Basic Biographical Details Name: | D Thomson & Turnbull | Designation: | | Born: | 1877 | Died: | 1883 | Bio Notes: | David Thomson was born on 16 October 1831 in Barony parish, Glasgow, the son of Andrew Thomson, medical practitioner and Mary Lockerbie (or Lockerby). His RIBA nomination paper does not state to whom he was originally articled, only that he was for many years assistant and principal assistant to Charles Wilson, studying at the Government School of Design under the unrelated Charles Heath Wilson.
In March 1862 he was taken into partnership by Wilson, and on 19 August the same year he married Janet Giffen at Mearns, Renfrewshire. When Charles Wilson died in February of the following year he continued the practice which thereafter consisted principally of church, school and country house work. Later in that same year, 1863, Charles Heath Wilson's tenure as headmaster of the Government School of Design ended when the institution was transferred from the Board of Trade to the Department of Science and Art. He set up business as an architect although his practice was limited to monuments and ship interiors rather than buildings. Nevertheless he had some influential patrons and he became both Honorary Director of the School (which thereafter became the School of Art) and a trustee of the Haldane Academy. Wilson and Thomson went into partnership some time in that year as C H Wilson & D Thomson, but in 1868 Wilson withdrew to live and work in Florence.
Thomson was important as a teacher during this period: he was appointed architectural master 1862-64, and was reappointed teacher of architectural drawing in 1869 and teacher of architecture in 1871. After the dissolution of his partnership with Wilson he practised alone until July 1876 when Alexander Thomson's partner Robert Turnbull requested permission from Alexander Thomson's trustees to take a partner to handle the design work. The request was eventually agreed to later in that year. No name was mentioned but Turnbull had probably already discussed the possibility of a partnership with David Thomson. The firm became D Thomson & Turnbull later that year.
Turnbull had been born at Mossburnford near Jedburgh in 1839, the son of William Turnbull, joiner, and his wife Mary Deans. He had been educated at Glendouglas School and apprenticed to his father at the early age of eleven. Between 1865 and 1869 Robert Turnbull appears to have been first in Edinburgh, studying at the Watt Institute, and at Anderson’s College in Glasgow. After Alexander Thomson's brother and then partner George Thomson left for the Cameroons in 1871 Alexander Thomson had undertaken the contractual and supervising work previously handled by his brother, but by 1873 he had become overcommitted and unwell. Turnbull had been taken into partnership to deal with such matters, the practice name becoming A & G Thomson & Turnbull. In August 1874 Alexander Thomson had written to his brother that 'Mr Turnbull and I are getting on pretty well we are busy with a number of smallish jobs'. But in the winter of 1874-75 his asthma and bronchitis had deteriorated and on 22 March 1875 he had died, leaving Turnbull sole partner. For more than a year Turnbull had continued the practice, completing and executing projects already designed, some in a simplified form, and adapting old designs to new commissions, until the merger of his practice with that of David Thomson.
Thomson and Turnbull were not, however, really compatible and the partnership was dissolved in 1883, probably primarily because of the severe recession from 1881 onwards.
| Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 122, Wellington Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1877 | 1883 | |
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 | | 1870s | Tenements, Albert Drive, Forth Street and Glenapp Street | | | Glasgow | Scotland | HS attribution to Robert Turnbull | | 1876 | Auchinloch School | Auchinloch | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | Adjacent schoolmaster's house built at same time. | | 1877 | Auldfield Parish Church | Pollokshaws | | Renfrewshire | Scotland | Additions or remodelling | | 1877 | Dalziel Manse (Parish Manse?) | Motherwell | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | | | 1877 | Double villa | Pollokshields | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1877 | Innamore Lodge | Carsaig | Mull | Argyll | Scotland | | | 1877 | Melbourne House | Clydebank | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | | | 1877 | Scotia Leather Works | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Original building and additions | | 1877 | Sir Peter Coats Memorial Church, Minishant | Maybole | | Ayrshire | Scotland | | | 1877 | West Calder Parish Church | West Calder | | Midlothian | Scotland | | | c. 1877 | Warehouse, countinghouse etc, 89-92 Miller Street | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Probably based on an Alexander Thomson design - on grounds of style | | 1878 | Chryston Parish Church | Chryston | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | | | 1878 | Grantly Terrace | Pollokshaws | | Glasgow | Scotland | Possibly by Turnbull | | 1878 | St John the Evangelist Episcopal church | Johnstone | | Renfrewshire | Scotland | Further work | | 1878 | Wingfield | Strathaven | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but possible | | 1879 | Broomhouse | Newton Mearns | | Renfrewshire | Scotland | | | 1879 | Brownville | Kilsyth | | Stirlingshire | Scotland | | | 1879 | Established Church and halls | Possilpark | | Glasgow | Scotland | Church halls built | | 1879 | Keppochhill School | Keppochhill | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1879 | Thornliebank Memorial Public halls and club rooms | Thornliebank | | Renfrewshire | Scotland | | | 1880s(?) | Villa, 48 Townhead Street | Strathaven | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | | | 1880 | Glengair | Strathaven | | Lanarkshire | Scotland | | | 1880 | Invershiel | Lenzie | | Dunbartonshire/Lanarkshire | Scotland | | | 1880 | Tenement, Darnley Street | Pollokshields | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1880 | Warehouses, counting houses etc | | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | 1880 | Winton House | | | Glasgow | Scotland | | | c. 1880 | 14-16 Glenbank Road | Lenzie | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | 'style of' (HS) | | c. 1880 | Villa, 65 Kirkintilloch Road | Lenzie | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | | | 1881 | Arden and Dalveen | Lenzie | | Dunbartonshire/Lanarkshire | Scotland | Attribution undocumented but possibly a reworking of Thomson's design | | 1881 | Auchendrane | | | Ayrshire | Scotland | Extension - possibly by them | | 1881 | Blocks of Tenements on Sandbank Street | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Attribution undocumented - possibly by Turnbull reworking Thomson's designs for other sites | | 1881 | Villas, 28 Victoria Road and 16 Glenhead Road | Lenzie | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | HS attribution | | 1881 | Woodside | Doune | | Perthshire | Scotland | | | c. 1881 | Glasgow Municipal Buildings | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Competition design entered under the pseudonym Bourgeris | | 1882 | Clairinish | Rhu/Row | | Dunbartonshire | Scotland | | | 1882 | Dunavon | Oban | | Argyll | Scotland | | | 1882 | Oban Episcopal Cathedral of St John the Divine | Oban | | Argyll | Scotland | Extension | | 1882 | Royal Exchange | | | Glasgow | Scotland | Alterations |
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Williamson, William | 2011 | Robert Turnbull IA of Lenzie | | | |
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