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Basic Biographic Details
Name:
Thomas Hamilton
Designation :
Architect
Date of Birth:
Exact Date
Exact DOB:
01/11/1784
Year of Birth :
Circa Year of Birth :
Date of Birth Before (Year):
Date of Birth After (Year):
DOB (1st 'Or' Year):
DOB (2nd 'Or' Year):
Date of Death:
Exact Date
Exact DOD:
24/02/1858
Year of Death:
Circa Year of Death:
Date of Death Before (Year):
Date of Death After (Year):
DOD (1st 'Or' Year):
DOD (2nd 'Or' Year):
Town of Birth :
Bio Notes :
Thomas Hamilton was born in Glasgow on 11 January 1784, the son of Thomas Hamilton, wright and builder in Edinburgh and later Glasgow. The family were back in Edinburgh by 1794 when Thomas Hamilton senior became a burgess. In 1795 Thomas junior began at the Royal High School where he received a classical education.
In 1801 he was apprenticed to his father and spent the subsequent ten years working for him and for his uncle John Hamilton who was also a builder. In 1819 he became a burgess. His first known ‘architectural design’ dates from 1815 when he exhibited it at the Edinburgh Exhibition Society. The following year he entered the competition for the completion of Robert Adam’s Old College. Playfair secured the commission but Hamilton published his designs in a pamphlet ‘Observations explanatory of the new designs for completing the College of Edinburgh’. In March 1817 he published proposals for a large scale road development scheme to open up the Old Town to the south and to the west. These ideas were not immediately acted upon but in 1827 the Edinburgh Improvement Commissioners.
Hamilton’s career was established when he won the competition for the Burns Monument at Alloway. The design is based on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, which Hamilton must have known from books. He claimed to have a wide knowledge of all the best books on Greek Roman and Gothic architecture when he applied unsuccessfully for the post of Superintendent of the City Works in 1819. However in his next major work, the new High School, he demonstrated his ability as a designer of monumental public works. It was immediately recognised as an important addition to the city. The Hopetoun Rooms in Queen Street followed shortly thereafter which C R Cockerell described as ‘admirably disposed’.
Hamilton is thought of as a designer in the Greek Revival style but he also produced several Gothic churches and one Romanesque one. These do not equate with his Greek style buildings nor do his essays in domestic Tudor. However the municipal steeple in Ayr in traditional Scottish style and there are Baroque elements at the Dean Orphanage (Dean Gallery) which are handled well. In town planning his ideas for the south and west approaches to the Old Town led to his appointment as architect to the Edinburgh Improvement Commissioners in 1827. He carried out two major works in this capacity, the George IV and King’s Bridges and their associated approaches. However he resigned in 1834 because of squabbles within the Commission and financial difficulties.
Hamilton was a Fellow of the Institute of Architects from 1836 to 1846. He was a founder member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1826 and was treasurer from then until 1829 and again from 1845. He was involved in the building of the galleries on the Mound and wrote ‘A Report relative to Proposed Improvements on the Earthen Mound at Edinburgh’ which was printed by the Improvement Commissioners. He was a member of the committee for the erection of the John Knox Monument in 1846. In 1850 he published ‘A Letter to Lord John Russell ….on the Present Crisis relative to the Fine Arts in Scotland’ which gave his views on what could be done to promote art in the city and ‘the architectural adornment of the Mound’.
In 1855 he won the Gold medal at the Paris International Exhibition, exhibiting drawings of the proposed new galleries on the Mound and of John Knox’s Church which he had been commissioned by the City to build on Castle Hill in 1829. The foundation stone was laid that year but in 1831 the scheme had to be abandoned. The site was eventually taken by Tolbooth St John’s in 1841 which was built to the designs of James Gillespie Graham.
Hamilton had married in 1813. He died at 9 Howe Street on 24 February 1858 aged 73 after a short illness. He suffered from deafness in his later years and his will shows that his affairs were confused. He was buried in Calton Cemetery in the lair of his uncle who had died in 1812. He seems to have had three sons and two daughters. Apart from his son Peter, his only pupils were John Henderson who died in 1862 and John Starforth. In the brief obituary which appeared in the 'Leeds Intelligencer', three designs were mentioned: the Royal High school, the grand lines of approach on the north side of the town and the College of Physicians.
