony left to pursue his own interests circa 1870. William stayed on for roughly another ten years before emigrating to Australia. Thomas Jackson produced very little architectural work in the years following Williams departure. Jackson was fundamentally a residential architect, but over the course of his career he turned his hand to commercial, educational, industrial and ecclesiastical buildings. An example of his domestic work would be the ambitious Cliftonville development. He was the principal architect of

Ulster Bank Ulster Bank is one of the traditional Big Four Irish clearing banks. The Ulster Bank Group was subdivided into two separate legal entities: National Westminster Bank Plc, trading as Ulster Bank (registered in England and Wales and operating i ...

and of the Banbridge, Lisburn & Belfast Junction Railway.

Notable works

Thomas Jackson was personally credited with 114 designs in total. The following are good examples of work by Thomas Jackson and his sons: * Arnotts Warehouse, Belfast * Belfast Hospital for Sick Children * Clifton Villas, Belfast * Craigavon House * Glenmachon House, Belfast * Graymount House, Belfast *

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

, Belfast * St. George's Building, BelfastSt. George’s Building, 37–41 High Street, Belfast
archiseek.com, 2015. * St. Malachy's Church, Belfast * Quaker Bank, 31 O'Connell Street, Waterford (now the Waterford Gallery of Art)

Gallery

File:Head Line building Belfast.jpg, Scottish Amicable building, Belfast File:Former Corn Exchange, Belfast (detail) - geograph.org.uk - 1396744.jpg, Detailing from the Corn Exchange, Belfast File:Former Friends Meeting House, Belfast - geograph.org.uk - 574723.jpg, Former Frederick Street Quaker Meeting House, Belfast File:Belfast Queen Street Hospital in 2014.jpg, Belfast Hospital for Sick Children File:Former police station, Belfast (geograph 2361829).jpg, Detailing from Belfast Hospital for Sick Children File:St Malachy's Church Belfast.jpg, St Malachy's Church, Belfast File:Old Museum Belfast.jpg, Old Museum, Belfast File:College Square North, Belfast (2) - geograph.org.uk - 1134946.jpg, Detailing from Old Museum, Belfast

Portfolio

''NB: Some omissions due to lack of descriptive information.''

References

Bibliography

* James Stevens Curl, 'A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'. * Hugh Dixon, 'Honouring Thomas Jackson (1807–1890)'. ''British Natural History and Philosophical Society Journal''. * Paul Larmour, 'A hive of activity (Thomas Jackson 1807–1890)'. '' QUB Perspective Journal''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Thomas (architect) 1807 births 1890 deaths People from Waterford (city) Architects from Belfast Architects from County Waterford 19th-century Irish architects