Basic Biographical Details Name: | Baird & Thomson | Designation: | | Born: | 1848 | Died: | 1856 | Bio Notes: | John Baird the Second was no relation of the first (John Baird 'Primus'), being born in November 1816 at Ayr, the son of Alexander Baird, shoemaker, and his wife Elizabeth Grange. About 1830 he was articled to James Watt, but after Watt's death in 1832 he completed his apprenticeship with John Herbertson. Thereafter he worked with John Fisher until Spring 1837 when he joined David and James Hamilton where he was very unusually allowed to put his name in the Directory. There he worked on Lennox Castle, the Clydesdale, Western, British Linen and Union Banks and in the Western Club: and at Hamilton Palace he worked on the Black Marble Stair and on the base of the mausoleum under the direct supervision of the Duke. In December 1843 David Hamilton died, his son James thereafter forming a partnership with his sister's husband James Smith, father of Madeline Hamilton Smith of murder trial fame. Within a few months however the partnership was sequestrated, possibly as a result of financial troubles over their development on the north side of Royal Exchange Square. James Hamilton then withdrew from the partnership; Smith carried on the practice on his own, possibly with his brother-in-law's assistance, and Baird commenced practice on his own. In 1846 Smith and Baird formed a partnership but this was not a success and by the beginning of 1848 Baird was practising on his own account at 112 Hope Street, Glasgow. On 21 September 1847, he married, at a double wedding, Jessie Nicholson, daughter of Michael Angelo Nicholson (died 1841) and granddaughter of the architect Peter Nicholson, the other bridegroom being Alexander Thomson, who married her sister Jane.
Alexander Thomson was born at Endrick Cottage, Balfron, on 9 April 1817, the seventeenth child of John Thomson and the ninth child of his second marriage to Elizabeth Cooper. John Thomson was the bookkeeper at Kirkman Finlay's cotton works there and had previously held a similar position at Carron Ironworks. Advancement with both firms was precluded by his strict Burgher beliefs which were shared by his wife: she had come to Balfron with her brother, the Rev John Cooper. The family was educated at home, partly by Cooper, but John Thomson died in 1824 and the family had to move from Balfron to the outskirts of Glasgow. Elizabeth died in 1828, leaving the family in the care of her son William, a brilliant classical scholar who was briefly professor of humanity at the University of Glasgow. In 1834 William Thomson moved to London as a missionary, leaving his brothers and sisters at his house at Hangingshaw. In the same year Alexander became a clerk in a Glasgow lawyer's office. There his drawing skills attracted the attention of a client, Robert Foote, who had inherited the large plasterer's business of David Foote & Son in 1827 and had commenced practice as an architect in 1830. Foote's architectural practice was small but in association with the decorative plasterwork side of his business he had amassed a magnificent library and a large collection of classical casts from which Thomson learned much in the two years he was articled to him. In 1836 a spinal complaint obliged Foote to withdraw from architectural practice and Thomson completed his articles with John Baird, remaining with him first as assistant and later as chief draughtsman when much of his time was spent on the unbuilt college on Woodlands Hill. In the early 1840s Thomson's younger brother George, born at Balfron on 26 May 1819 was also articled to Baird, after recovering from a respiratory complaint which had been thought to be consumption.
In 1849 Baird entered into partnership with his brother-in-law under the name Baird & Thomson. Within two years the partnership was extremely successful with a large clientele for medium-sized villas and terraces of cottages in Pollokshields, Shawlands, Crossmyloof, Cathcart, Langbank, Bothwell and Cove and Kilcreggan. At Cove and Kilcreggan they enjoyed the support of the builder, railway contractor and ironfounder John McElroy who commissioned Craig Ailey in 1850 and built a considerable number of other marine villas either speculatively or for clients. These early villas were generally either Gothic, sometimes with Pugin-derived details, or Italian Romanesque but a few, most notably Glen Eden at Cove, had very original elements which, as Gavin Stamp has shown, have their origins in the publications of the architectural historian and theorist James Fergusson.