There is a portrait of Hamilton in the Royal Scottish Academy and a caricature in Crombie’s ‘Modern Athenians’. Some of Hamilton’s drawings survive in the National Gallery of Scotland.
Bio Notes continued...
Additional Notes
Addresses
The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:
Private Addresses
Private Addresses2 classic
Address
Class
Date From Char
Date From Type
Date To Char
Date To Type
Notes
69 Great King Street Edinburgh Scotland
Private
9 Howe Street Edinburgh
Private
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Business Addresses
Business Addresses2 classic
Address
Class
Date From
Date From Type
Date To
Date To Type
Notes
41 York Place Edinburgh Scotland
Business
57 York Place Edinburgh Scotland
Business
Edinburgh Scotland
Business
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Employees or Pupils
The following individuals were employed or trained by this person (click on an item to view details):
Employees or Pupils2 classic
Name
Name Link
Date From
Date To
Position
Notes
John Henderson
201110
c. 1831
In year 1835
Assistant
John Starforth
200348
Before 1844
Apprentice
Dates unknown
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Buildings and Designs
This person was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):
Buildings and Designs2 classic
Building Name
Date Started
Town, District or Village
Island
City or County
Country
Notes
Burns Monument
In year 1817
Alloway
Ayrshire
Scotland
Norwich Insurance Company's office
In year 1820
Edinburgh
Scotland
Rentons, 10-15 Princes Street
In year 1824
Edinburgh
Scotland
Scheme for building at 2 Princes Street (later renumbered) and West Register Street.
Royal High School
In year 1825
Edinburgh
Scotland
Glasgow Necropolis, John Knox Monument
In year 1825
Glasgow
Scotland
Town House
In year 1826
Kinghorn
Fife
Scotland
Lathallan House
In year 1826
Stirlingshire
Scotland
Terrace of houses, Castle Terrace
In year 1826
Edinburgh
Scotland
Compstown House (or Cumstoun House)
In year 1827
Twynholm
Kirkcudbrightshire
Scotland
Original house
Houses, Claremont Park
In year 1827
Leith
Edinburgh
Scotland
King's Bridge
In year 1827
Edinburgh
Scotland
Ayr Town Hall
In year 1827
Ayr
Ayrshire
Scotland
Original building
George IV Bridge and associated town planning
In year 1827
Edinburgh
Scotland
British Hotel and Hopetoun Rooms
In year 1827
Edinburgh
Scotland
Hopetoun Rooms built
Arthur Lodge
c. 1827
Edinburgh
Scotland
Stylistic attribution
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References
Bibliographic References
The following books contain references to this person:
Bib ref classic
Author
Title
Date
Publisher
Part
Notes
New DNB
New Dictionary of National Biography
Rock, Joe
Thomas Hamilton
1984
Colvin, H M
A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840
1995
New Haven and London: Yale University Press
3rd edition
Pride, Glen L
The Kingdom of Fife
1999
The Rutland Press
2nd Edition
p41, p49, p73
APSD
The Dictionary of Architecture
The Architectural Publication Society (8v 1852-1892)
ed Wyatt Papworth
Hamilton, Thomas
Attestations referred to in a letter to the Lord Provost of Edinburgh
1819
Youngson, A J
The Making of Classical Edinburgh
1966
Edinburgh University Press
Fisher, Ian
Thomas Hamilton dissertation
MSS in NMRS
Walker, David
Scottish Pioneers of the Greek Revival
1984
Chapter entitled 'Thomas Hamilton' by Ian Fisher.
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Periodical References
The following periodicals contain references to this person:
Period ref classic
Periodical Name
Publisher
Date Circ
Edition
Notes
Builder
1859
xvii
Leeds Intelligencer
1858/03/06
Northern Warder and General Advertiser...
1846/05/07
RIAS Quarterly
1926
20
Article by T H Hughes.
Caledonian Mercury
1847/02/22
Leeds Intelligencer
1858/03/06
Obituary
Builder
1858
i
p146
Gentleman\'s Magazine
1858
i
p451
The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club
1923
xii
Article by F C Mears: Measured drawings of Lawnmarket and Castlehill made by Thomas Hamilton, Architect'.
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Archive References
The following archives hold material relating to this person:
Arc ref classic
Archive Name
Source
Source Cat No
Building Id
Item Name
Notes
Censuses
Census records online
201011
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