Architects

Name:

Thomas Ridley Milburn

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Exact Date

Exact DOB:

18/10/1862

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Date of Death:

Exact Date

Exact DOD:

11/06/1943

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Bio Notes :

Thomas Ridley Milburn (known familiarly as 'TR') was the son of Captain William Milburn, a shipowner and shipping surveyor in Sunderland and was born in 1861. Like his brother William he was articled to John Tillman of Sunderland. He remained as assistant after the end of his articles but spent some time with Liverpool Corporation before setting up in practice in Sunderland in 1884 independently of his brother. Throughout his time with Tillman and at Liverpool he studied in 'various science and art classes' and passed the qualifying exam in 1886, being admitted ARIBA on 18 April 1887. His proposers were Tillman, Joseph Hall Morton of South Shields and Thomas Oliver of Sunderland and Newcastle, with whose firm he was shortly to become connected. In 1893 Thomas designed the first of his theatres, the Olympia in Newcastle upon Tyne, in association with Oliver & Leeson, and in 1896-97 William and Thomas merged their practices as W & T R Milburn. In 1907 they supervised the buildings of the Sunderland Empire Theatre (the design was by Frank Matcham) for Frank Thornton, a local impressario, and this gave them the connection to the Empire chain as Thornton became manager of the chain and used his local architects for theatres elsewhere. Their major works included: Sunderland Children's Hospital, Sunderland Police Courts and Fire Station, theatres for the Moss Brothers at Sunderland, Cardiff, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh and the Dominion Theatre in London; also many hospitals, schools, housing schemes, commercial and factory buildings.

He was admitted FRIBA on 4 January 1904, their proposers being William Henry Knowles of Newcastle, John Gibson, also of Newcastle (unclear who this is) and Alfred William Stephens Cross of London. Thomas Milburn was largely responsible for forming the branches of the Northern Architectural Association, being President of the latter 1921-22. He was vice president of the RIBA 1925-26.

Both Thomas Ridley Milburn and his brother William were brought up as Wesleyans but Thomas joined the Church of England's Bishopwearmouth congregation.

He died on 6 November 1943.

'Biography authored by the Dictionary of Scottish Architects Compilation Team.'

Bio Notes continued...

Additional Notes

The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:

Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date From Type	Date To	Date To Type	Notes
17-18 Fawcett Street Sunderland County Durham England	Business	1932

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The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this person (click on an item to view details):

Employers2 classic

Name	Name Link	Date From	Position
W & T R Milburn	202007	1896 or 1897	Partner
Liverpool City Architect's Department	201328		Assistant
John Tillman	202773		Apprentice
John Tillman	202773		Assistant

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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
Joseph Spain	205373	In year 1887	In year 1892	Apprentice
Joseph Spain	205373	In year 1892	In year 1895	Assistant

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This person proposed the following individuals for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):

RIBA PROPOSALS2 classic

Person	Date Proposed	Notes
Thomas Ruddiman Wood	1925/11/30	for Associateship
William Eric Dow	Late 1932s	for Associateship
Alastair Stewart Foster	1937/07/19	for Associateship

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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	City or County	Country	Notes
Union Mill	In year 1921	Montrose	Angus	Scotland	Conversion
Coliseum Theatre	In year 1922		Glasgow	Scotland	Alterations
Empire Palace Theatre	In year 1927		Edinburgh	Scotland	Rebuilding of Matcham's theatre
Empire Theatre	In year 1928		Glasgow	Scotland	Internal rebuilding of Matcham's theatre on larger scale and alterations to exterior

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Publisher	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
RIBA Journal		1943/12	*	Obituary p42

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The following archives hold material relating to this person:

Arc ref classic

Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Building Id	Item Name	Notes
Milburn Papers DT.TRM	Tyne & Weir Archive	200766			Additional information from Graham Potts
Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material	Professor David M Walker personal archive	100041

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

Employment and Training

Employers2 classic

Employees or Pupils

Employees or Pupils2 classic

RIBA Proposals

RIBA PROPOSALS2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Periodical References

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Archive References

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