In 1854 Thomson began designing in a picturesque asymmetrically composed pilastraded neo-Greek idiom which derived from Schinkel at Rockbank, Helensburgh and the Mossman studio on Cathedral Street. These were followed by the Scottish Exhibition Rooms in Bath Street which he and some architect friends built to provide a Scottish counterpart to the period courts in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. This decisive shift to the neo-Greek which would remain characteristic of him and by then had no counterpart either in Edinburgh or south of the Border was quickly followed by a change of partner. In 1856 the partnership of Baird & Thomson was amicably dissolved so that Thomson could form a separate practice with his brother George who may still have been in the office of John Baird Primus: the record is not absolutely clear. Baird thereafter practised alone from 112 West Regent Street. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 112, Hope Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1848 | c. 1853 | | | 132, Hope Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | c. 1853 | c. 1854 | | | 109, Hope Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | c. 1854 | 1856 | |
Employment and TrainingEmployees or Pupils
Buildings and DesignsThis was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details): | | Date started | Building name | Town, district or village | Island | City or county | Country | Notes | | c. 1849 | Design for Unidentified Building with Galleried Interior on Iron columns | | | | | | | 1850s | Anchorage | Cove | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but probable--Check partnership | | 1850s | Blocks of Tenements, 37?-387 Sauchiehall Street | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but relief panels are the same as those on demolished warehouse in Howard Street | | 1850s | Carradale | Kilcreggan | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but probable | | 1850s(?) | Design for Romanesque Church with Campanile | | | | | | | 1850s | Ellerly | Kilcreggan | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but probable | | 1850s | Ivy Cave Cottage | Cove | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | | | 1850s | Seaton Lodge | Kilcreggan | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but probable | | 1850s | Villa, 26 Maxwell Drive | Pollokshields | | Glasgow | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but probable on stylistic grounds | | 1850s | Wodrow Monument, Eastwood Old Cemetery | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but probable on stylistic grounds | | 1850 | Cove Cottage, Semi-detached Villas | Cove | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | | | 1850 | Seymour Lodge | Cove | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | Villa and detached coach house | | 1850 | The Knowe and Lodge | Pollokshields | | Glasgow | Scotland | Original house | | 1851 | Ardsloy | Kilcreggan | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but very likely | | 1851 | Beech Villa | Pollokshields | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1851 | Green Gables | Pollokshields | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1851 | Lincoln Villa | Pollokshields | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1851 | Manhattan Cottage | Pollokshields | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | c. 1851 | John Blair & Co Warehouse and Shops | | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | c. 1851 | Sighthill Cemetery, Mossman Monument | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but probable | | 1852(?) | Block of Tenements on Taylor Street and Parson Street | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but probable | | c. 1852 | Craig Ailey, Italian Villa | Cove | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | | | c. 1852 | Sighthill Cemetery, Atwood Monument | | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1853 | Langside Estate layout | | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1853 | Unitarian Church | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Competition designs - not successful | | c. 1853 | Braehead Villa | Cathcart | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | c. 1853 | St Ann's Lodge | Blairmore | | Argyll | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but probable | | 1854 | 1339 Pollokshaws Road | Shawlands | | Glasgow | Scotland | Attribution undocumented and uncertain | | 1854 | Darnley Terrace | Shawlands | | Glasgow | Scotland | Undocumented--attribution by Worsdall | | 1854 | Mossman Sculptor's Studio | | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1854 | Rockbank House and Lodge | Helensburgh | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | | | 1854 | Scottish Exhibition Rooms | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Greek court | | 1854 | Sessional School | | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | c. 1854 | 1349 Pollokshaws Road | Shawlands | | Glasgow | Scotland | Attribution undocumented and uncertain | | c. 1854 | 1353 Pollokshaws Road | Shawlands | | Glasgow | Scotland | Attribution undocumented and uncertain | | c. 1854 | 1365 Pollokshaws Road | Shawlands | | Glasgow | Scotland | Attribution undocumented and uncertain | | c. 1854 | 1381-1389 Pollokshaws Road | Shawlands Road | | Glasgow | Scotland | Attribution undocumented and uncertain | | c. 1854 | Craigrownie House | Cove | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | House and boundary wall | | c. 1854 | Southern Necropolis, Thomson Monument | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Attribution undocumented | | 1855 | Caledonia Road UP Church | Hutchesontown | | Glasgow | Scotland | Began church | | 1855 | Crossmyloof Buildings | Langside | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1855 | Glen Eden | Bothwell | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but certain? | | 1855(?) | Knockderry Castle and lodge (Knockderry Cottage) | Cove | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | | | 1855 | Pollok Burgh School | Pollokshaws | | Glasgow | Scotland | Baird claimed responsibility | | 1855 | Woodside Cottages | Langbank | | Renfrewshire | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but probable on stylistic grounds; APSD refers to Langbank. | | c. 1855 | Eastwood and Rhodove, Double Villa | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Attribution undocumented and uncertain; date unknown | | c. 1855 | Huntly Lodge | Bothwell | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | | | c. 1855 | The Knowe and Lodge | Pollokshields | | Glasgow | Scotland | Extension | | 1856 | Block of Tenements and Shops, Hospital Street | Hutchesontown | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1856 | Block of Tenements with Shops, Cathcart Road | | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1856 | Busby House (for Mr Kessock) | Busby | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | Large addition | | 1856 | Maria Villa, Langside Hill | Langside | | Glasgow | Scotland | Begun by Baird & Thomson; finished by A & G Thomson | | 1856 | Upper Clifton House, Craigmore | Rothesay | Bute | Bute | Scotland | | | c. 1856 | Glen Eden | Cove | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but probable on stylistic grounds | | c. 1855 | Green Bank Villa | Bothwell | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | |
ReferencesCurrently, there are no references for this . The information has been derived from: the British Architectural Library / RIBA Directory of British Architects 1834-1914; Post Office Directories; and/or any sources listed under this individual's works. |