Basic Biographical Details Name: | Thomas Blair Moncrieff Wightman | Designation: | | Born: | c. 1883 | Died: | | Bio Notes: | Thomas Blair Moncrieff Wightman was born c.1883, and is presumably the Thomas Wightman listed as son of architect Robert A Wightman and his wife Jeanie in the census of 1901. He was articled to Thomson & Sandilands in Glasgow from 1900, attending classes at the Royal Technical College under Professor Charles Gourlay, and after 1904, the Glasgow School of Architecture under Eugène Bourdon. He remained with Thomson & Sandilands until 1907 when he moved to York as assistant to Walter Henry Brierley. During his two years in Brierley's office he made a one-month sketching tour in England in 1907 and a two-month tour in Holland and Germany in 1908.
In 1909 he emigrated, making a voyage via the Mediterranean to Australia. There he worked for two years as assistant to Atkinson & McLay of Brisbane and subsequently as architect in charge to the A M E Company for a £200,000 contract. He was in charge of the architecture and building construction classes at the Central Technical College, Brisbane and Ipswich, from 1910 to 1916, and commenced independent architectural practice in Brisbane in 1914, passing the qualifying exam there in the following year. He was admitted ARIBA in 1917, his proposers being John Thomson, William Brown Whitie and John Watson, all of Glasgow.
Wightman was an honorary examiner for the Royal Sanitary Institute for Queensland from 1915, and later for the RIBA. He was President of the Queensland Institute of Architects in 1924 and was still practising in Brisbane when he was admitted FRIBA on 20 June 1927. His proposers this time were Australian: Arnold Edwin Brooks and Alfred Herbert Foster of Brisbane, and R E Shipton, chief engineer on Queensland railways. His nomination papers state that he had published various papers in 'Building' magazine and in the 'Architectural and Builders Journal of Queensland'. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | Telegraph Chambers, Queen Street, Brisbane, Australia | Business | 1926 * | | | | Taringa, Queensland, Australia | Private | 1926 * | | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployers
RIBARIBA Proposers
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Scotland Census 1901 | 1901 | | | | Presumably the same as the Thomas Wightman listed as son of architect Robert A Wightman and his wife Jeanie |
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 no2630 (microfilm reel 22); F no2501 (box 7) |
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