Basic Biographical Details Name: | William Innes Thomson | Designation: | | Born: | 1910 | Died: | 30 September 1990 | Bio Notes: | William Innes Thomson was born in 1910, the son of the architect William Nicholas Thomson who practised in Leith. The latter had taken James Dorward into partnership in 1915, the firm then becoming William N Thomson & Co. William Innes commenced the diploma course at the School of Architecture, Edinburgh College of Art and Heriot-Watt College in 1928, studying under John Begg and Frank Charles Mears. He was awarded an exemption from the RIBA intermediate exam in 1931 and spent the following year gaining experience in an unspecified office. He continued his studies thereafter and obtained his diploma in 1934, receiving an exemption from the final exam. He was admitted ARIBA on 14 January 1935, his proposers being Begg, Frank Charles Mears and James Inch Morrison. His nomination papers state that between 1928 and 1934 he had made visits to traditional buildings throughout Britain and had studied contemporary work in London. At the time of his admittance he had been awarded a post-graduate scholarship in Town Planning and was still at the School of Architecture.
In the mid-1930s he worked as an assistant with W Scott Morton & Co probably for practical experience in bar fitting which was the staple business of the Thomson practice. In 1938 the elder Thomson retired at the age of seventy, his interest in the practice passing to his son. The younger Thomson's return appears to have unsettled Samuel Edwin Duncan, who had remained with the firm since completing his apprenticeship there shortly after the First World War and had been made a partner in 1935: he withdrew from the partnership in the following year.
Thomson was on the staff of the Edinburgh College of Art during the late 1930s and/or 1940s.
James Dorward retired c.1944 and in 1950 William Innes Thomson, then sole partner, moved the practice to Cambridge House, 13 Castle Terrace where he was joined in 1961 by his son Nicholas Innes Thomson who became a partner in 1968.
William Nicholas Thomson died in 1951; William Innes Thomson on 20 September 1990. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | Sunnycroft, Barnton, Midlothian, Scotland | Private | 1935 * | | | | Hope Chambers/52, Leith Walk, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland | Business | 1935 | After 1943 | | | Sea Yetts, Glebe Road, Cramond, Edinburgh, Scotland | Private | Before 1939 | After 1944 | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployers
RIBARIBA ProposersThe following individuals proposed this for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details): | | Name | Date proposed | Notes | | John Begg | 14 January 1935 | for Associateship | | (Sir) Frank Charles Mears | 14 January 1935 | for Associateship | | James Inch Morrison | 14 January 1935 | for Associateship |
RIBA Proposals
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Bailey, Rebecca M | 1996 | Scottish architects' papers: a source book | | Edinburgh: The Rutland Press | | | RIBA | 1939 | The RIBA Kalendar 1939-1940 | | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this : | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | RIAS Newsletter | January 1991 | v2, no5 | | Death note |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | A no5626 (box 9); F no3888 | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | Rolf Koren, F no5463 (combined box 80) - information on W I Thomson's position on staff at ECA |
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